NFCS Volunteer Appreciation Dinner

Apr 15, 2015

Over 125 volunteers and a number of guests packed St. James Church Hall in Sharbot Lake on Monday night (April 13) for the 35th annual volunteer appreciation event put on by the staff of Northern Frontenac Community Services.

The suppertime event, which included a Lasagne dinner, cooked by Pat Rhyno and Jan MacPherson, was capped off by the presentation of the Volunteer of the Year Awards.

Karen Burke was honoured for her weekly contributions to the agency's Meals on Wheels Program. She helps run the kitchen where the fresh made meals are prepared before they are whisked across the expanse of North and Central Frontenac by volunteer drivers. One of the longest serving meals on wheels driving couples, Tom and Eileen Christenson, were singled out this year as they have finally decided to retire after delivering meals on wheels for longer than anyone can remember. The couple has been so dedicated that they continued to deliver meals even after moving to Perth a couple of years ago.

A second, surprise Volunteer of the Year award was given to Board of Directors Chair, Linda Chappel. The board had to meet in secret so Chappel would not know the award was coming. It was given to her in recognition of the extra work that she has been saddled with this winter, carrying out a search for a new executive director after the departure of Don Amos for a job in Kingston in late December of 2014.

Not only did she have over 60 resumes to filter through and send out to the other members of the search committee, she has also been the go-to person for the two interim directors of the corporation, Maribeth Scott (Children's Services) and Catherine Tysick (Adult Services) over the past four months.

Upon receiving the award, Linda Chappel said she is “pleased to announce that the search committee has had great success and we will be making an announcement very shortly”.

As Catherine Tysick pointed out, “The work of the volunteers and staff of the agency has carried on in exactly the same way it always has. Hardly anyone knew there was no Executive Director in place for the last four months. That is a tribute to the dedication of all of you who are here tonight and the many others who could not make it.”

After the award presentations, The Sage Age Players, an Almonte-based senior's comedy troupe, performed a 45 minute long set of skits, to an enthusiastic response.