Volunteer Awards of Excellence
Jacques Brun – We were elated to present our annual Volunteer Award of Excellence to Jacques Brun. Jacques is often referred to as a professional volunteer in his home town of Shediac. We consider ourselves very fortunate that he chose to share his passion, enthusiasm and hard work with our organization through various special events and fundraising activities over the last year. His fundraising efforts have specifically supported the work of our Moncton office. Not only did he compete in the Moncton Rick Hansen Wheels in Motion event with the Ability NB team, he fundraised over $2,400. Most recently, Jacques was the highest individual ticket seller with 90 tickets sold for the Ability NB Mega 50/50 Draw. Jacques’ commitment to his community and to helping others is incredible and his level of volunteerism with our organization and with many others such as the Knights of Columbus is difficult to match. We are proud to hear that Jacques was chosen as one of 7,000 Canadian Difference Makers to participate in the Rick Hansen 25th Anniversary Relay as it travels through NB. Go Jacques Go!
Ambassador of the Year
Barry Amos – We were honoured to present our Ambassador of the Year Award to Barry Amos. Barry is first and foremost, the father of two beautiful boys. Barry was in an accident in September 2007 that left him with C4 level quadriplegia. But as he notes, he is still Barry and his injury does not define him. He has helped coach the local girls’ high school basketball team, and helped coach his son’s team as well. Last winter, six high school students approached him to do a video and talk about how his life has changed since his injury. At the time, he was in the process of trying to get automatic doors put in the high school gym so that he would not have to wait for someone to come and let him in when he was coaching. The students decided they wanted to be a part of the project as well. They incorporated their project with his video and went to the local school district to pitch the proposal. They then attended a city council meeting and did the same, as the city and school district have a joint user agreement. The city and district were asked to split the cost of the doors which were approximately $20,000. They were successful and the doors were installed this summer. Because of this project, local schools began to request that Barry come and talk to their classes. He spoke to 9 schools last winter and thoroughly enjoyed engaging with the kids. This is where his desire to speak out to others derived from. Barry is an incredible ambassador for persons with disabilities.