The ninth edition of the annual Haut-Saint-Laurent Volunteer Awards took place on May 2 at the Agri-Culture Centre in Ormstown. Exceptional volunteers from across the region were honoured for their dedication and commitment during the event, which took place under the theme, “Volunteers United, a Growing Community.”
The bilingual evening was animated by honourary president Alain Castagner and Marlene Harvey. Around 50 individual volunteers were nominated in one of five categories highlighting involvement in community-based organizations or associations, municipalities, and school or health-care institutions.
Several volunteers were recognized for their participation in the My Village, My Community mural project at the Huntingdon Residential and Long-term Care Centre, including at least 43 students from the leadership program at École Arthur-Pigeon. A second group of volunteers were nominated for their work to coordinate the installation of an automated mini-dépanneur in the municipality of Dundee.
Representatives from John Darragh Trucking Inc., as well as Fabienne Djandji of the Centre Médical Huntingdon and her team were awarded certificates of appreciation for their volunteer work in a business or corporate context.
The event was attended by representatives for Beauharnois-Salaberry-Suroit-Huntingdon (BSSH) MP Claude DeBellefeuille, Huntingdon MNA Carole Mallette, MRC du Haut-Saint-Laurent prefect and mayor of Sainte-Barbe Louise Lebrun, Ormstown mayor Christine McAleer, and several municipal councillors.
In contrast to previous years, a “volunteer of the year” was not named. Anyze Goyette, who spoke on behalf of the Haut-Saint-Laurent volunteer awards organizing committee, explained that the different categories were maintained as a reminder that volunteering does not only take place at the community level, and because no gesture is more valuable than another. “All of the exceptional volunteers nominated by the different organizations are winners,” she said.
The evening was sponsored by the provincial and federal deputies as well as the Caisse Desjardins du Haut-Saint-Laurent, the MRC du Haut-Saint-Laurent, Gosselin Courtiers d’Assurances, the CDC du Haut-Saint-Laurent, and Maison Russet. Each sponsor was invited to draw the name of two nominated volunteers, who were then presented with gift certificates to local businesses.