Get involved > Volunteer > Volunteer & staff awards
Volunteer Award Presentations
AGM 2005
Community Service Award | The
Marjorie Cuthbertson Award | Pat Fleming Award
Community Service Award
The Community Service Award, established in 1981, recognizes the contributions of a citizen or group that has shown outstanding leadership in furthering the quality of life for individuals and families in Toronto.
This year's Award recepient was David Pecaut.
David Pecaut
David Pecaut
David Pecaut serves as the Chair of the Toronto City Summit Alliance, a coalition of civic leaders in the Toronto region, which has formulated an action plan to revitalize our region. The city summit Alliance report released in April 2003 is a blueprint for tackling the major issues facing the city region and the Alliance leadership is committed to seeing it implemented. These issues include, among many others: addressing child poverty, community and neighbourhood development, affordable housing and employment for newcomers. All of these are core FST issues.
David Pecaut is also the founder of the Toronto 03 Alliance, a non-profit corporation established to rebuild tourism in the Toronto region after the SARS crisis. As resident of Toronto, David Pecaut is the CEO of iFormation Group. Prior to launching iFormation, David founded and managed the Toronto office of The Boston Consulting Group and founded its global e-commerce practice area. David has been involved extensively in public policy issues, as he has advised numerous companies and governments on this subject in North America, Europe, Asia and Australia. He was the founder and Chair of the Canadian E-Business Roundtable, a public/private forum which brought together various stakeholders to develop policy recommendations to accelerate the development of e-business in Canada.
David was also the co-founder of Career Edge, Canada's national non-profit youth internship program launched in 1996 to address the challenges youth face in gaining their first job experience after graduation. His visionary and tireless work to improve life for all Torontonians is exemplary and very deserving of this important recognition.
The Marjorie Cuthbertson Award
Established in 1980, the Award is presented annually to honour the work of an individual or group that has provided outstanding volunteer service to FST, portrays the spirit of volunteerism and serves as a role model to others.
An FST volunteer starting in 1948, Marjorie Cuthbertson established the Illahee Club, whose members are still meeting weekly to use their creative talents to produce acrafts. The proceeds from the sale of these crafts support FST programs. Marjorie's pioneering involvement in a variety of volunteer activities was admirable. Even after her death in 1993, Marjorie’s spirit of giving serves as an example to the FST volunteer whose heart is the happiest when it beats for others.
This year's Award recipient were Jessica Wedderburn and Asabi Parker .
Asabi Parker and Jessica Wedderburn
Asabi Parker
Asabi is a volunteer in the Coping With Life program at Families In Transition. For the past 7 years, she has given up the opportunity to sleep in and relax on eighteen Saturday mornings each year, to ensure that this program runs smoothly. She has prepared snack for the 5 children's groups that operate in the morning and early afternoon (that's 630 snacks over seven years!), she has handled the attendance and room allocation for the children, she has prepared craft materials and name tags, and filled a number of gaps as they inevitably arise in such programs.
Asabi has answered inquiries from parents, taken children to the washroom, and assisted children who required individual attention apart from the group. She has come to the office on numerous occasions prior to the start of a group series to collect and prepare the materials that each group leader requires. She performs all these tasks cheerfully and efficiently without asking for anything in return. She is always willing to assist in any way she is asked- frequently going 'above and beyond the call of duty'.
Jessica Wedderburn
Jessica has been so dedicated for such a long time, coming reliably whether (weather) rain, snow, shine, cold, sunny warm evenings when she could be doing other things, bringing friends and now a sister over these many years, always cheerful, willing to learn, getting involved, caring about the children, there on time, never needing reminders or other persuasions, always fondly regarded by the numerous child group workers she's assisted -she's just terrific without trying or drawing attention to herself.
Pat Fleming Award
Named after Pat Fleming, a long-time FST volunteer, this Award was established in 1996 and is presented annually to a volunteer who has given outstanding service to seniors at FST, portrays the spirit of volunteerism and serves as a role model to others. Pat's association with FST spanned 37 years in various roles in service to seniors resulting in the creation of this award in her honour.
This year's Award recipient was Barbara Barrett.
Barbara Barrett
Barbara Barrett
Barbara has been active as a volunteer in a variety of ways in the area of elder abuse. She is an inaugural member of the Elder Abuse Consultation Team. She makes many valuable contributions at team meetings that help to anchor presenters in their thinking about difficult situations they are dealing with.
Barbara has also presented at conferences with team members in this area and is sought after to participate on a variety of elder abuse advisory committees.
