Get involved > Volunteer > Volunteer & staff awards

Volunteer and Staff Award Presentations
AGM 2004

Community Service Award | The Marjorie Cuthbertson Award | Employee Recognition Award | M-B Family Spirit 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 the Award had two recipients: Mel Shipman and the Toronto Branch of the Needlework Guild of Canada.

Mel Shipman

Mel's passion for education, community engagement and advocacy are reflected in his life-long pursuits both professionally and through his volunteer activities. He worked as a director and consultant with a number of organizations, including North York Board of Education and Ryerson University.

For more than 50 years, Mel has been a passionate volunteer and is currently the Chair of Circles of Support Initiative in the St. Lawrence Neighbourhood, a partnership of residents and service providers including FST.

Toronto Branch of the Needlework Guild of Canada

The Toronto Branch has operated continuously since 1892 on a completely voluntary basis. The Guild, through its devoted membership, works quietly behind the scenes to assist people in need. Its purpose is to provide small household items and new articles of clothing for children and adults for distribution to local agencies caring for those in need.

The Guild has supported FST’s Holiday Hamper program for many, many years, and today the Guild is a vital part of FST’s outreach to clients in need during the holiday season.

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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 was Marianne Vero, a devoted volunteer with Illahee Lodge.

Marianne Vero

In the late 1970s, Marianne became a caregiver to both her father and her husband. Searching for services to support her family, Marianne discovered Bolton camp and Illahee Lodge. She soon became very active as a volunteer during camp days and continued to volunteer after the passing of both her father and husband.

Marianne is also active as a member of the Illahee Lodge Advisory Council, provides leadership in recreational programs and plays piano for the guests. There is a saying that if you give a busy person another task, they will find a way to do it.

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 Clarabell Mason, a case aide extraordinaire with the Seniors and Caregivers Support Services unit.

Clarabell Mason

Clarabell’s commitment to caring for others has been a life-long venture. She gave 23 years of service in a nursing career at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Toronto .

Clarabell's calm and gentle manner, her willingness to help out in a variety of different ways and her commitment to seniors through friendly visiting, assisting with housing applications and arranging for clients to receive holiday hampers are examples of her passion for being there to help others in need.

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Employee Recognition Award

The Employee Recognition Award gives special recognition to those employees who, through their positive attitude, make an outstanding contribution to staff morale at FST. The award is presented to up to three current FST employees who have extended help to other employees beyond the call of duty and demonstrated personal qualities that contribute to staff morale (such as an uplifting personality, a staff morale booster, or a positive thinker and doer).

This year's Award recipients were Dan Bajorek, Anna Zhang and Mary Cowper Smith.

Dan Bajorek

Dan manages the Next Steps program at FSA and has been with the agency for more than 20 years. He is known for his sense of humour and positive outlook, which have rubbed off on many a colleague over the years.

Most of us would agree that domestic violence work could pose a challenge to one’s optimism and sense of humour. That Dan has not only maintained his spark but also has enough to share with fellow staff is remarkable. Dan’s nomination also cited his tireless work on behalf of the agency’s United Way campaign over the years.

Anna Zhang

Ann is an Account Support Assistant with the project and a Client Services Secretary at OPTIONS. She has been with FST for nearly two years and has become an integral part of both teams.

Anna’s colleagues appreciate her team-oriented style, her quiet, friendly manner, her wealth of talents and her willingness to share her knowledge and initiative by stepping forward to identify and solve problems. She applies creativity in devising systems that work, and routinely goes above and beyond the call of duty to make sure that things go smoothly in her work group.

Mary Cowper-Smith

Mary is a social worker with Families in Transition and has been with FST for 12 years. Mary routinely takes on jobs that others don not want to do in order to ease the burden on her coworkers or just to make sure it gets done.

Even though public presentations are her least favourite activity, she has volunteered to make a conference presentation in order to not let down her team. She does a multitude of tasks around the office without being asked and without complaining. She has even made and delivered meals to staff that were sick.

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M-B Family Spirit Award

The M-B Family Spirit Award recognizes service excellence and celebrates the enormous contribution of the unsung heroes and heroines of FST. The award is sponsored by Raksha Bhayana, a former senior manager and member of the Board of Directors.

The award is presented to current FST employees who demonstrate creativity and program innovation leading to delivery of excellent service to clients and other FST stakeholders. This year Award's recipients were Carolyn Chataway and Wendy McDonald.

Carolyn Chataway

Carolyn is about to celebrate 20 years with FST. She divides her time between the Counselling Service and Violence Against Women unit. Highly regarded both as a professional and as a person, Carolyn stands out as a clear example of our agency's "unsung heroines" through her combination of service excellence and strong personal qualities. She has published, presented at conferences, and shown her leadership by example through the exceptional quality of her day-to-day work with clients.

Carolyn, along with Marsha Elman, improved the original content of COPE (parenting groups) to better meet the needs of parents. As one of her colleagues wrote while nominating her, “Carolyn has consistently been a positive unwavering force in her commitment to the agency and her colleagues. We could always count on Carolyn.”

Wendy McDonald

Wendy has the distinction of having been with the agency for 34 years, most recently as the Administrative Assistant to past Executive Director Paul Zarnke. She currently works in Human Resources.

Because of the positions she has held and because of her generous nature, most of FST staff have had the experience of asking Wendy for assistance of one kind or another over the years—always to have been met with an eager willingness to share her energy and her rich knowledge—including a knowledge of the agency and its history.

There are a few special people who make you want to think twice before asking for help. The reason is not because they would not be able to help, or willing, but, rather, because you know they are likely to drop whatever they are doing and offer assistance on the spot even if it’s not an emergency. Wendy is a great example of this kind of person and all of FST benefits from this generous attitude.

 

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