FCSS honours Smoky Region volunteers

Local Journalism Initiative
·2 min read

It is an occasion that is eagerly anticipated by Smoky River Family and Community Support Services (FCSS) staff each year, as a way to recognize those who give their time to make others’ lives a little brighter.

The annual Volunteer Appreciation Night was held at the Jean Cote Hall on April 19, and FCSS’s community program coordinator Anita Portsmouth says the evening was filled with camaraderie and fellowship as they presented awards and special recognition certificates to exemplary volunteers from the region.

“I believe that volunteer appreciation events are important as it’s a way for the community to say ‘Thank You’ to those who share their time and talents by volunteering and making our communities a better place to be,” says Portsmouth.

“These individuals are very important to our communities,” she adds.

Special certificates were given to volunteers who made time to help cook, drive people to functions, or assist the FCSS crew in a variety of events in the region.

“Volunteers are the heart and soul of what make a community great,” says Portsmouth.

“We are very lucky to have so many wonderful individuals who are willing to help out in so many areas. Without volunteers we wouldn’t have the halls, playgrounds, sports, programs and so much more within our beautiful municipalities.”

Among award winners were Volunteer-of-the-Year Paige Rey, Youth Volunteer-of-the-Year Teanna Campbell, Volunteer Family-of-the-Year the Iserts (inclusive of Dwayne, Cheryl, Emma, Elizabeth, and Dwayne Junior), and Lifetime Volunteer-of-the-Year Lucille Bussiere.

Portsmouth says that FCSS director Crystal Tremblay was surprised with a special recognition from Smoky River Fire and Rescue fire chief Marcel Maure. This award was given to her as a symbol and to give thanks for her dedication and commitment during wildfire evacuation. She received a new office chair as a thank you for all her hard work.

FCSS thanks the many sponsors who helped by donating food, supplies, their time, and the awards to present to volunteers.

Emily Plihal Local Journalism Initiative Reporter - South Peace News - southpeacenews.com

Emily Plihal, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, South Peace News

  • Up next
  • Up next
  • Up next
  • Up next

Latest Stories

  • 3 dead, 5 injured in evening boat crash north of Kingston

    Three people are dead and five others injured in what police are calling a "horrible" collision involving two boats on a lake north of Kingston, Ont. Ontario Provincial Police say the crash happened in the Buck Bay area of Bobs Lake after 9:30 p.m. on Saturday. It involved "an open bow fishing-style boat" and a speedboat, they said.Emergency crews from surrounding regions, along with the 424 Transport and Rescue Squadron out of CFB Trenton, responded to the call around 9:45 p.m.OPP said two of t

  • They’ve been stuck for 7 weeks on the ship that crashed into a Baltimore bridge. This is what life is like for the Dali crew

    It could be weeks or even months before crew members can leave, due to complications beyond their control. Here’s why they’re still confined – and how they’re coping

  • Canadian teen says he was fined $580 at McDonald's drive-thru for using app; police dispute

    Mason Prima said he was fined $580 for opening the McDonald's app at a drive-thru in Saskatoon, Canada but police have rejected his story.

  • Los Angeles County Explains Why It Won’t Prosecute Diddy Despite Video

    REUTERSThe Los Angeles District Attorney’s office has revealed why it won’t be prosecuting Sean “Diddy” Combs after horrific footage showed him brutally attacking his then-girlfriend Cassie Ventura at a hotel.The office said in an Instagram post that because the alleged attack happened on March 5, 2016, the window to prosecute has lapsed. California’s statute of limitations for simple assault is one year, while aggravated assault is three years. “We are aware of the video that has been circulati

  • Arizona man sentenced to natural life in prison for the 2017 death of his wife, who was buried alive

    An Arizona man has been sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for the 2017 death of his wife, who was buried alive in a hand-dug grave near their home, authorities said. Seven years after the murder, David Pagniano decided to plead guilty before his trial was scheduled to start and allowed a judge to determine his sentence without a plea agreement. Pagniano, 62, also was sentenced on May 9 to a 16 ½-year prison term for kidnapping, forgery and fraud, according to the Yavapai County Attorney’s Office.

  • Parents of 13-year-old girl killed in Lake Rosseau boat crash say other boat driver involved collision was impaired

    The parents of a 13-year-old girl killed in a Lake Rosseau boat crash say other boat driver involved collision was impaired. Quinn Cammaert was killed, and her mother suffered critical injuries, in a 2021 boat crash. Catherine McDonald reports.

  • Mansfield nursery worker smeared leftovers in toddler's face

    Helen Walker, 49, was caught on CCTV immediately trying to cover up what she had done, police said.

  • 17-year-old girl sex trafficked from Mexico to US is rescued after texting 911 for help

    A 17-year-old girl, a trafficking victim, was rescued by the Ventura County Sheriff's Office in California after texting 911, authorities said.

  • Officials seize around $500,000 worth of elvers from Toronto's Pearson airport

    TORONTO — A major seizure of baby eels at Toronto's Pearson International Airport that federal officials say were destined for shipment overseas are estimated to be worth between $400,000 and $500,000. The seizure of 109 kilograms of elvers was carried out on Wednesday by the Department of Fisheries and Oceans and the Canada Border Services Agency. "Our message is crystal clear: do not travel to Nova Scotia to illegally fish or export elvers this year, enforcement officers will be waiting for yo

  • Republicans who showed up at Trump’s NYC trial were way out of their lane | Opinion

    A shameful attempt by Speaker Johnson and others in NYC to tip the scales of justice | Letters

  • "He Had Killed His Own Son, Niece, And Brother Later That Day" And 26 More Terrifying Stories About People Who Encountered Or Knew Killers

    "I look up and make eye contact and he had more blood splattered on his face, and a huge grin."

  • ‘We’ll See You at Your House:’ How Fear and Menace Are Transforming Politics

    One Friday last month, Jamie Raskin, a Democratic member of Congress from Maryland, spent a chunk of his day in court securing a protective order. It was not his first. Raskin, who played a leading role in Donald Trump’s second impeachment hearing, said he received about 50 menacing calls, emails and letters every month that are turned over to the Capitol Police. His latest court visit was prompted by a man who showed up at his house and screamed in his face about the COVID-19 vaccine, Trump’s i

  • Israeli army finds bodies of 3 hostages in Gaza killed at Oct. 7 music festival

    JERUSALEM (AP) — The Israeli military said Friday its troops in Gaza found the bodies of three Israeli hostages killed by Hamas during its Oct. 7 attack, including German-Israeli Shani Louk. A photo of 22-year-old Louk's twisted body in the back of a pickup truck ricocheted around the world and brought to light the scale of the militants’ attack on communities in southern Israel. The military identified the other two bodies as those of a 28-year-old woman, Amit Buskila, and a 56-year-old man, It

  • 2 missing people found dead in Whitehorse's Schwatka Lake

    Two people who were reported missing earlier this week have been found dead. The bodies of Alexander Donald Walter Williams, 36, and Shyann Kyla-Lee Hazel Williams, 24, were recovered from a vehicle in Schwatka Lake in Whitehorse on Thursday. The Yukon coroner issued a press release on Friday afternoon. It says police responded to a car accident on Miles Canyon Road on Wednesday night. One of the vehicles had driven off the road into Schwatka Lake. The car was recovered from the lake on Thursday

  • ‘How do you get hypothermia in a prison?’ Records show hospitalizations among Virginia inmates

    RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — The Virginia State Police investigator seemed puzzled about what the inmate was describing: “unbearable” conditions at a prison so cold that toilet water would freeze over and inmates were repeatedly treated for hypothermia. “How do you get hypothermia in a prison?” the investigator asked. “You shouldn’t.” The exchange, captured on video obtained by The Associated Press, took place during an investigation into the death of Charles Givens, a developmentally disabled inmate at

  • SIU investigating woman's death after arrest in Barrie

    Ontario's police watchdog is investigating after a 28-year-old woman died in hospital Saturday morning after she was arrested in Barrie. Barrie police arrested the woman on Thursday near 49 Colter Street for outstanding warrants, the province's Special Investigations Unit (SIU) said in a news release Saturday. She was taken to the station and held in a cell.On Friday, Ontario police transported the woman from the Barrie police station to Central North Correctional Centre, the SIU said. The woman

  • Overnight fires may be linked to Toronto tow truck wars

    Two fires in Scarborough are under investigation and could be linked to ongoing turf wars in the GTA towing industry. As Sean O’Shea reports, they’re just the latest in a growing number of suspicious fires.

  • 'Temper justice with mercy' Gov. Shapiro ask Turks and Caicos to send US residents home

    Bryan Hagerich went on a family vacation to Turks and Caicos. He was detained and faces 12 prison years at sentencing at end of May.

  • Andrei Donet found guilty of 2nd-degree murder of Jannai Dopwell-Bailey

    A jury found Andrei Donet guilty of the second-degree murder of 16-year-old Jannai Dopwell-Bailey. Donet was 18 when he was arrested in connection with the case in 2021. The second-degree murder conviction comes with an automatic life sentence in prison with no possibility of parole before 10 years.Dopwell-Bailey was fatally stabbed outside a high school in Montreal's Côte-des-Neiges district in 2021. Crown prosecutor Katerine Brabant said Donet's distinctive tattoos seen in a video he published

  • Man dead after being found shot inside car in Brampton, police say

    A man has died after he was found shot in a residential area in Brampton Saturday morning, police say.Peel Regional Police said they were called to the scene of a shooting at Mississauga Road and Sandalwood Parkway shortly before 7:30 a.m.When officers arrived they found the victim inside a car parked in a driveway at one of the residences at Ivor Crescent, Const. Richard Chin said.The man was taken to a local hospital with life-threatening injuries but later died, Chin said.Peel police's homici