{"id":645,"date":"2016-02-08T00:24:55","date_gmt":"2016-02-08T05:24:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/activeseniorsdigest.ca\/wp_activeseniorsdigest\/?p=645"},"modified":"2016-02-08T00:24:55","modified_gmt":"2016-02-08T05:24:55","slug":"celebrating-outstanding-seniors-ontario-seniors-receive-achievement-awards","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/activeseniorsdigest.ca\/wp_activeseniorsdigest\/?p=645","title":{"rendered":"Celebrating outstanding seniors: Ontario seniors receive achievement awards"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"seniors_awards\"<\/a>A passionate environmentalist and conservationist, a writer and translater, and a long-time leader and advocate for the growing community of seniors identifying as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and transsexual are among a group of seniors who have been recognized by the province.<\/p>\n

The province of Ontario recently awarded 21 outstanding seniors with the Senior Achievement Award for their
\nsignificant contributions to their communities and the province.<\/p>\n

The Senior Achievement Award is the highest provincial honour for people aged 65 and older and is presented each year by the Lieutenant Governor.<\/p>\n

The awards have been given out to remarkable seniors since 1986.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am sure Ontarians will take inspiration from these 21 seniors who have made such varied contributions to their communities,\u201d says Elizabeth Dowdeswell, Lieutenant Governor of Ontario, in a recent press release. \u201cThey remind us that life is long and that no matter one’s age, the potential to bring about positive change is great. I applaud them for having dedicated themselves to improving our quality of life, and am privileged to take part in this much deserved public tribute to their service.\u201d<\/p>\n

The province is currently home to more than two million seniors, and this number is expected to double in the next 25 years.<\/p>\n

In 2015, for the first time, there were more seniors aged 65 and older than children under the age of 15 both in Ontario and across the country.<\/p>\n

2015 Recipients:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Mohan Singh Hira Bhangoo<\/strong> of Brampton is a key fundraiser for the Terry Fox foundation and an organizer of the city\u2019s Terry Fox Run in support of cancer research. He also shared Terry\u2019s story with a new community by translating the biography of Terry Fox into Punjabi.<\/p>\n

Dorothy Bray<\/strong> of St. Thomas decided, after the loss of her son in 1996 to AIDS, to do what she could to improve the lives of others living with the disease. Her efforts include golf tournaments, bake sales and walks that have now raised over $150,000 for various charities for people living with AIDS and their families.<\/p>\n

David Brown<\/strong> of Collingwood is an active member of the residents\u2019 council executive of Bay Haven Nursing Home where he welcomes new residents, creates numerous original pieces of artwork for the nursing home and leads sing-alongs every morning with the resident pianist.<\/p>\n

William Burrell<\/strong> of Brampton is a WWII veteran of the Royal Canadian Air Force. Since retiring from service, Mr. Burrell has volunteered with the local Canadian Legion (raising over $700,000 through the Poppy Fund), Canadian Red Cross, Ontario Minor Hockey League, as well as Canada Post\u2019s Letters to Santa program.<\/p>\n

Levina Collins<\/strong> of Nipigon served on the town council for several years, helping to boost tourism and local economic development. She serves as a member of the PARO Centre for Women\u2019s Enterprise and as a project coordinator for the Royal Canadian Legion. In these roles, she works to support seniors, women, people with disabilities and children.<\/p>\n

Joyce Eklove<\/strong> of Toronto is a community leader, active volunteer and dedicated president of her synagogue. She recently helped oversee a substantial renovation of the synagogue and the accompanying fundraising efforts to support it. She is also an outspoken advocate for vulnerable women in her community.<\/p>\n

Robert Hubert<\/strong> of St. Thomas is a passionate environmentalist and conservationist. He installed and actively maintains 100 wood duck boxes, which provide nesting sites to these birds that were recently close to extinction. He is a registered bird-bander and works with the Canadian Wildlife Service to band hundreds of waterfowl each year.<\/p>\n

Bernard Jordaan<\/strong> of Mississauga is vice president of the Meadowvale Senior\u2019s Social Club, and president of United Senior Citizens of Ontario where he works closely with the provincial government on issues affecting seniors across Ontario. This includes advocating for a new Ombudsman for health care and long-term care.<\/p>\n

Alfred Lafantaisie<\/strong> of Sudbury has been a volunteer with the local chapter of the Canadian Red Cross in Sudbury, helping with their seniors\u2019 transportation program. The organization estimates that over the last 15 years, he has driven more than 200,000 kilometres to help seniors remain independent and living in their homes.<\/p>\n

Norma Levitt<\/strong> of Toronto is a founding member of the South Riverdale Community Health Centre Plain Language Group. The program helps seniors and their caregivers better understand health and medication information, allowing them to make informed and appropriate decisions about their care.<\/p>\n

Ekaterina Lotkina<\/strong> of Toronto is an active volunteer with the Jewish Russian Community Centre of Ontario. She is responsible for the mailing operations of the organization, making sure that thousands of letters, birthday greetings, invitations and tax receipts are prepared, signed and delivered on time.<\/p>\n

Glenna MacKenzie<\/strong> of Pembroke has managed several community health improvement projects that were life-changing for the seniors in her community. These include the re-development of the Pembroke Civic Hospital into a 92-bed assisted living facility, and the conversion of a local motel into a 30-bed retirement care home.<\/p>\n

Kenneth Maitland<\/strong> of Burlington is the president of Arts Burlington, a 700-member not-for-profit organization that provides education and mentoring, and encourages new ideas and innovation in the fields of arts and crafts. Last year alone, Kenneth contributed more than 9,000 volunteer hours in support of the Burlington Art Gallery and Arts Burlington.<\/p>\n

Patricia Marsden-Dole<\/strong> of Ottawa is a leader, community activist and advocate for seniors\u2019 issues in Ontario. She has been politically involved as a member of the board of Fair Vote Canada and served as president of the Ottawa chapter for several years. She has also served as a board member for the Ottawa branch of the Federal Retirees National Association.<\/p>\n

Francis Martis<\/strong> of Toronto is the executive director of Tender Care Nursing Home. He is also a regular volunteer at St. Vincent\u2019s soup kitchen and The Good Shepherd Centre. He has volunteered overseas in Kenya at the St. Therese Development Centre, where he volunteered helping boys and girls who have been victims of physical and sexual abuse.<\/p>\n

Dick Moore<\/strong> of Port Colborne is a long-time leader and advocate for the growing community of seniors identifying as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and transsexual (LGBTT). He helped form the Senior PRIDE network and worked closely with the City of Toronto to ensure that the unique needs of LGBTT seniors were addressed in the city\u2019s programs and services.<\/p>\n

Lydia Palij<\/strong> of Toronto is a Ukrainian writer and translator who has dedicated much of her time to bringing the unique voices of Ukrainian authors to readers across Canada. During her 10 years as a volunteer with the International Festival of Authors in Toronto, she helped six writers from Ukraine travel to Toronto to share their work at the festival.<\/p>\n

James Clare<\/strong> Rennie<\/strong> of Guelph materialized his idea to \u201crestore a hundred-acre farm back to forest\u201d with the founding of the Rotary Forest Project, a 13-year undertaking that will be complete in 2020. The project is one of the largest, most significant and successful ecological protection projects in the Guelph region.<\/p>\n

Margery Sherritt<\/strong> of London has volunteered with more than 10 local organizations since the age of 65. Among her many contributions is her work as co-chair of the transportation working group of the Age-Friendly London Network where she implemented a three-year action plan to improve access to affordable transportation for seniors in London.<\/p>\n

Frances Ward Deacon<\/strong> of Toronto helped found the Regent Park Social Action Committee, a non-profit organization that serves individuals and families in need of housing, employment resources and other supports. For the last 20 years, Ms. Deacon has also volunteered every week in support of the homeless with the \u201cOut of the Cold\u201d program, serving food and organizing fundraising events.<\/p>\n

Gary Whitten<\/strong> of Orleans is an active and dedicated volunteer with the adult day program at the Eastern Ottawa Resource Centre. Each month, Mr. Whitten puts together and presents an interesting and highly engaging slide show for the participants, serving not only to entertain and educate, but also to stimulate memory and other brain activity.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A passionate environmentalist and conservationist, a writer and translater, and a long-time leader and advocate for the growing community of seniors identifying as lesbian, gay, […] Read More<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":614,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nCelebrating outstanding seniors: Ontario seniors receive achievement awards - Active Senior's Digest<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/activeseniorsdigest.ca\/wp_activeseniorsdigest\/?p=645\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Celebrating outstanding seniors: Ontario seniors receive achievement awards - 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