On September 20th, 2012, two of Youville Centre‘s wonderful volunteers were the honoured recipients of the Mayor’s Award for Volunteer Spirit at the VOscars, an annual fundraiser and awards ceremony hosted by Volunteer Ottawa. The evening had an “Oscar” theme, hence the name “VOscars”, and many volunteers were honoured for their contributions to local charities and non-profit organizations.
We nominated Rita and Jeanne, sisters who have been volunteering in our Food Bank program for the past 7 years (Rita) and 4 years (Jeanne). Rita and Jeanne are so committed to helping our young mothers and their children and they come to Youville Centre weekly to receive, unpack, organize and distribute food, diapers and household items that we are lucky enough to receive from the Ottawa Food Bank.
Although they have said to us that they are “spoiled” having the opportunity to help our young moms and their children, and that they volunteer to help, not to be recognized, we thought we would shine a light on their good deeds, and a VOscar sounded like the best way to do so.
It was thrilling for Jeanne and Rita when it was announced that evening that they had won in their category, and they truly enjoyed themselves at the event.
We are so grateful to all of our volunteers for the time and talent they lend to us at Youville Centre.
Congratulations, Rita and Jeanne!