The local communities in which the Neighbourhood Network Give Back award winners live are richer for their volunteerism, and now so are they.
The top 20 graduating students from Aurora, Georgina, King Township and Newmarket last night each received $1,000 from Magna International. They were selected for their outstanding volunteer contributions in sports, arts, seniors, children, the environment and more, which go well beyond the 40 hours of community service necessary to receive their high school diploma.
“We are truly honoured to celebrate this year’s recipients, all of whom have demonstrated an extraordinary commitment to community involvement,” Neighbourhood Network manager Erin Cerenzia said to a packed house at Magna International’s global headquarters in Aurora. “In fact, collectively, our 20 Give Back award recipients have donated over 8,000 hours of volunteer time.”
Neighbourhood Network is the charitable arm of Magna International that runs numerous philanthropic programs in the region, including the wildly successful, three-decades strong Magna Hoedown on the company’s expansive front lawn, an annual Holiday Gift Drive that has for a decade collected and distributed donations of gift cards, cash, food, clothing, toys and toiletries to its community partners, as well as a winter snow removal program for seniors and persons with disabilities, and more.
When Neighbourhood Network first began the Give Back awards nearly a decade ago, they were presented as part of the high school graduation ceremony. But in 2012, the not-for-profit group “took back” the Give Back awards ceremony and has been holding a special ceremony at Magna’s Atrium ever since, during national Volunteer Week held April 7 to 13.
Magna International’s planning director, Mike Hardman, encouraged the young winners to continue their community involvement as they go on post-secondary studies.
“Pursue your passion, whether it is sports, arts or music, and just continue helping other people. You’ll grow personally and better your community,” Hardman said. “The biggest impact Neighbourhood Network has is behind-the scenes. It has more than 14,000 volunteers and over 400 partners in York Region. It’s the place where many people can go if they want to volunteer and do something in the community.”
The award winners and their families were joined by Magna for Community manager Steve Hinder, Newmarket Mayor John Taylor, Aurora Mayor Tom Mrakas, and East Gwillimbury Mayor Virginia Hackson.
Neighbourhood Network volunteer ambassadors presented the $1,000 awards to the recipients from their respective locales, including Tim Jones for Aurora, Tom Taylor from Newmarket, and Susan Boyne-Bird from East Gwillimbury.
Here are the 2019 Give Back award winners, along with a short statement of their accomplishments:
Ryan Chen - Sacred Heart Catholic High School
Chen’s ambitious and proactive attitude has made him a true asset to his school and community. He has spent more than 1,000 hours volunteering at summer camps and Mackenzie Health. At school, he is a member of many organizing committees and is responsible for school dances, designing graduation sweaters, and organizing and coaching sport teams. He enjoys working with and for others. Volunteering has been self-rewarding because helping others gives Chen a sense of purpose.
Madison Coker - Sacred Heart Catholic High School
For Coker, giving back isn’t just about doing the minimum, it is about going above and beyond, and putting other people’s needs before her own. She volunteers at the East Gwillimbury Skating Club, supports the Knights of Columbus, assists at an equestrian summer riding camp, participates in Relay for Life, is an active member of student council, and she recently held a leadership role as the director of her school’s major theater production.
Stephanie Payne - Sacred Heart Catholic High School
Payne volunteers for the Town of Newmarket by participating in community cleanups, coaches basketball, volunteers for BOOST, which is a child abuse prevention and intervention agency in Toronto. She also participates in the Relay for Life, tutors, and she is part of Sacred Heart’s student mentor and health and wellness programs. Payne volunteers because she enjoys seeing the positive impact she has had on individuals and the community.
Su Gulerman - Newmarket High School
When Gulerman first started volunteering, she didn’t think much of it, it was just something she had to do for high school, but by the end of Grade 9, her hobby became helping others, and volunteering quickly became a big part of her life. She is dedicated to making a difference within the community of Newmarket. Gulerman has devoted her time to The Rotary Club, the Air Show, Polo for Heart and the Tween Club at the Keswick library. Her most rewarding volunteer experiences was when she volunteered in Costa Rica, where she assisted in orphanages and animal rescue centers. Gulerman hopes to attend the University of Toronto, but no matter where her journey takes her, whereever she is and whatever she ends up doing, her passion for volunteering and giving back will always stay with her.
Olivia McElrea - Newmarket High School
For McElrea, giving back is one of the most important things someone should do in their life. One of her greatest attributes is how much she cares for others, no matter what the task or duty she is always giving 100 per cent and always goes the extra mile. McElrea has been a committed longtime volunteer for the Relay for Life, and last year her team raised $66,000 for the Canadian Cancer Society. She co-chairs the York Region Arts Council and is president of the Me to We Club at school. McElrea volunteers simply because she can and will take on every opportunity to help make a positive impact. She plans on attending university to get a degree in political science. No matter what she does, she will continue to volunteer and will strive to make a positive change for individuals and communities that need it the most.
Kara Hunt - Huron Heights Secondary School
Hunt is an active volunteer in her community and school. She’s passionate about giving back and her volunteering started during her elementary school years. It is something that has followed her through her high school years. Hunt is part of her high school’s holiday dinner, where she cooks and serves for people in her community that are in need. She has been involved in acting in summer camps and she is also part of the Canadian Play Festival. Giving back to Hunt is more than giving up time during a day, giving back is leaving an everlasting impression on someone’s life.
Mariana Koruni - Sir William Mulock Secondary School
Koruni is a hard-working and committed student who is described to be an outstanding member of her school’s academic and social community. She has completed more than 1,000 volunteer hours at a variety of places where she has helped a wide range of individuals. Within her community, she has been involved with organizations such as Girls Inc., Upper Canada Childcare Centre, St. John’s Church Parish Office, and Southlake Regional Health Centre. Within her school, she takes part in the Math Contest Club, and she tutors her peers. Koruni is passionate about helping others and does what she can to make a difference in people’s lives.
Samantha Surtees - Sir William Mulock Secondary School.
Surtees started giving back at a very young age. In elementary school, she often spent her recesses helping kindergarten students, where she was a reading buddy for Grade 1 students and also offered support in the special needs classroom. Throughout her high school years, she has been volunteering for the Town of Newmarket summer camps, coaches youth soccer and hockey teams, helped at local retirement homes, and started a girl’s hockey and lacrosse team at her school. Surtees gives back to her community by volunteering because she simply loves the feeling of helping others. She is excited about her future and cannot wait to travel the world and teach in underdeveloped countries.
Adamo Crescenzi - Cardinal Carter Catholic High School
Crescenzi has volunteered his time as student council vice-president and camp counsellor for Grade 9 retreats. Through the City of Vaughan, he volunteered by assisting kids with disabilities, coached soccer teams, and has been involved with his church’s youth group. Crescenzi volunteers to help others and to better the community. Following graduation, he will be attending Ryerson University where he will study criminology. During his time as a law student, he hopes to spend time volunteering at the John Howard Society, which is a non-profit organization that seeks to develop understanding and effective responses to the problem of crime and prison reform.
Jeremy Doucette - Ecole Secondaire Catholique Renaissance
Doucette volunteers with many clubs and organizing committees, such as prom, multicultural and Phoenix day. He is actively volunteering within his community at Arts Society King, Seniors Expos and the Dufferin Marsh cleanup. He is the leader of the Environmental Club and is the Grade 12 representative on student council. To Doucette, volunteering means giving back through donations, commitment, dedication, time and using his skills to better the world one worthy cause at a time.
Rachel Gallagher - Dr. G.W Williams Secondary School
Throughout her high school career, Gallagher has made it her priority to volunteer within her school and community. She has led many bake sales and has been involved with many fundraising events such as Lemons for Leukemia, Newmarket’s Coldest Night of the Year and local toy drives. She spends a significant amount of time at the Aurora Sunrise Seniors Living Centre and has participated in multiple Habitat for Humanity build days. Gallagher strives to give recognition and a helping hand to those within her community who often get overlooked due to age, poverty or illness. She wants to make every group within her community feel valued and validated.
Faith Gunn - Sutton District High School
Giving back to the community means the world to Gunn. She has devoted her time at the Sutton and Newmarket farmers markets, volunteers at a soup kitchen for her local church, and spends hours at her community pool. She also participates in numerous events at her high school, such as the annual holiday dinner, dances, Relay for Life and other student council events. Gunn believes that if everyone could lend a helping hand, our communities would be happier and better places.
Nicole In - Dr. G.W Williams Secondary School
In finds joy and purpose in helping others, and she believes that volunteering holds the potential of changing the local community and world in a positive way. She volunteers for the Canadian Cancer Society, Best Buddies Club, is a leader of a peer mentor group, a head executive of the Me to We club, and she is a committed volunteer for Compassions Canada. Through her volunteer experiences, she has learned that small actions can have a significant positive impact on the lives of others. Giving back simply means sharing what she can, whether it be a certain skill, or simply time for those that need assistance.
Darcy O’Reilly - St. Maximillian Kolbe Catholic High
For O’Reilly, giving back is an opportunity to help make the world a better place, one individual at a time. Over the years, O’Reilly has learned that change is a chain reaction. One small action or initiative within a community can inspire others to do the same. She has spent hundreds of hours volunteering as a counsellor-in-training, coached special needs soccer teams, assisted with the Santa Claus Parade and tree planting. She has been the vice-president for her student council since 2017. Last year, O’Reilly became co-president of HOSA, a group dedicated to future health science professionals. Her volunteer experiences have inspired her to study behavioural development disorders.
Hannah Phillips - Sutton District High School
The main reason Phillips volunteers is her love for sports, more specifically, her passion for hockey, which has enabled her to help others through coaching and teaching young children how to play the game. Phillips score-keeps, plants trees for retirement homes, volunteers at the town of Georgina Snow-fest, walks in the Scotiabank Waterfront race in Toronto and was part of the Can-skate program where she helped teach children how to skate.
Rafael Sakarya - Ecole Secondaire Catholique Renaissance
Sakarya volunteers because he likes to help others and make people happy, whether a small donation of his time or planning a significant event that requires a lot of energy. He volunteers because it gives him the ability to make a bigger impact in his community and in society. Sakarya has been a camp counsellor, helped with sports teams, and is currently president of student council. He enjoys public speaking at events where he can share his personal experiences.
Maryam Samimi - Aurora High School
Volunteering has been a roller-coaster of emotions and experiences for Samimi, from volunteering at local libraries to Southlake Regional Health Centre. Her experiences range from different fields such as health care, education and child development. Samimi is founder of a not-for-profit organization called Reading with Superstars, which advocates for children’s educational rights. Through this organization she was able to donate hundreds of books to a government school in her home town of Sharjah, United Arab Emirates. Samimi volunteers because it allows her to explore her strengths, find her identity, and she wants to be a good example for her younger brother. She truly believes that community involvement is necessary for a brighter and more fulfilling future.
Jessica Somerville - King City Secondary School
Somerville has spent about 900 hours volunteering. She volunteers because she enjoys helping others and seeing positive outcomes first-hand has given her a sense of satisfaction. Giving back means creating opportunities for youth, being a good role model, and leaving a lasting impression on someone’s life. Somerville’s volunteer contributions range from environmental projects to activities involving youth. She continues to help at her former elementary school fundraisers, summer camps, and is an active member for the King Township Mayors Youth Action Team.
Rebecca Streef - St. Maximillian Kolbe Catholic High School
Streef started giving back because she wanted to become involved in her community and she joined clubs at schools to meet like-minded peers. She has spent a lot of time working with her school’s Best Buddies Club, has volunteered as a peer mentor, been vice-president of her school’s eco-team since Grade 10 and, on top of it all, she even donates her time at the local arena snack bar. Volunteering and giving back are important for Streef because she realizes how impactful her contribution has been to her community and school. Her various efforts within her clubs have ensured that her school community is practicing and celebrating inclusion, friendship and equity.
Jack Viney - Aurora High School
Viney is very involved within his community, spending hours of his time volunteering with the Aurora Minor Hockey Association, Aurora Youth Soccer, the Country Day School, Habitat for Humanity and the Town of Aurora with events such as the Arctic Adventure, Ribfest, the Haunted Forest and Hometown Hockey. Viney volunteers because he feels it is important to give back to organizations that taught him so much when he was a young child. He also enjoys helping children and those in need.
To learn more about Neighbourhood Network or the Give Back Awards, call 905-726-3737 or email [email protected], or visit here.
