{"id":23881,"date":"2019-05-31T12:58:18","date_gmt":"2019-05-31T16:58:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/?p=23881"},"modified":"2019-05-31T12:58:27","modified_gmt":"2019-05-31T16:58:27","slug":"community-recognition-awards-salutes-individuals-making-a-difference","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/community-recognition-awards-salutes-individuals-making-a-difference\/","title":{"rendered":"Community Recognition Awards salutes individuals making a difference"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By\nBrock Weir<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

If there\u2019s one thing\nthat unites them, it\u2019s humbleness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What they do, day in\nand day out, might not seem like a big deal to them, but for those looking on,\nand particularly for those directly benefiting from the work they do, it\u2019s\nhuge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As were the ovations\nthey received Monday night as they were celebrated by the Town of Aurora at the\n2019 Community Recognition Awards.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Aurora residents\nwere saluted May 27 for contributions as varied as helping local kids safely\ncross the street on their way to school or helping new Canadians adapt to their\nnew homes after particularly challenging circumstances in their homelands.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cVolunteers are the\nbackbone of our community,\u201d said Mayor Tom Mrakas. \u201cTheir dedication, passion\nand leadership are an inspiration for others in our community to help those in\nneed. Aurora\u2019s volunteers, as a collective, have helped shape our Town\u2019s\ncharacter. They attract like-minded people who live, work and play in Aurora,\nand embody the same spirit of compassion. Aurora volunteers use their energy to\nmake a difference in the lives of others. They focus on their civic duty to\nhelp their fellow neighbours and, in turn, this kindness brings our community\ncloser together.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

First to be\nrecognized was Amanda Bishop, a student at Aurora High School, with the Youth\nRecognition Award.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Youth\nRecognition Award is presented each year to a young citizen for their volunteer\nefforts, and who has made a significant contribution to their community by\ndemonstrating their commitment to being a positive leader.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAmanda is always\ntrying to educate and motivate her peers in the community to challenge\nthemselves and explore different possibilities,\u201d reads Amanda\u2019s citation.\n\u201cAmanda does this by creating free opportunities for learning, which includes developing\na free week-long summer camp, teaching girls in Grades 5 \u2013 8 to code and design\nwebsites. With her drive and initiative, Amanda also created and organized a\nconference called Why Code Aurora, which brought together professional women to\ntalk about IT in business. Amanda also shares her ideas when she volunteers by\nteaching a free computer course at Regency Acres Public School. Amanda is an\noutstanding inspiration to other youth in our community, particularly young\ngirls, by encouraging them to become involved with Science, Technology,\nEducation and Math.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Green Award is\npresented to an individual, business or community organization that supports\nthe protection, preservation, sustainability or conservation of our natural\nenvironment. The award celebrates those who share the Town\u2019s commitment to\ncreating a greener community \u2013 like this year\u2019s recipient, John Wilson.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cJohn works\ntirelessly as a Director of the Aurora Community Arboretum, spending hundreds\nof hours acquiring, planting and protecting trees and bushes that enhance the\nhealth of the Arboretum. John joined the Arboretum as a volunteer in 2008 and\nhas since participated in the planting of over 2,000 trees a year and is an\nintegral part of combating invasive species. John is also an educator,\narranging for speakers and leading tours of the Arboretum, telling visitors in\ndetail about the flora and fauna. John has received many awards for his green\ninitiatives throughout his lifetime and we are very thankful that John shares\nthe Town\u2019s commitment to creating a greener community.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A celebration of\ngreen initiatives took on a different colour with the next award, the Arts and\nCulture Award, which went to the Aurora Winter Blues Festival. This award,\ninspired by the Johnson family, is presented to an individual or group that has\nenhanced the community through their support or promotion of culture, music,\nvisual, performing or the literary arts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe Aurora Winter\nBlues Festival is completely run by volunteers, ensuring that all proceeds go\nback into the programming of musical initiatives for the future. The Aurora\nWinter Blues Festival is not solely a one-weekend event; it is also comprised\nof a musical kick-off event, pop-up musical performances throughout the Town,\nand free opportunities for musicians to attend educational workshops. This\nvisionary approach to enhancing the music scene in Aurora means that residents\ncan continue their engagement with these artists throughout a month-long\ncelebration. The Aurora Winter Blues Festival continues to engage the community\nthrough music and proudly supports artists in our community.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Community\nLeadership Award, presented to an individual, youth, business, community\norganization or non-profit that has enhanced the Town through their commitment\nand giving went this year to 100 Youth Who Care \u2013 Central York Region.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201c100 Youth Who Care\n\u2013 Central York Region is a volunteer-run local not-for-profit established in\n2016. With the support of parent mentors, the 100 Youth Who Care Youth\nCommittee volunteers are responsible for organizing and facilitating their\nquarterly meetings for this organization. In just over two years, these youth\nhave raised awareness and increased engagement among their peers, growing the\norganization from 10 youth members to 40. The youth in this group demonstrate\nexceptional leadership skills, compassion for the community, and have inspired\ntheir peers to donate almost $7,000 to important local charities and causes.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Good Neighbour\nAward is intended to recognize someone who embodied what it means to be a good\nneighbour, whether it is through acts of compassion or simple acts of kindness.\nBelinda Pianezza, this year\u2019s recipient, has gone above and beyond to fit the\nbill. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBelinda can be\ndescribed as compassionate, kind, generous and thoughtful towards all of her\nneighbours. After living in the neighbourhood for more than 25 years, Belinda\nis friendly to everyone. She has helped some of her new neighbours integrate\ninto the community as some are new immigrants to Canada. She ensures they feel\nwelcome and supported. As well, when neighbours are on vacation, she will\nshovel their driveway, cut their lawns and take on many other tasks. Her\nkindness emanates from the bottom of her heart and it is evident how much she\ncares about her neighbours and her community. Belinda goes above and beyond to\nmake her neighbourhood a wonderful and supportive place to live.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another person who\nhelps neighbours navigate their communities is Lynne Camilleri, who is this\nyear\u2019s recipient of the Community Safety Award, which recognizes persons\ndedicated to the development, promotion or support of initiatives that improve\ncommunity safety.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cLike all crossing\nguards, Lynne always places safety first, but she goes above and beyond her\nrole and makes it a priority to learn about all of the families that cross the\nstreet daily. Lynne knows everyone by name and has developed a trust where\npedestrians know she always has their best interests at hand. She also educates\npeople on why certain practices help ensure safety at intersections. Lynne\u2019s\nfocus is on building a safer community for families where parents feel\nconfident that their children will make it safely across busy intersections in\nTown. Parents in the neighbourhood feel very confident that Lynne is always looking\nout for the safety and well-being of their children.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Realtor Eric\nMcCartney of Century 21 Heritage Group, is this year\u2019s recipient of the Good\nBusiness Award, which celebrates a business that has shown commitment to\ncorporate responsibility and community involvement through its ongoing support\nof charitable causes, events or programs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cEric is very\ninvolved in his community. He is an avid volunteer and has adopted three parks,\nboulevards and walkways in Town. He volunteers his time with the St. John Ambulance\nTherapy Dogs, the Canadian Red Cross Disaster Response and many others. Eric\nregularly helps throughout his community by shovelling snow and picking up food\nand medications for others in the community that are unable to go out. Eric\nsupports many events in Aurora such as the Aurora Studio Tour, Doors Open and\nhas served on (The Town\u2019s) Parks, Recreation & Cultural Services Advisory\nCommittee.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rounding out the\nnight to some of the biggest cheers was the presentation of the Inclusivity\nAward, which celebrates those who help make Aurora a more accessible and\ninclusive place to live, work and play. \nThis is the driving force of this year\u2019s recipients \u2013 Special Olympics\nOntario \u2013 Aurora. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFor more than 10 years, Special Olympics\nAurora has made sport in Aurora more inclusive to people with intellectual\ndisabilities. Special Olympics Aurora has opened up access to, and promoted\nsports training in the following seven areas: swimming,\nbasketball, golf, softball, bocce, rhythm gym and soccer. The ability to play,\ntrain and compete within an organized sport program has created inclusive\ncommunity spaces in Aurora for many athletes. Special Olympics Aurora also\noffers many volunteer opportunities with Special Olympics Ontario, as well as\nleadership training programs and health education to its athletes. Special\nOlympics Aurora works hard to secure volunteers to run its sports and secures\nspots in facilities for its clubs by providing funding through fundraising,\nsponsorships and donations.\u201d<\/p>\n\r\n\"Facebook\"<\/a>\"twitter\"<\/a>\"mail\"<\/a>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Brock Weir If there\u2019s one thing that unites them, it\u2019s humbleness. What they do, day in and day out, might not seem like a big deal to them, but for those looking on, and particularly for those directly benefiting from the work they do, it\u2019s huge. As were the ovations they received Monday night […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[4,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-23881","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general_news","category-news"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3D2k4-6db","publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-05-25 06:03:18","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23881","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23881"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23881\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23881"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23881"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23881"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}