Volunteer MBC held their annual Peel Cares Celebration on December 4th 2019 to mark International Volunteer Day. The event took place at Community Door, 7700 Hurontario St. Emceed by Jake Dheer, Senior Manager of OMNI Television and Rogers Media Inc., close to 150 guests attended the event to recognize exemplary volunteers from the three municipalities, including Brampton Mayor, Patrick Brown and Caledon Mayor, Allan Thompson. Guests enjoyed entertainment by singer Keneisha Baid and a silent auction with proceeds to benefit Volunteer MBC’s programs and services. 

Carine Strong, Executive Director of Volunteer MBC, welcomed attendees and paid tribute to the nominees. “Each volunteer in this room has his or her own story to tell. You touch people in a very special way. You have every reasons to be incredibly proud of your efforts. You are helping people and causes every day but volunteering is truly a win-win. I’m sure you will agree that you have gained so much more than you give.”

29 individuals were nominated by Volunteer MBC member organizations for Volunteer of the Year awards for each municipality. The three award recipients were:

Volunteer of the Year – Brampton: Ann Crane. Nominated for her work at William Osler Health System, the 97-year old has volunteered with William Osler for 30 years. With her compassionate nature, working as a front line service volunteer, she plays a critical role in setting the tone for visitor and patient experience.

Volunteer of the Year – Mississauga: Ayrton Stefanos. Nominated for his work by Spectra Community Support Services. Ayrton has volunteered with Spectra for over two years, acting as both a mentor and ambassador for Spectra Helpline.

Volunteer of the Year – Caledon: Abby Elliott. Nominated by Toronto Region and Conservation Authority for her work with the Girls Can Too program. Abby, acting as a Girls Can Too ambassador, demonstrated leadership and assisted with building projects.

The full list of nominees is provided below.

The judging panel included Deb Wach (Community Living Mississauga), Heather Savage (Town of Caledon), Sandeep Aujla (Multilevel Leadership Consulting), Kathleen Douglass (Douglass Leadership Group) and Robin Haley-Gillin (Riverwood Conservancy), Navreet Gill (Peel Memorial Hospital), Nadia Lake (Volunteer MBC) and Shan Abbasi (Volunteer MBC). Volunteer MBC took time out to acknowledge and recognize their 2019 supporters.

They also offered special thanks to the Peel Cares event supporters: Scotiabank (Hurontario-Raw Lawson branch), Meridian, TD Bank, Rotary Club Brampton, Town of Caledon and many other generous donors and in-kind sponsors for their auction. Volunteer MBC also took the opportunity to recognize their over 300 in-house volunteers, board members and staff. 

Nominees List

Caledon Nominees:

• Abby Elliott- Toronto and Region Conservation Authority (Award Recipient)
• Angela Panacci – Caledon Community Services
• Haesel Ariyaratnam – Brampton Civic Hospital
• Wayne Noble – Town of Caledon

Mississauga Nominees:

• Blanche Monteiro – Mississauga Cooksville Lions Club
• Stephen Bald – Peel Children’s Aid Society
• Maneet Baidwan – Etobicoke General Hospital
• Shrinidhi Nadumane – Volunteer MBC
• Khalilah Campbell – Lions District A711
• Susan Ksiezopolski – Toronto Writers Collective
• Samira Chowdhury – YMCA GTA
• Ammar Hafeez – Community Living Mississauga
• Ranjana Hasija – Indus Community Services
• Marta Barreto – The Story Garden
• Ayrton Stefanos – Spectra Community Support Services (Award Recipient)
• Barry Everatt – CARP Mississauga
• Ron Kassies – The Healing Cycle Foundation

Brampton Nominees:

• Emily DeHann – Nanny Angel Network
• Dick Winter – Habitat for Humanity Canada
• William Stodolny – Brampton Civic Hospital
• Joanne Pattison – Bethell Hospice
• Ann Crane – Peel Memorial Hospital (Award Recipient)
• Petra Lowden – Habitat for Humanity GTA
• Ashvini Murali – Girls Empowerment Movement
• Zahra Watan Doost – Volunteer MBC
• Charanjit Grewal – Indus Community Services
• Nikita Seshadri - Spectra Community Support Services
• Melissa Thompson – Toronto and Region Conservation Authority
• Anu Sidhu – Punjabi Community Health Services