2010 Mayor's Awards
Congratulations to all of the 2010 Mayor's Award winners (listed below) — including First Capital Distinguished Citizen and Honourable Achievement winners and Mayor's Award for Youth Volunteerism winners. They will all be honoured at the July 1, Canada Day Civic Ceremony at noon at City Hall, 216 Ontario St.
Mayor's Award for Youth Volunteerism
Now in its 12th year, The Mayor's Award for Youth Volunteerism recognizes individuals up to age 24 who demonstrate one or more of the following attributes (amongst others):
- Leadership qualities, challenging themselves and others.
- Care and compassion for members of the community, particularly those with special needs.
- Ability to overcome personal challenges in donating their time to volunteer and assist others.
- Motivating others to achieve and strive for goals.
- Willingness to mentor fellow youth and others.
- Special skills and personally contributes to improving quality of life in the Kingston community.
The 2010 winners are:
Grade 9-12 category
Harley Sardinha
Harley Sardinha has been associated with the Boys and Girls Club of Kingston & Area since 1999 as a member, leader in training, volunteer and co-op student. For the past ten years Harley has successfully demonstrated her strong leadership and communication skills with other youth in the implementation of various programs at the Club. Harley has represented the Boys and Girls Club of Kingston as a member of the Provincial Youth Council and was a representative at the National Youth Conference. Harley's dedicated volunteer efforts to engage youth has made a strong impact on the other members of the Club and on the community.
Lindley Kenny
Not only does Lindley Kenny maintain an honours level of academic achievement and work part-time as a math tutor, but she also is a peer tutor at her high school and volunteers at the Boys and Girls Club of Kingston. Lindley is involved with the urban / rural outreach program with the Club and recently assisted with a presentation to the Nova Scotia Rural Leaders Conference where she shared the success of the Kingston-based outreach program. Despite having to overcome major surgery last year to fuse her spine and correct rapidly progressing scoliosis, Lindley has continued to volunteer with the St. Johns Catholic Church, the Green Team at Regiopolis and the Frontenac 4-H Club.
Post-Secondary Category
Darry Malka Kyakimwa
Darry Malka Kyakimwa moved to Canada from the Congo four years ago and since her arrival, has spent countless hours volunteering at school, at Queen's University, and at Martha's Table. Darry has surmounted incredible obstacles, as she moved from a refugee camp in Africa to Canada, obtained her high school diploma, competed two years on the Dean's Honor List at Laurentian University and now is part of a select group of students at Queen's who will complete the accelerated nursing program.
Judy Kim
Judy Kim began volunteering with Ongwanada in 2006 and has been visiting five women at the Ongwanada Community Residence every week since that time. Judy is now a student at Queen's University and has now increased her volunteer activities with assisting staff in planning special events for clients and has been instrument in fundraising activities with the sale of her homemade origami crafts. Judy was named Ongwanada's Volunteer of the Year for 2008/09.
Distinguished Citizen/Honourable Achievement
The 2010 First Capital Distinguished Citizen/Honourable Achievement Awards recognize volunteers of all ages for community contributions in the area of: Culture, Heritage, Recreation, Sports, Health, Education, Health Care, Environment, Safety, Volunteering and Business.
The winners of the First Capital Distinguished Citizen and Honourable Achievement awards will be celebrated at the Civic Ceremony at the City of Kingston's Canada Day celebrations on July 1, 2010.The 2010 winners are:
Distinguished Citizen
Glenn "G" Williams
Glenn "G" Williams came to Kingston in 2001 to establish Kingston's first rock station, K-Rock 105.7. As Program Director and an on air personality, he quickly owned a place in the hearts of Kingstonians and became the unofficial voice and spirit of Kingston. In addition to his extensive work for charities — notably the United Way (which has named an award in his honour), the Partners in Mission Food Bank, Easter Seals, the Joe Chithalen Memorial Musical Instrument Lending Library and the Boys and Girls Club — he has consistently been a strong presence at city events such as Feb Fest and the annual Limestone City Blues Fest, and has been instrumental in the promotion of local musicians. "G" was diagnosed in 2008 with ALS, and lost his battle with the illness on May 31, 2010.
Honourable Achievement
Dr. James Low
Dr. James Low has been part of the Kingston community since 1965, where he worked at the Kingston General Hospital until his retirement in 1991. Since then, he founded the Museum of Health Care at Kingston and has been its volunteer Executive Director for almost twenty years. The Museum has acquired over 30,000 artifacts, opened outreach galleries in five satellite locations, and developed extensive educational programming. In conjunction with this work, Dr. Low became the volunteer Director of the Administrative Record Management and Archival Program at KGH in 1993.
Arthur Milnes
Kingston's biggest fan of our first Prime Minister, Sir John A. Macdonald, Arthur Milnes has spent years promoting our city's history and making its stories come alive. As a Fellow at Queen's University specializing in Canadian political history, Arthur has volunteered on countless projects to raise the profile of Sir John A. Macdonald. Arthur founded Sir John A. Macdonald Day, wrote the popular "In Sir John A.'s Footsteps" walking tour, arranged for former Prime Ministers Jean Chrétien and Paul Martin to record the audio walking tour, and successfully lobbied for highway signs along the 401 proclaiming Kingston as the home of Canada's first prime minister.
