Arrest in domestic assault
TASSS student Faith Dickinson receives inaugural Prince’s Youth Service Award for community leaders at We Day Toronto
Thomas A. Stewart Secondary School Grade 9 student Faith Dickinson, of Douro-Dummer Township, collected the Prince’s Youth Service Award at the We Day Toronto event on Wednesday.
The founder of the Cuddles for Cancer organization that provides blankets to cancer patients received the award in front of 20,000 students and educators gathered for the annual event held at the Air Canada Centre.
The event is one of several staged by the Me to We organization that was founded by brothers Craig and Marc Kielburger.
The other Prince’s Youth Service Award recipients on Wednesday, who were originally announced in May, are Brennan Wong, of Richmond Hill; Jessica Mayes, of Pierson, Man.; and Ashley Murphy, of Ajax.
The We Day Toronto event featured appearances by the Tragically Hip’s Gord Downie and his brother Mike, astronaut Chris Hadfield, the Barenaked Ladies, Nellie Furtado and Paula Abdul.
The Prince’s Youth Service Awards is a partnership with Prince Charles, the Prince of Wales, and aims to honour Canadian youth who have “dedicated themselves to changing the world by volunteering their time and creativity to causes in their local communities and around the world.”
“It is so important that these efforts be recognized and celebrated, and that is what these awards set out to do,” Prince Charles stated in a release.
“The motivation, commitment and dedication of the winners is truly inspiring and they make me enormously proud of what Canada’s remarkable young people can achieve.”
The awards are in four categories: We Are Community Leaders Award; We Are Global Leaders Award; We Are Social Innovators Award; and We Are Agents of Sustainability Award.
Dickinson won the We Are Community Leaders Award.
Here is the citation for Dickinson’s award:
“Cuddles for Cancer founder, Faith Dickinson’s life motto “Everyone deserves a cuddle” has touched people all around the world. It all began when Faith gifted her Aunt, who was battling cancer, a handmade blanket. “She said when you are having chemotherapy treatments, you get bone chilling cold.” Faith expressed to us. “The blanket made her feel better as she fought for her life.”
“Soon after, she was inspired to start Cuddles for Cancer, a foundation that sends Cuddle blankets to cancer patients and Canadian soldiers. Since then, she has made over 2,000 blankets that have been sent around the world, including Canada, France, Brazil, Australia and Africa.”
Meanwhile Dickinson is holding her Make A Difference Day with two events in Peterborough on Saturday. She’ll be encouraging blood donations at the Peterborough Blood Donor Clinic on George Street in the morning and then gathering non-perishable food donations in the afternoon at Lansdowne Place mall.
NOTES: Applications for next year’s Prince’s Youth Service Awards are now open to Canadian youths 5 to 18 in the four categories. Applications can be made at we.org/theprincesyouthserviceawards .... Watch a video from Prince Charles about the awards program online at www.thepeterboroughexaminer.com. A 38-year-old man was charged with domestic assault and breach of recognizance after an assault was reported to police. The complainant witnessed the attack on the woman, who is in her early 40s, outside a city home on Tuesday, city police said. The two, who police said are in an on-again, off-again relationship, then left the area. A warrant was issued and the accused was located the next day.