A Barrhead resident joined more than 40 other Albertans in receiving the highest award that can be presented to a volunteer by the Canadian government.
Jeannine Kowalski was presented with the Sovereign’s Medal for Volunteers, on May 29, by Alberta’s Lt-Gov. Lois Mitchell along with Alberta’s Speaker of the House and MLA for Medicine Hat, Robert Wanner, at the Federal Building in Edmonton.
The Sovereign’s Medal recognizes living Canadians who have made a significant, sustained and unpaid contribution to their community, in Canada or abroad.
Barrhead and District FCSS advocacy and support co-ordinator, Robin Kapler, said she decided to nominate Kowalski on behalf of the organization for her work with the food bank. Kowalski is the food bank’s volunteer co-ordinator.
This is the first year the award has been given. It replaces the Governor General’s Caring Canadian award.
“It was so exciting to see Jeannine get her award,” Kapler said, who accompanied Kowalski. “She just brings a lot of leadership into the role and she is constantly going above and beyond to make sure tasks are completed. She gets things done.”
Kowalski said she was honoured not only to receive the award, but also to have been thought so highly of by her FCSS colleagues that they decided to nominate her.
“It actually came as a complete surprise,” she said, when she received an e-mail from the Governor General’s office saying she had won the award. “No one told me that they were going to be doing this.”
Kowalski first became involved with FCSS about seven years ago after retiring from Barrhead Composite High School (BCHS) where she was a junior high teacher.
“I just got tired of sitting at home and one day I decided that I needed to get doing something, so I came to FCSS and asked how I could be useful,” she said, adding they immediately put her to work in the food bank. “I have been here ever since.”
In addition to her time volunteering at FCSS, she spends a lot of time helping out at St. Anne’s Catholic Church with its many charitable projects.
Volunteerism has always been something Kowalski has tried to do.
While at BCHS, Kowalski was an active member of the school’s French travel club.
“I was also a member of the Rotary Club for many years, working with the student exchange program and at one time I served as their president,” she said.
In addition to the Sovereign’s award, in 2015, Kowalski was presented with the Alberta Centennial Award for Volunteers.
