Two groups honour Pitre by putting his name on awards
Jonathan Pitre’s legacy continues to grow as two Ottawa organizations have announced they’ll be honouring the late Russell teenager with awards that carry his name.
Pitre died April 4 at the age of the age of 17 due to medical complications following a stem cell transplant he had hoped would halt the advance of his painful skin disease, epidermolysis bullosa (EB). Pitre suffered an aggressive and fatal form of the rare disease.
Kevin Keohane, president and CEO of the CHEO Foundation, said Pitre’s memory will be honoured by the Ottawa chapter of the Association of Fundraising Professionals at a gala in November.
Keohane nominated Pitre for the association’s outstanding youth award, but the association decided instead to create an award in his honour called the inspiration award.
Pitre will be the award’s first recipient. His mother, Tina Boileau, will accept it on his behalf at a Nov. 14 gala.
“Through his willingness to allow the spotlight to shine on his life even during its most intimate and painful moments,” Keohane wrote in his nomination letter, “Jonathan showed an entire generation of people the devastating impact of EB — and the meaning of hope, selflessness, dignity and courage.”
Pitre raised more than $600,000 for the EB charity, DEBRA Canada, while using his own story to spread awareness about the disease.
Earlier this month, at an awards galas in Ottawa, Costco made a $100,000 donation to DEBRA Canada in honour of Pitre. It was the largest single donation in the EB charity’s history.
“People have done some pretty amazing things to honour my boy. I am so proud of him,” Boileau said this week.
Citizen Advocacy Ottawa, a charity that supports disabled people and their families, is also remembering Pitre by renaming its youth award in his honour. CHEO sponsors the award, which will be presented on Dec. 3 at the charity’s Celebration of People dinner.
The Ottawa Senators have already recognized the hockey-loving Russell teen by creating the Jonathan Pitre Memorial Trophy for the hardest-working player at the team’s development camp.
Other public memorials for Pitre remain in the planning stages, including a butterfly garden inside Navan’s Memorial Forest. The French-language Catholic school board in Eastern Ontario is also considering the possibility of naming a school in Pitre’s honour.
Pitre became the international face of EB after he decided to reveal his ravaged body for the world to see as part of a story published in the Ottawa Citizen in November 2014.
Keohane said Pitre was able to touch so many people because of his “beautiful innocence.”
“He really wanted to help others, and he never felt sorry for himself,” he said.
During EB Awareness Week, which begins Oct. 25, DEBRA Canada volunteers will be selling $3 butterfly pins at 20 Beer Store locations across Ottawa to raise money for the charity in memory of Jonathan Pitre.
JEAN LEVAC/FILES