United Way/Centraide Ottawa honoured 55 of the community’s most dedicated volunteers at city hall Thursday.
The organization recognized the 2008 Community Builder Award winners at the annual Community Builder Wall of Inspiration luncheon. While three individuals were named the Community Builders of the Year, the awards also honoured 52 others who made a difference in the community.
“Community Builder Awards and the Wall of Inspiration celebrate the outstanding volunteers who work so selflessly to help others and make this a better community for everyone,” said United Way president and CEO Michael Allen. “All the people being honoured today are inspirations, and we hope that sharing their stories will motivate others to become community builders.”
Top honours went to Evelyne Laishley, who made contributions to the Ottawa Health Research Institute, Queen’s University and the Canadian National Institute for the Blind before she died last year; Lawrence Greenspon, who volunteers with several charities and Aliai Lual, who devotes much of her time to empowering youth in her own community, across North America, and in her native South Sudan.
