St. John Ambulance held their annual 2018 Volunteer Appreciation and Awards Dinner on Saturday, May 4, 2019 at the Columbus Community Centre in Cobourg.
A number of dignitaries were in attendance including St. John Ambulance Provincial Commissioner Andrew Wilder, Northumberland County Warden John Logel, Cobourg Mayor John Henderson and Cobourg Police Chief Kai Liu.
St. John Ambulance members are very active in other activities throughout the community.
Medical First Responder (MFR), Hope Kirksey, received a Distinguished Civic Award from the Town of Cobourg for her outstanding involvement with the St. John branch.
Kirksey joined the MFR unit as an apprentice with little previous first aid training. Becoming a volunteer medical first responder, Kirksey dedicated over 170 hours of her time in her few months while attending almost every duty or event that the Unit was covering. Kirksey has also taken on the task of facilitating the youth programs that St. John Ambulance offers.
Long-standing Therapy Dog member, Diana Storen published a book called News, Views and Tales That Amuse which is a collection of her favourite columns that she wrote for a local paper. A couple of the included stories were about St. John Ambulance Therapy Dogs.
Storen was also nominated for, and won, the Outstanding Senior Award this year at the Cobourg Civic Awards.
Storen has been a volunteer with SJA TDogs for over 12 years.
This past March, SJA Northumberland was nominated, and won, the 2018 Northumberland Business Achievement Award for the Non-Profit Sector which was presented by the Northumberland Chamber of Commerce and Town of Cobourg.
Their most prestigious accomplishment which will be happening this year, is the Northumberland Medical First Response Unit is celebrating 50 years in Northumberland County.
Cobourg Mayor John Henderson presented the Hours Certificates.
Hours Certificates recognize the many hours that volunteers give to their community.
In 2018, approximately 74 volunteers between the two service units who accumulated close to 7500 hours in community service.
100 Hours
Eleanore Hayes, Fiona Sterling, Allison Bammet, Hope Kirksey, Mackenzie Ball, Bert Sedgwick, Marg Gaudet, Bryce Callacott, Katelyn Jensen and Mark Godfrey.
250 Hours
Pauline Bailey, Ted Nasmith, Leslie Abram, Catrina Wood, Shirley Richardson, Pat Hamilton, Christine Voigt, Jennifer Marshall and Sue Sachs
500 Hours
Pam Russell, Dawn MacGregor, Darlene McLoughlin, Cathie Holmes, Jennifer Brady and Pat Pilon
750 Hours
Morgan Steinmiller – surpassed 500 hours
1,500 Hours
Erin Cann
2,000 Hours
Sarah Holland
2,500 Hours
Brian Llewellyn
Northumberland County Warden John Logel presented to the Therapy Dog volunteers.
The medals are worn on the dog’s collar as recognition to the number of visits they have made in the community during their time with St. John.
75 Visits
Tanker (Marshall), Tryxie (Gaudet), Kobe (Bailey), Twinks (Sachs)
150 Visits
Rio (Wood), Walter (Abram), Solo Hamilton)
250 Visits
Ben (Russell)
500 Visits
Journey (Davis)
750 Visits
Emma (Llewellyn, Lucie (Byk), Corduroy (Holland)
Therapy Dog Volunteer and Assistant Coordinator for the Therapy Dog Unit, Sarah Holland presented the certificates to the new therapy dogs that completed qualification to join their team in 2018.
Ceri and Penny Vanderholst, Dalis and Angus Adamson, Chris and Cece Lotton, Cynthia and Jenny Howe, Anna and Wallace Cooper, Laura and Riley Sox Simson-Stumpf, Elizabeth and Ferdinand Stapells, and Gail ad Gracie Marchand.
Council Volunteer Service Award Pins were presented by Cobourg Police Chief Kai Liu
The awards are to recognize all volunteers for their time and contributions over the periods of 1, 3, 5 and 10 years. To qualify for SJA service awards, volunteers must perform at least sixty (60) hours of voluntary service per year on behalf of SJA.
One Year Service Pin
Allison Bammert, Bert Sedgwick, Hope Kirksey, Fiona Sterling and Mark Wilson.
Three Year Service Pin
Erin Cann, Ted Nasmith, Catrina Wood, Dawn MacGregor, Leslie Abram, Patricia Pilon, Cathie Holmes, Pat Hamilton, Pam Russell and Shirley Richardson.
Five Year Service Pin
Fred Montpetit, Joan Montpetit and Carola King.
A Service Medal of the Most Venerable Order of St. John – This Honour is administered by the Order of St. John and is awarded for 12 years of service to the St. John Ambulance organization at a minimum rate of 60 hours of volunteer work a year. For every additional 5 years of service, recipients of the medal are awarded with a silver service bar to be worn on the ribbon of the medal. This year, 3 of our members will be invited to Queen’s Park on June 8th to receive their award from the Lieutenant Governor.
MFR Chief Andrew Robertson & Tdog, member Brian Llewellyn have both served 12 yrs, and MFR Christine Spence has served 17 years.
Provincial Commissioner’s Coin presented by Provincial Commissioner Andrew Wilder.
Morgan Steinmiller, Medial First Responder
Since joining St. John Ambulance in 2015 at Durham College, Morgan has invested over 850 recorded volunteer hours to SJA. In less than four years, Morgan has taken on the role of training the members of the Northumberland Medical First Response Unit, leading the team as Deputy Chief, and recently devoted his time to become a First Aid Instructor for the Northumberland Branch.
Morgan always sets a high standard for himself in his abilities as a facilitator and consistently provides interesting, in-depth and engaging training to forward his knowledge onto others. He has worked diligently to increase awareness of the MFR presence in our community and is well respected within the Branch and the County.
Even though he is a paramedic with Northumberland County and currently attending school to enhance his skills to become an Advanced Care Paramedic, Morgan always makes time to dedicate exceptional energy to MFR Unit in everything he does. Morgan is an integral part of the Unit’s successful growth and accomplishment and for this; I wish to recognize him with a Provincial Commissioner’s Coin.
Provincial Commissioner’s Coin Presented by Provincial Commissioner Andrew Wilder
Sarah Holland, Therapy Dog Member
Since joining the Northumberland Therapy Dog Unit in 2019, Sarah Holland has given more than 2,200 volunteer hours to the Unit.
Sarah and her Golden Retriever, Corduroy, reach out to a wide spectrum of the community and are one of the main faces of the Northumberland SJA therapy dog program. Sarah and Corduroy are a meaningful part of the lives of residents, families and staff of Rosewood Retirement facility here in Cobourg.
Sarah and Corduroy are a certified Child Friendly team who visit with young children and developmentally challenged individuals. Sarah also helps young readers gain confidence through the Paws 4 Stories reading program.
The par participate in virtually every public relations event that the unit attends. Meeting hundreds of members of the public each year, she is an enthusiastic advocate for the therapy dog programs.
Sarah serves the therapy dog unit as the program’s Assistant Coordinator, facilitating the new member intake orientations and the daunting task of coordinating the mentoring schedules. Sarah is an essential part of the Unit’s success and for this; I wish to recognize her with a Provincial Commissioner’s Coin.
PLAQUES
SJA Northumberland displays several plaques in the Branch Training Room to honour outstanding members for their contributions to St. John Ambulance.
Presenter – Amy Turcotte
Therapy Dog Retirement Plaque
Therapy Dogs get tired too so we have a Plaque to recognize and thank those that served and have now retired. Over the past year, there were there names added to the Therapy Dog Retirement Plaque – Willow and Finnegan Lawson, and Journey Davis. Mike Davis with his Golden, Journey would have celebrated 10 years as St. John Ambulance Volunteers this year.
Therapy Dog of the Year – Sarah Holland
This award is presented to the Therapy Dog Volunteer who has performed the most to bring St. John Ambulance to its community by participating in community events, additional requested visits, and assistance in getting new volunteers into the SJA Therapy Dog Program. In 2018, even though the dog took ill in the Spring and they were out of the country for five months of the year, this volunteer team still managed to make 92 regular visits with her dog, and racked up a total of 199 hours. The TDog Volunteer of the Year award goes to June Byk.
Medical First Responder with the Highest Hours – Andrew Robertson
This award is presented to the MFR who completes the most number of volunteer hours within the last calendar year. This year the award goes to Erin Cann again who joined in 2015 and has since stepped up and taken on the role of the Deputy Chief of Operations. Cann continues to establish many important relationships between our Branch and different community services, attending many various emergency planning meetings, creating a team of officers within the unit to clean up, organize and maintain the many different aspects of running a Medical First Response Program. She attended 38 of our events last year and put in over 650 hours. Through hard work, dedication and ability, Cann has helped bring St. John Ambulance forward, leading both our membership and our organization into a better future.
Medical First Responder Rookie of the Year – Morgan Steinmiller
This award is presented to a member of the Medical First Response Unit who joined St. John Ambulance within the last calendar year and has exemplified what it means to be a volunteer through their commitment to the advancement of team. This year, the decision was a difficult one as two new members really took initiative over the year and excelled in the number of community service events covered, training meetings attended and the willingness to help wherever they can within the Unit. When faced with a challenge, they embrace it. Hope Kirksey and Nicholas LeBlanc were given the award for their continued efforts and commitment to the Unit.
Medical First Responder of the Year
This award goes to the Volunteer who has done the most to meet the needs of our Medical First Response Unit. This member has given over 450 hours, and attended 24 events in 2018. It is a privilege to present this award to our Deputy Chief of Training, Morgan Steinmiller.
Special Thanks
SJA Northumberland Branch is very fortunate to have members that are willing to help with the daunting tasks required to keep the units running smoothly on a day-to-day basis. These volunteers take on roles outside of their volunteer description, as there is a lot of behind the scenes work that needs to be done. The leadership teams would just like to say thank you to those volunteers for what you do with a Certificate of Appreciation.
Marybeth Convery, who wrangles all of our Child Friendly teams and coordinates all the school, library, and other youth group visit requests as well as Paws for Stories, and dog-bite prevention presentations.
Dawn MacGregor, who keeps track of the many different vaccines that each dog requires and when they require it.
Sarah Holland, for always stepping up to participate in whatever event SJA has, running the orientations, coordinating all the mentoring for new teams.
Darlene McLoughlin, for keeping the MFR unit in good supply by organization, inventory and recruiting for donations, and proving how important SJA training is on the numerous occasions that you need to use yours at work.
Hope Kirksey and Jason Linton, for always going above and beyond to help out whenever you can, no matter what the task is and always being willing to take a risk to learn new skills.
Author: Pete Fisher
Has been a photojournalist for over 30-years and have been honoured to win numerous awards for photography and writing over the years. Best selling author for the book Highway of Heroes - True Patriot Love
