'Service above self' is the ideal-turned-reality the Rotary Club of Toronto West will celebrate next month at its 11th annual Youth Impact Awards.
Each year, Rotary recognizes individuals, organizations and businesses that have had a positive impact on youth in the Toronto area, through a record of meritorious service to youth, practical experience in youth development activities, demonstrated leadership in promoting the importance of helping youth.This year the honours belong to:- Lifetime Achievement Award recipient Zeke O'ConnorA New York City native, O'Connor came north to play football for the Toronto Argonauts in 1952 and became a Canadian citizen in 1975. While his career on the playing fields has been a distinguished one - he was a member of the NCAA Championship team for Notre Dame University in 1946 and 1947, played in the NFL for six seasons for teams such as the Buffalo Bills, Detroit Lions, and Cleveland Browns, and brought home the Grey Cup in 1952 as a member of the Argos - his most lasting impact began with a chance encounter with Sir Edmund Hillary in northern Quebec's La Verendrye Park. Both were testing out camping equipment for Sears-Roebuck at the time, and thus began a long and unique friendship.The pair visited Nepal together for the first time in 1973 - a trip that "hooked" O'Connor on Nepal. Two years later, O'Connor founded the Sir Edmund Hillary Foundation of Canada to assist Hillary with his work for the sherpa people of the Solu Khumbu area of Nepal. During his more than 30 years as founder and president of the foundation, O'Connor has helped raise more than $5 million to build schools, hospitals, medical clinics, provide medical scholarships, train village health workers, build water pipelines, bridges, trekking paths during flash floods, and to fully fund the Kunde Hospital.O'Connor also sits on the National Advisory Board of the Canadian Special Olympics and is a founder of the Nepal Special Olympics. - Youth Under 18 Award recipient Sophia Gran-Ruaz Six years ago, the then-11-year-old Sophia started her own charity - Snug as a Bug, Kids Helping Kids - to provide care packages to children and teens staying in local shelters, bringing them comfort during trying times. To date, 10,000 children and teens in nine shelters across the GTA have received Snug as a Bug packages and Sophia is currently making 3,000 more to be delivered in February 2010.- Youth Under 25 Award recipient Olga Lesau The Etobicoke School of the Arts grad, who's now studying International Business Administration at York University, sat as president on her high school charity club and approached numerous organizations about collaborating on a fundraising initiative to build an elementary school in the Masai Mara region of Kenya through Free the Children. Also, as a youth coordinator Lesau took on a leadership role with Lakeshore Art's Art4Hope Benefit Show and Sale, which involved six months of planning all aspects of timed art show and sale, which raised $3,000 in just an hour. Lesau was also vice president of the student council at ESA, was a clan leader at the fourth World Youth Congress in 2008, and is founder of Etudiants Francophones at York.- Community Organization Award recipient ProAction Cops and KidsBy funding programs that bring cops and kids at risk together, ProAction helps create an environment of mutual understanding and respect. Since 1991, ProAction has funded close to a thousand programs for more than 300,000 youth with more than $4 million in donations. More than 6,000 participating police officers have donated their time to nurture relationships with kids at risk on camping trips, on the basketball court and at after-school programs - keeping kids both engaged and optimistic and motivated. - Individual Award recipient Dominic Kahn The two-time national rowing champion and former coach of Canada's national rowing team, founded the Bayside Rowing Club in 1993 to make the sport more readily available to children of all socioeconomic backgrounds. In 1994, Kahn launched a program for kids at risk, bringing inner city kids out of the city to practice and compete in a rowing league for free. Over the last 16 years, more than 5,000 Toronto kids have come through the program, several of them going on to graduate from such elite rowing schools as Princeton, Harvard and Yale.This year, Kahn re-launched the program as the Eric the Red Rowing League for Kids, with a new style of boat and coaching techniques. In this inaugural year, more than 550 kids from Regent Park, Flemingdom Park, Crescent Town, St. James Town and Parkdale participated. - Business Award recipient The Argos FoundationWhile many equate the Argos with their proud status as winners of 15 Grey Cup Championships, the football team's business organization has also given back to the community through programs targeted specifically at youth. In August 2005, the foundation launched its Stop the Violence campaign in response to increased gun violence, and followed that up shortly thereafter with three subsequent programs: Huddling Up Against Bullying; Leveling the Playing Field; and a youth mentorship program, which is specifically designed for youth incarcerated in youth detention centres. The team visits 60 schools and 35,000 students in the GTA each year.Since its inception 11 years ago, the Youth Impact Award gala has raised in excess of $240,000 from the sale of tickets, corporate sponsorships, and from proceeds of event silent auctions and raffles. All monies raised are reinvested in youth at risk.This year's banquet and auction night to raise funds in support of Rotary's work with youth at risk in the community will take place at The Old Mill, 21 Old Mill Rd., on Friday, Jan. 29. The silent auction will open at 5:30 p.m., and dinner will start at 7 p.m. Tickets to the event are $125 per person and prices include a tax receiptable donation to the Rotary Club of Toronto West Charity Trust. To purchase tickets, call 416-352-5626 or talk to any member of the club. Go to www.rtwevents.com for more information.