VOLUNTEER AWARDS 2019 NOMINEES
CENTENARIAN
ELIZABETH HEIDT was one of the first volunteers for the Seniors University Group of the University of Regina, and continues to be a vital force in what is now the Lifelong Learning Centre. She has served on her condo board, was active in the Canadian Federation of University Women of Regina, is a long-standing member of the Canadian Club, and supports many charities. At age 100, she is a testament to the value of continued learning, and of serving others. Her positive, helpful attitude and dedication to serving her community are exemplary.
DOROTHEA (DOT) LANGSTON has spent her one hundred years volunteering in a wide range of activities, through her church, the Callie Curling Club, the Craig Golf Club, and canvassing for the Heart & Stroke and Kidney Foundations to name just a few. She has served as the United Church Women secretary at her church for decades. She still does whatever she can, including knitting mittens for the church’s Mitten Tree at Christmas. People who have worked alongside her in these volunteer efforts count it a privilege to have done so.
VICTORIA (BABE) MCCULLUM, at 93, is an inspiration to her community with her continuing participation and volunteer activities. Since moving to Denare Beach in 1979, she has volunteered for almost every event every year, including the Winter Festival, Canada Day celebrations, spring community clean-up, Fall Supper, serving on the funeral committee, quilting – the list goes on. She continues to volunteer with the New Horizons Club. Her example of leadership, community spirit, and cheerful participation are much-admired in her community.
HENRIETTA SCHOLZ has served her church in many capacities. She has also been involved in her community, leading 4-H, serving on the Figure Skating committee, serving on the Legion Auxiliary, on the Home Care Board, and in other ways, helping to make her community better and stronger. For over 25 years, she has made quilts to send overseas – with an average of seventy quilts per year. She says “I do it because I want to give those women, kids, hospitals and orphanages a bit of me. I want to make them something special.” In so many ways, she has made many others’ lives special.
SENIOR-FRIENDLY BUSINESS
DRIVEN WITH CARE provides transportation and companionship to seniors in the Regina community. MIKE AND ZACH set the bar very high for customer service, treating their customers with the utmost respect and care, as do all their staff. They constantly ensure that they adapt to the needs of the senior community, and do not hesitate to go the extra mile in their service of their clients. They do everything they can to make sure their clients are safe, comfortable, and happy.
THE NAICAM THRIFT STORE, a non-profit, volunteer-run store, has served the community since 2002. Many seniors volunteer, sorting and selling the donated items, with proceeds flowing back into the community to support sport, culture, and the arts. A wheelchair ramp ensures access for all. The store helps in times of disaster, provides a shoppingplace for schoolchildren at Christmas with proceeds returning to the school for the purchase of needed items. They are the face of community service, understanding, and kindness.
FITNESS
KEITHA FRIESEN’S service in organizing and coordinating competitions that inspire wellness for older adults has been exemplary. She has inspired hundreds of older adults to regain physical wellness. She coordinates a Spring Meet every year, handling all the behind the scenes organizational functions. She has also served the board of the Gull Lake Housing Authority. She is an integral part of the overall independence, health, and happiness of many residents in her community and surrounding area.
LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT
BEATRICE SONGER leads fitness classes to people from ages 76 to 99 years, as well as organizing social activities in the local care home, was a leader for TOPS for many years, and promotes health and physical fitness to all. Whenever something has to be done, she is there to volunteer. Making people happy is what makes her day, and she is appreciated by everyone whose life she touches. CALVIN DAVID ABRAHAMSON has served as project manager for the Montmartre Golden Age Club for the past 20 years. He promotes and uplifts seniors, the Arts and Culture, working for improvements to the building, to activities, and to social programs for the seniors in Montmartre and surrounding area. The list of the honours and awards he has received for this work is impressive and stretches back for decades. He has, indeed, been a lifelong “Community Champion.” LESLIE (LES) LYE has had a deep commitment to serving others all his life. During his working years, as well as being a committed single father, he served as president of the IBEW and on multiple committees, became a Mason, and joined a fife and drum band. After retirement he found his passion in advocating on behalf of other older adults, and he fulfills that focus in many ways over the years. He continues to serve others in whatever way he can. TESSA WHYTE has been volunteering in the community for fifty years, in Ontario and Saskatchewan. She has served in many capacities, providing shortterm accommodation for young mothers and babies, assisting at nursery schools, volunteering in school libraries and classrooms, driving for Meals on Wheels, volunteering at the Mackenzie Art Gallery, at Carmichael Outreach – serving wherever there is a need. One of her supporters calls her “the ultimate volunteer.”