Prince George ‘Citizens of the Year’ winners named

The Prince George Community Foundation has announced this year’s four Citizens of the Year.

The winners were divided into two categories; Life’s work and annual difference maker.

The Lifetime Achievement Award is presented to someone with at least 10 years of volunteer experience and philanthropic work.

The Annual Difference Maker is the same, but the timeframe is shortened to the most recent calendar year.

Here are the Lifetime Achievement winners and a bio provided by the Community Foundation:

Steve Hamilton— Steve helped revitalize the Spruce City Wildlife Association (SCWA) as a volunteer, director and three full terms as president. When he became a director, SCWA membership grew from 30 to over 200 members as of December 2021. Steve helped reopen the fish farm by starting GoFish BC to source trout for the facility. Our local hatchery is now the largest volunteer hatchery north of Kamloops. Approximately $1 million in grants/donations was received for the facility under Steve’s tenure as President.

David King – Dave began his volunteering career 48 years ago when he joined the Caledonia Ramblers Club in 1975. Since then, Dave has helped maintain existing trails, build new trails and lead walks in the Prince George area. One of Dave’s recent accomplishments is the creation of the Ancient Forest/Chun T’oh Whudujut Provincial Park and the laying of the foundations for a Universal Boardwalk that would allow all visitors access to the forest. To this day, Dave volunteers and supports the Caledonia Ramblers.

Mary Teegee – Mary is a tireless advocate for human, indigenous and women’s rights and has served on various regional, national and international committees. She represents BC on the Board of Directors of the First Nations Child and Family Caring Society of Canada and served on the Steering Committee of the First Nations Early Childhood Development Council. She served on the Advisory Board of Provincial Ministers for Aboriginal Women and works tirelessly to educate people about the missing and murdered Indigenous women in Canada. Mary is also Chair of the BC Directors Forum for Indigenous Child and Family.

Here is the Annual Difference Maker winner and his biography provided by the Community Foundation:

Patti Perrault – Patti has brought community night markets to Prince George in recent years. Every market was very well attended. Proceeds from the markets go to non-profit organizations in our community. Patti does a great job organizing up to 150 vendors and makes it look effortless. With the countless hours she spends promoting, supporting traders is always a huge hit. These markets support many local vendors in our community.

Winners will be celebrated on March 8th at the Coast Inn of the North.

In the evening, the awards will be presented at a ceremony, after which the award winners will take part in a “fireside chat” where they will have the opportunity to speak.

To buy tickets, click here.