Page 8 - The Brandon Sun - 2017 Community Leader Awards

8 • COMMUNITY LEADER AWARDS THE BRANDON SUN • THURSDAY, JUNE 22, 2017

» VOLUNTEER AWARD

Wells credits rural
upbringing as
reason for award

BY MICHAELA SOLOMON

A rural upbringing, employer support, and a life-long desire Jackie Wells (left), seen with the Brandon Regional Health Centre Foundation’s Cindy Buizer, won the Community Leader Award for
to make a difference are just a few of the reasons Jackie Wells volunteerism.
said she’s been such an active member of the Brandon
community for nearly four decades. of her parents. She recalled feeling somewhat lost until
volunteering with Westman Dream for Kids helped put
Born and raised on a dairy farm north of Brandon, Wells is everything back in perspective.
the winner of the Community Leadership Award in the
volunteer category. “It really quickly puts you in a place where all you can do is
appreciate every day and what you’ve got.”
Wells said her first taste of community support came when
she was young. Her father fell sick, so the community helped When she gives her time to others, she feels she benefits from
their family with daily farm work. it just as much as they do.

“If it wasn’t for neighbours and friends pulling together, I “I get a sense of purpose from volunteering,” she said. “It
don’t know how we would have managed,” Wells said. “That keeps me grounded and understanding. It reminds me to be
was a huge influence, and I think it was just ingrained in me grateful for every day that the sun shines and the birds sing —
that it’s important to give back to the community.” don’t take it for granted.”

For 36 years Wells has been working at RBC Royal Bank. In » The Brandon Sun
that time she’s had many roles at the bank, but is currently the
assistant to Terry Burgess, regional vice-president for Manitoba
West

It was Burgess who nominated Wells for the Community
Leadership Award.

“I started at the Royal Bank when I was 17,” Wells said. “It’s
a company that is very community minded.”

One of RBC’s community programs is the Employee
Volunteer Grant. This grant provides RBC employees, who
spend 40 hours per year volunteering at a registered charity, the
opportunity to donate $500 to the charity of their choice. For
years, Wells has used the money to help local elementary
schools. RBC also offers its Day of Service Grant, in which
teams of six people or more can apply for a $1,000 grant for a
chosen charity, and RBC Team Action Grants for charity pledge
events such as.

“We can have an impact in dollars, but we can also really
have an impact in hours,” Wells said.

After losing her mother to cancer and her father to heart
failure, Wells found herself donating more time to the Canadian
Cancer Society and the Heart and Stroke Foundation. She also
managed to get 25 of her colleagues to join the Heart and Stroke
Foundation’s Big Bike. The group donated more than $5,000
to the cause.

“A lot of it is my mind set,” Wells said. “But I’ve been so well
supported by my employer.”

“I think, you can decide to take three hours to watch a TV
show, or you can take thee hours to make a difference.”

Although many organizations and individuals struggle
financially, Wells said that donating your time can go just as far
as donating your money.

“When my kids were young I worked part time,” she said.
“So there wasn’t a lot of extra cash around, but cash isn’t always
what people need. Sometimes people need the person, and a
bit of emotional and physical support.”

Giving her time and support to others has always been a
passion for her, but that passion has grown further since the loss

Sports prompted Heide to start volunteering

BY MICHAELA SOLOMON “ “As long as you’re making a difference in “We basically just try to go out and do good in the
someone else’s life, then it’s worth it.” community,” he said.
Chris Heide, lover of soccer, vehicular safety, and volunteering,
was nominated for the Community Leader Award in the — Chris Heide The organization tries to achieve that goal in two ways.
volunteer category. First, through fundraising and donating time. Lions Club
Heide says that road safety is important to CAA and Operation members host drives and sales with the proceeds going directly
A proud Brandonite, Heide spends his days as the manager Rednose tied in well with what he was familiar with. back into the community. In the past, the organization has ran
at CAA Manitoba. Christmas cake sales, potato and pumpkin planting events, and
“Until nobody’s drinking and driving the work isn’t done,” most recently their annual fertilizer and mulch sale.
As a lifelong soccer buff, Heide said he began his volunteer he said. Secondly, members support a number of causes, which they
career approximately 25 years ago as a board member for the like to donate their time to. Heide said that getting to witness
Brandon Youth Soccer Association. His passion for volunteering Drinking and driving is a problem that tends to increase during the impact of these efforts in the community is the truly special
took off from there. the holiday season. Heide said keeping possible impaired drivers part.
off the road, especially during the holidays, is very important “Everything we raise locally gets given back locally, and it’s
Heide enjoys volunteering with Operation Rednose during to him, and that it’s been working. so nice to be able to say that,” he said.
the holiday season. He said if you’ve been drinking, Operation Brandon is unique, according to Heide, in that it has some
Rednose will show up with a team of three individuals to drive “I would say it has been in decline for sure,” Heide said of high-end facilities for a city of its size. He said that thanks to
you and your car home safely. the number of impaired driving incidents in Brandon. “But if places like the Keystone Centre, Brandon is able to host some
even one person does it that jeopardizes everyone else on the major volunteer-run events. But he’s quick to point out that part
“Two of us get in your car with you and your friends and we road.” of the reason these events are so successful in Brandon is that
get you guys where you need to be,” Heide said. “Our third Brandon and Westman is an area with great people.
team member drives behind in their vehicle. We drop you guys Operation Rednose is a seasonal commitment, but Heide is “It’s not surprising, but it’s always so nice to see how generous
off and your vehicle, we get back in our car and off to the next involved in a number of year-round organizations; one of them people are,” Heide said. “And in a bigger city I may not feel as
call.” is Lions Club, an all ages service organization. comfortable doing a door-to-door canvas, but here it’s no big
deal.”
Operation Rednose volunteers have set up their home base The most important part of being a community volunteer is
out of the CAA office on 18th Street North for four years now. finding enjoyment and fulfillment in what you’re donating your
time to.
“If I don’t enjoy what I’m volunteering for, then I probably
won’t do it again or probably shouldn’t do it,” Heide said. “This
is our time over and above work, family and home, and I think
you have to enjoy doing it.”
He explained that it goes both ways. The organization you
donate your time to deserves a volunteer who is going to give
100 per cent of their effort to the cause.
“They have every right to expect that I’m going to be positive
and enthusiastic and energetic about it right?” Heide said. “If
it looks like I don’t want to be there, then what value am I to
them at that point?”
Heide said he is always enthusiastic about Brandon's annual
Eco Day, which took place on May 27. He sits on the organizing
committee of the event and said it is the perfect event to kick
off the summer at the Global Market.
“It’s just fantastic.”

» The Brandon Sun

Chris Heide, with CAA Manitoba, joins the Operation Red Nose mascot to announce the kickoff to the campaign. (File)