Award recipients announced

Posted: November 20, 2009

November 13, 2009

For Immediate Release

Award Recipients Announced at Pillar Community Innovation Awards

LONDON, ONTARIO - Share. Inspire. Recognize. Last night the annual Pillar Community Innovation Awards honoured individuals, nonprofit organizations and public-private-nonprofit partnerships that have made a difference in London. The awards celebrated innovation, leadership and collaboration shown by those who work to make our community better.

"Listening to the stories about the extraordinary work that is carried out on a daily basis in our community was a truly inspiring experience. Learning about the specific actions and projects executed by local nonprofit organizations and individuals has a lasting impact.
The Awards event showed just how dedicated these organizations are to strengthening our community." Elisabete Rodrigues, Chair of Selection Committee

The four Award categories were Community Innovation, Community Leadership, Community Impact and Community Collaboration. And the winners are....

Community Innovation: Fairy Godmother Project
Fairy Godmother Project was nominated by Mary Burden. Each year, the Fairy Godmothers are selected from the delegates to the Women's Business Conference and are given a mandate and seed money to create a project that benefits and involves the community. How they exercise that mandate is entirely up to them. The women who take on this challenge prove that it takes only one determined individual to create something inspiring that can help the lives of the people around us.

Community Leadership: Donald D'Haene
Donald D'Haene was nominated by Katrina Callahan for his courage to speak up about his own terrible experience with abuse and his courage to champion the cause of other victims. Through his prolific and generous volunteering, Donald reaches out to a diverse array of people in need. His unwavering commitment has led to international speaking presentations, as well as a prestigious spot on the board of directors of the London Abused Women's Centre. Whether through the written word or musical theatre, Donald aligns his artistic gifts with his drive to help others. The resulting creations inspire everyone they touch.

Community Impact: London Green Festival Team
The London Green Festival Team (GFT) was nominated by Anne Boyd for the impact they have made in our community in waste diversion. With visions of a greener festival season for London's downtown, the GFT brought together volunteers from the three largest summer festivals, Waste Free World, and the City of London. GFT has helped reduce the amount of festival waste by 50%, diverting it from landfills to recycling or compost. The group has also successfully pushed for easily accessible water at city venues to replace the need for bottled water. By advocating for these changes and teaching the public how to participate in these initiatives, the London Green Festival Team has brought a new fresh outlook to London's outdoor events.

Community Collaboration: ClothingWorks
ClothingWorks was nominated by Deb Hayden. ClothingWorks exists to empower job seekers with the knowledge of how to dress for the workplace, while at the same time making appropriate clothing available to its clients. In addition, ClothingWorks enables educational opportunities by partnering with other agencies and programs to give their clients the chance to job shadow and learn the essential skills needed to enter the workforce. By working with businesses to reclaim and recycle donations of new and gently used clothing, ClothingWorks offers people one less obstacle in the pursuit of employment and independence.

The winners were announced during the awards ceremony and reception at the London Convention Centre. Over 350 people were in attendance to share in the celebration. In addition to a one-of-a-kind, custom-designed sculpture from Metal In Fusion, created by local artist Richard Sturgeon and their name engraved on a perpetual plaque at the Central Library, the winners received $2500 directed to the registered charity of their choice.
Libro Financial Group was the Platinum sponsor for the event.
Sponsors for the 2009 Pillar Community Innovation Awards were:
Platinum - Libro Financial Group
Gold - Rogers TV & 103.1FreshFM, FM96, AM980, 103.1The Hawk
Silver - "A", Echidna Solutions Corp., The London Free Press, Richard Ivey School of Business, rtraction, Sunny Day Jazz Productions
Bronze - The Co-operators, Nancy Branscombe, ON Communications Inc., Tagged by Kindness

-30-

About Pillar Nonprofit Network
With more than 185members, Pillar Nonprofit Network is a voice for the nonprofit sector. Supporting nonprofit organizations in fulfilling their missions in our community, it provides leadership, advocacy and support to the nonprofit sector through the promotion of volunteerism, professional development, networking, and information.

Media Contact:
Nicole St. John, Program & Event Coordinator, Pillar Nonprofit Network
251 Dundas St., London, ON N6A 6H9
Tel: 519-433-7876 Fax: 519-435-0227 Email: