Outstanding Contribution by a Volunteer Mentor - Mary
Wierzejski
Since 2004, Big Sister Mary Wierzejski has been a consistent, female role model to her Little Sister Judy, who is growing up in a single dad home.  Mary has been a huge support to Judy, whom we have seen grow in self-confidence thanks to Mary’s encouragement and friendship.  Mary helped Judy get the CIBC Youthvision Scholarship in 2009 and she involves Judy as a ‘youth representative’ on the Big Sisters Activities Committee, which Mary has volunteered on since 2006. With her long tenure on the Activities Committee and her enthusiasm for putting on fun group activities for our matches, Mary was invited to be Co-Chair of the Activities Committee in 2008. Mary has also volunteered to help with our fundraising events and, for four years, she regularly did community presentations to encourage more women to volunteer as Big Sisters. With an ever-present smile on her face, Mary is a clear champion – not only to her Little Sister – but to our organization.

Outstanding Contribution by a Volunteer - Glenda Morin
Glenda Morin (pictured above at right) initially came to our organization as a Big Sister volunteer. From 2002 to 2009 she was a dedicated mentor to her Little Sister Marley. Their match ‘officially’ ended in our program when Marley turned 19, but they remain great friends. From the beginning, Glenda was also very involved on a variety of committees at Big Sisters. Most notably, she was Chair of the First Nations Activities Committee from 2005 until the committee merged with the Activities Committee, at which time she became the committee’s Co-Chair (along with fellow Big Heart Award recipient, Mary). Glenda was also very involved in the Big Sisters Camp, sitting on the Camp Committee in 2003, 2004, 2005 and 2007. Over the past eight years, Glenda has helped to organize close to 50 activities for our matches. As a woman of First Nations heritage, Glenda has brought her culture to our Little Sisters – many of whom are also First Nations – in a fun and interactive way. The amount of knowledge, time and creativity Glenda has shared with this organization and with Marley have been truly invaluable to Big Sisters.

Outstanding Contribution by a Business - The Beat 94.5 FM, KVOS, TV Week 

The Beat 94.5 FM, KVOS and TV Week Magazine have been official media sponsors of Big Sisters’ Volunteer Recruitment Campaign since 2004. These three media outlets have donated in-kind advertising support that has included on-air promotions, print ads, public service announcements, distribution of agency materials, website links and more to help us recruit volunteer mentors for the girls on our waitlist. Combined, they have donated over $744,000 worth of advertising support to Big Sisters. In the six years that The Beat, KVOS and TV Week have been helping us with our volunteer recruitment efforts, the number of Big Sister volunteer applications we receive annually has increased by over 20%. Many women think about becoming Big Sisters but don’t know how to find us or aren’t sure if there’s a need. These three outstanding companies have helped us get the Big Sisters message out so we can provide more girls with positive, caring mentors.