Honoring this year’s recipients of the Mary Pack Volunteer Award

In honour of National Volunteer Week, Arthritis Society Canada is proud to announce the recipients of the Mary Pack Volunteer Awards, presented to our most dedicated and inspirational volunteers. 

This year’s recipients of the Mary Pack Volunteer Award are:  

• Mya Barnett (NS), who volunteers at our annual Celebrity Roast and is a passionate community advocate 
• Gilles Fournier (AB), who hosted virtual arthritis presentations to community groups across Canada, reaching 160 people 
• Eileen Davidson (BC), who is a passionate advocate, spokesperson, and Community Action Grant recipient for the Arthritis Social Hour program 
• Elizabeth Lewis (ON), who is an Arthritis Line volunteer and Peer Listener who connects with callers requiring additional emotional support  
• France Carbonneau (ON), who volunteers with Arthritis Line, Arthritis Connections, Aide entrAide, and many other initiatives 
• Laura Trenton (ON), who is a long-time Camp Counsellor and shares her artistic talents to support both Camp Ontario and Club Sunrise  
• Rachelle Chauvin (ON), who travels with AREP staff when they visit Elliot Lake six times a year, providing administrative support to the AREP team in this rural community  
• Keiko Kataoka (ON), who is a long-time advocacy volunteer who passionately shared her family’s journey with arthritis throughout the year to raise awareness of the disease 
• Janet Gunderson (SK), who is always willing to step up and share her voice as an advocacy and research volunteer highlighting the challenges faced by people living with arthritis in rural communities 
• Brett Bartlett (ON), who stepped up to volunteer at every Ontario fundraising event hosted last fiscal, during a year where it was challenging to recruit in-person volunteers 
• Camp Ontario Medical Team (Michelle Bridge, Jordynn Diebold, Michelle Diebold, Pamela Jarvis and Joey Laporte), who each played a key role in supporting 65 campers at Camp Tamakwa last summer 
• Natasha Trehan (ON), who founded the Take a Pain Check podcast, hosts regular Chill n Chat’s as part of the Club Sunrise program, and spearheaded the expansion of our backpack program to teens 
• Martha Tanner (ON), who provides significant administrative support to our AREP program through entering and managing AREP referrals in our database 

Named after our founder, these awards celebrate the exemplary commitment of our outstanding volunteers and the contributions they make to Arthritis Society Canada and the arthritis community.  

“Whether being a valuable resource to people living with arthritis through our Arthritis Line and Arthritis Connections peer support program, sitting on a committee, advocating to elected officials, or helping us fundraise, our wonderful volunteers are the backbone of Arthritis Society Canada,” says president and CEO Trish Barbato. “Congratulations to the Mary Pack Award winners and thank you to all of our volunteers for making a difference in the lives of the six million Canadians living with the fire of arthritis.”


 

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