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Village names Community Spirit Award winner

Lisa Cardinal recognized for her volunteer work with the Boyle Food Bank 
Lisa Cardinal web
She wasn’t very thrilled to have her picture taken, especially at work, especially with a mask, but Lisa Cardinal’s eyes were smiling last week when she learned she had won the Village of Boyle’s Community Spirit Award for 2020 for her work with the Boyle Food Bank.

BOYLE – There's one thing Lisa Cardinal wants everyone to know — the work she does for the food bank in Boyle, she does not do alone — it is a community effort, and everyone who helps out, even a little bit, deserves an award of their own. 

She wants to make that clear. She’s modest; humble. She doesn’t like the attention. That didn’t stop the Village of Boyle from recognizing her with the Community Spirit Award last week though. 

The Community Spirit Award is presented annually to an individual or group who has made a special contribution throughout the year to the Boyle community, and this year that individual is Lisa Cardinal. 

Village councillors made it official at their Dec. 16 meeting, after reviewing a glowing nomination letter from resident Donna Clark, who pointed out Cardinal works full-time at Field’s and has a family to care for as well — including four sons. 

“Lisa manages everything, the picking up of donations at various businesses, stocking shelves, shopping for needed items, filling and giving out hampers when the food bank is open. Her sons help her when they can and she is there long after the food bank is closed, sorting and cleaning,” Clark wrote. 

Councillors Barb Smith and Shelby Kiteley supported the nomination full-heartedly. Smith said she even wrote a nomination letter of her own. 

Christmas is an extremely busy time for food banks, and this year the community generously donated enough food and kids’ toys to fill hampers for 95 families in the area, and Cardinal would have filled them all if given the chance, as Kiteley would attest. 

The Angels in Motion group, of which Kiteley is a part, helped with the food and toy drive. 

“I went over there to help her. And what she accomplished in two or three days of being at the food bank was absolutely unbelievable. It's just her and her boys that she recruits to help,” said Kiteley. “But she handed out over 95 hampers. And had we not been there, she would have done it herself — without question — She would have just done it. That woman is amazing.” 

With Clark’s nomination, and the support of the two councillors, there wasn’t a lot else council needed to know before making the unanimous decision. 

"It doesn't seem like a very difficult decision ... it sounds to me like she's very worthy of recognition for sure,” said mayor Colin Derko. 

“She’s unbelievable,” reiterated Kiteley. “She has a lot on her plate personally, and she just goes out there and does it because that's who she is as a person. It's amazing what she does.” 

“It’s people like her that make this community what it is,” said Derko, adding that he encouraged those who complain about the village on social media, but never get involved, to go work alongside Cardinal for a few days. “This is a lady they need to work beside, from what it sounds like ... and they'll come up with a different attitude.” 

“I’m so proud to be able to give it to a lady like this for sure.” 

 

“I’ve been there” 

Cardinal was completely unaware of the accolades from the village when the Advocate reached out to her for a reaction last week. She said she would act surprised though. 

“It kind of feels good, but I feel like it's not just me that does it. There are a lot of other people that helped me do it. I'm stepping stone, and there are so many others that help at the food bank that should be recognized as well,” said Cardinal. 

The drive to keep helping comes from a sense of empathy she has with those who reach out in their times of need. She knows what it’s like not to know where to turn next, and she knows what it’s like to have to ask for help. 

“I like to do a lot for the food bank, because at one point in my life I used a food bank, and I know what it’s like, being in a hard spot and going, ‘Oh my God, now what?’ So, being able to help somebody get out of that is a good feeling, for sure,” she said. 

“That's what really pushes me to want to keep doing it — because I've been there — that's really why I do what I do. It's not because of wanting to be recognized for anything or wanting to be praised for the things I do, because I don't.” 

She remembers feeling ashamed at having to reach out for help and didn’t want others to know she was relying on the food bank. 

“It’s horrible for people to have to feel that way,” she said, adding she’s perfectly willing to work with clients in any way that makes them more comfortable. 

“And, I mean, if it's after hours, whatever, as long as they're comfortable, and they're getting food. That's all that matters. If it means me going out 50 times a day to meet them or making arrangements to do it, I'll do it — as long as they're getting food, that's always my biggest priority.” 

Cardinal has such a connection with clients she says she can “almost read them like a book, and know this person is really struggling. My heart breaks for them and I do whatever I have to do … I just do it because it's the right thing.” 

She has a good feeling about the future of the food bank in Boyle too, especially after the donation drive that just wrapped up in the village. And for as much work as she put into it herself, it’s the businesses, individuals and organizations — the community, as a whole — that she thanks the most. 

“We did it with flying colours. And our shelves are still looking really nice for January. They're still sitting really nice after 95 hampers went out, and I'm not worried. Between the gift cards that came in that'll help us restock for a couple more months, and the cash donations that have been applied to our prepaid accounts, we’re sitting really well,” said Cardinal. “The donations from the community were unbelievable. I've done Christmas food hampers through the food bank for a couple of years now, and this year I think was by far one of the best years that we had.” 

 

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