Winners of the 2005 President's Circle Awards for Volunteerism

Imprint Publications
January 20, 2006
- Imprint Staff

Winners of the 2005 President's Circle Awards for Volunteerism

Established in 1997, the President's Circle Award recognizes and rewards students who demonstrate superior volunteerism throughout their community. Its 25th anniversary is celebrated by UW with 10 students who have demonstrated undying efforts in the betterment of the community. Winners of this award receive $250, largely supported by over 1,300 faculty and community members, as well as alumni and voluntary donors.

Darcy Higgins, a third-year environment and resource studies student, was nominated by the chair of his faculty.
At the university, he volunteers with the UW Campus Greens, (which is responsible for hosting a variety of events and speakers on environmental and social issues), the ERS Student Association, (a first-year oriented community-builder for academic and social events), and the University of Waterloo Sustainability Project, (which is responsible for various environmental initiatives on campus).
Campus Greens began only 18 months ago and was co-initiated by Higgins. In his home town of Sarnia, Higgins volunteered with PeaceWorks, a group that promotes peace and justice issues, alongside the Sarnia Urban Wildlife Committee, a group which preserves native wildlife habitat in the city. Like the UW Campus Greens, PeaceWorks is a newly formed organization founded three years ago by Higgins and other community members, as a response to the war in Iraq.
While the other recipients enjoyed a break from volunteering during the ceremony in their honour, Darcy was busy taking advantage of the presence of those in attendance to discuss issues of sustainability.
Higgins has spoken with UW President David Johnston as well as others at the university regarding the increasing need for sustainability on campus.
Interactions between Johnston and Higgins began when Higgins, with the support of other campus organizations, wrote a letter to Johnston. He was informed of his nomination while writing a letter to the president requesting to implement a Sustainability Co-ordinator and an Office of Sustainability for the university, which was signed by ten groups.
After showing an interest in activism and environmental issues Higgins began volunteering as a way to improve environmental integrity and hopes that sustainability can be attained on a global level, by people taking action locally. He attempts to do this by recognizing where there is a need and reacting in a positive way to fill the gap.
Higgins encourages students to get involved in the issues that they care most about and to make small lifestyle changes that will benefit the environment.

Melissa Ireland
This english rhetoric and professional writing student nominated by Renato Capuruco Costa divides her time amongst various groups. Melissa is an executive board member for Anishnabeg Outreach, an aboriginal employment and training organization serving Kitchener, Cambridge and Guelph. As well, she is a representative of the SUNDANCE Committee, a conglomeration of UW, Wilfrid Laurier University and the University of Guelph that is chiefly concerned with creating an Aboriginal bursary fund by promotion of cultural events, and CKMS Radio, host of the show, "The Bruised Elbow," which airs every Wednesdays at 5:00 p.m.
Additionally she's a member of the UW Aboriginal Students' Association, volunteers for Aboriginal Student Services on campus, helping UW's first and second Annual Pow Wows and Monthly Fry Bread and Soup Days, and she is a member of the Mino Ode Kwewak Nagomowak (Good Hearted Women Singer's Drum Group).
Ireland wanted to be involved with the Aboriginal community in the area and on campus. When first starting at UW she felt "there was no place to go culturally, socially or academically as an Aboriginal person." Everything changed in 2003 when Jean Becker, an Aboriginal counseller at St. Paul's College, was hired. Now there is a place for Aboriginal students to go. "We are in the process of creating a strong community of First Nations, Inuit and Metis people at UW and I love being apart of that process."
Ireland volunteers because she thinks it is important to be "helping students by creating a community, a support system and a home away from home. There are many challenges that Aboriginal students face and the services Jean Becker provides are greatly welcomed and needed." As for her plans for the future, she hopes to one day to work in Ottawa dealing with Aboriginal policy. In the spring, Ireland plans on being a mentor in the UW Firekeepers program.

Lisa Mackey
After hearing about the President's Circle award from staff at Renison College, Lisa Mackey decided to nominate herself.
This fourth-year social development studies student volunteers at KidsAbility, (a school and therapy centre for children with disabilities) where she's worked in a speech and language classroom, a mixed disability classroom, swim therapy programs, a keyboarding camp and an ECE program. She also helps out with Project Read, (a program focused on aiding children in acquiring age appropriate literacy skills), and with the Renison Academic Student Council, where she holds the position of Academic council Representative and sits on the Scholarships and Awards Committee. This past summer Mackey and UW Graduate Grace Skowronski, took the initiative to co-organize a charity dinner and silent auction with all proceeds donated to KidsAbility. The event raised $24,849.
She began volunteering at a few different places as a way to help her decide what path she wanted to follow career-wise. She continued volunteering with KidsAbility after finding she enjoyed the experience so much. Hoping to be more involved on campus, she began volunteering at RASC this past year.
When asked what she gets out of volunteering Mackey replied, "I volunteer primarily because I enjoy it. I particularly love having the opportunity to work with children. Also, I feel that volunteering affords me not only the chance to give back to my community, but to develop a variety of competencies."
This social development studies student plans on attending teacher's college in the fall and eventually becoming a special education teacher. Mackey believes that "having volunteered at KidsAbility and Project Read, I am confident in this career path."

Stephen Utz
Not knowing about the President's Circle Award beforehand, Stephen Utz was honoured to be nominated by his academic advisor, Edith Cardwell.
Utz has volunteered with a number of places including Imprint, the Waterloo and UW Curling Club and with his faculty. At the Curling Club, he contributes his time to teaching others how to play the sport. He is a very dedicated member of the university, which he proved to his faculty by his work during the Graduate's orientation week. He also volunteers with the Welland Curling Club and the environmental studies coffee shop where in both cases, he proved to have a knack for finance.
He began volunteering at a young age in his hometown of Welland. While in high school, Utz, along with others, would raise $30,000 every year for the Welland Curling Club in order to reduce the cost for young curlers. More recently, he could also be credited for helping save the coffee shop when they were on the verge of bankruptcy by assisting in formulating a "profit/cost breakdown."
This student, currently working towards his masters in planning, intends to work in consulting. He also says that it is important to have a balanced lifestyle and volunteering has helped him with that.

Emma Guild was nominated by a fellow worker at Synaesthesia.
Having known about the President's Circle Award, but not the details, the joint honours science and psychology student thinks it is a wonderful award because volunteerism is not often recognized and that it is "important to recognize youth volunteers that are doing all this on top on their course load and everything else."
Being from this area, Guild volunteers at the Kitchener-Waterloo Community Foundation, which is a large endowment fund where she serves on the board of directors. Emma is a chair on the Youth Advisory Council (YAC), which is a group of youth operating within community foundations. She began with YAC in Grade 8 and got more involved as time went on. This third-year student also invests time in researching the 40-hour community service requirement in collaboration with the Ontario Network of the Canada Volunteerism Initiative (OCVI), in trying to find a better way to incorporate these hours into highschool curricula.
This volunteer wants to teach young people about endowments and granting. She also wants the youth to know that it is important that they begin to realize where the needs are in the community.
Guild enjoys doing psychology research and hopes to continue when done graduate school. Her work with the OCVI has helped her with her goal.

Jackie Lee
Before being nominated by John Heckburt, a development analyst, Jackie Lee also did not know much about the President's Circle Award.,
This honours science student volunteers at the Kitchener-Waterloo Friendship Group. Members of this group volunteer their time by visiting seniors before they move into nursing homes. Lee also volunteers as a banquet director with Impact, "a non-profit, non-political, independent organization run entirely by student volunteers from across Canada" that promotes entrepreneurship. They organize many events, one of which includes an Apprentice-like competition currently in the works.
After being heavily active in highschool, Lee admits to not being as involved as she wanted to be in her first two years of university. In her third year, she decided to attend Clubs Day where she signed up for both the KW Friendship Group and Impact.
She feels the experience was a positive one because she was able to "give back and it was great being connected to a lot of people I wouldn't have met just through classes."
In the future, Lee would like to go into sales. She feels her experience with Impact as a director has helped her in many aspects which will help her attain a career in sales.

Andres Fuentes Martinez
Second year political science and Latin american studies student Martinez first found out about the award when he was nominated by Linda Snyder, assistant professor of social work at Renison College.
One of his accomplishments as a volunteer was organizing a trip for youths between the ages of 16-20 to Guatemala, where they built a community centre. On a Kitchener-Waterloo council, he brings a multicultural approach to different organizations that provide services to the public. Martinez also volunteers as St. Jerome's University's treasurer and at the Kitchener Waterloo Multicultural Centre where he assists with Spanish-English translations. Andre believes that if his skills can aid others, use them.
This second-year student started volunteering at the Multicultural Centre with a little push from his mother who works there. Although his interest in volunteering at the centre began with his mother, the trip to Central America was completely self-initiated. Andres believed it would be a win-win situation - the people in Guatemala would gain a new community centre and the youth would benefit from the experience of visiting a remote village. "[The people there] live without electricity and all the amenities that we have and somehow they get through life."
When Andres is done school, he hopes to have a career in international law or obtain a PhD in foreign affairs.

Ashley Honsberger
After looking through the classified ads in Imprint, Ashley Honsberger knew she was a good candidate for the President's Circle Award even though it was the first time she had heard about it
Honsberger volunteers through the Friends program, which is a division of the Canadian Mental Health Association where she is partnered one-on-one with a younger student. The program teams up volunteers with students who may be having trouble in the classroom environment, making them a sort of "peer supporter." Honsberger, a fourth-year honours english student, began working with Friends in her first year at UW. Since then, she has committed to an hour per week with her youths.
Honsberger has been thinking of attending teacher's college in the future. She enjoys working with kids and feels her experience as a volunteer will help her in the future.
She encourages everyone to get out and perform some community service. "There's schools nearby people can walk to if they want volunteer experience, - volunteers [for the Friends program] are always needed."

Astha Ramaiya
A health studies international student, Astha Ramaiya found out about the President's Circle Award for the first time when she read about it in the Daily Bulletin, found on the University's official website.
When asked about her self-nomination, Ramaiya stated, "I thought I should apply because I'm doing so many things."
This third-year student is the president of the Hindu Students Association where she organizes various Hindu events, such as Navaratri, a cultural dance incorporating the dandiya, a stick-like prop. She also volunteers as a fundraising director for University of Waterloo International Heath Development Association (UWIHDA), as well as the University of Waterloo Food bank, a local temple, and by providing international information for humanitarian relief. Also, she has worked at a leprosy village in Tanzania and at Health Services where she speaks to frosh about alcohol and drug use.
Ramaiya began volunteering as a way to "improve the lives of people that are not as fortunate as you are. It's self-satisfaction - you know you're doing the right thing and for a good cause."
After receiving a degree in health studies, this volunteer is determined to work with a non-government organization. She plans to join the World Health Organization or the United Nations in Tanzania. One problem Astha hopes to fight, is AIDS, a predominant issue in our society today. Astha's interest in aiding the community extends from her local environment.

Pandora Yee, a psychology student, was nominated by Estelle Sun. She found out about the President's Circle Award by "stumbl[ing] upon the link by a quirk of fate the weekend before the due date."
Yee volunteers at the Kitchener Waterloo Sexual Assault Support Centre (KWSASC) ¬- a non-profit, feminist based organization that provides numerous services for sexual assault and sexual violence support. They also offer public education and counseling through a 24-hour Crisis and Support Line. She also volunteered at Planned Parenthood Waterloo Region (PPWR), another non-profit organization which provides sexual health information and referrals, and was the treasurer for the Undergraduate Psychology Society in 2004.
She began volunteering with the help of her sister in Vancouver, British Columbia. Having always expressed an interest in public service provisions, Pandora was given another chance to volunteer again when KWSASC was brought to her attention by a grad student. After getting started, she says she was "unable to stop, I just kept on signing up for more!"
When asked what she has gotten out of her volunteering experience, Yee replied, "Everyone I've met along the way has given me endless wisdom and support. My main inspiration and encouragement stems from the priceless hands on experiences and pleasure I get from the ability to help others."
Still not sure what her future holds, Yee's strongest interest currently remains in the bereavement counseling for children.