United Way honours its volunteers with Changing Lives Awards
The United Way/Centraide of Windsor-Essex County honoured some of its most valued volunteers Tuesday night at the annual Volunteers Changing Lives Awards.
The seven awards are presented to volunteers from Windsor and Essex County for their outstanding contributions to the community, including volunteer hours, skills and expertise.
The awards, which are presented in a different venue each year, were presented at the Ambassador Golf Club. Last year, the United Way benefited from the contributions of 5,266 volunteers who offered 291,651 hours of their time to the community.
The winner of the Changing Lives by Helping Kids Be All That They Can Be was Milica Kulidzan of Leadership Advancement for Women in Sports.
“LAWS is a very small group, and for the organization to grow and prosper they need dedicated volunteers who will take on jobs and work proactively for the benefit of girls and women in our community,” said Carol Lockhart, winner of last year’s award who presented the award to Kulidzan.
Winner of the Changing Lives by Moving People from Poverty to Possibility Award, which recognizes voluntary efforts that contribute to meeting the basic needs of residents, was Lorena Shepley.
Shepley has been an active volunteer for 20 years fighting poverty, thanks in part to her own experience. She’s a member of the Advocacy Centre for Tenants Ontario board and the Ontario Homeless Coalition.
The Changing Lives by Building Strong Communities Award went to Oday Al-Taie, a volunteer with the Multicultural Council of Windsor and Essex County.
Al-Taie has been a volunteer since October 2016 and using his fluency in English, Arabic and French has helped countless refugees and new families transition to their new lives.
The Youth Changing Lives Award for voluntary efforts by a youth who contributes to changing lives for residents or improving conditions in Windsor and Essex County went to the Youth Committee of the Windsor-Essex Children’s Aid Society.
The committee advocate for all youth locally and provincially and work to ensure that all youth’s needs are heard and met.
The Retirees Changing Lives Award, which recognizes an unsung hero who works quietly behind the scenes, went to Roger Dzugan. A retired Ford worker, Dzugan has been extremely involved in the United Way’s fundraising efforts and has been a member of the United Way’s Retiree Council for five years and is currently its chair.
The Changing Lives Through the Workplace Award went to the Windsor Mold Group, and the Windsor Star Civic Beautification Award in Memory of Bill Higgins went to Art Attack’s Jill Thompson.