Honors a not for profit business that has demonstrated continual business excellence through positive business growth; exemplified customer service; and an outstanding commitment to quality and the community. (must be a registered not for profit)
Sponsored by Marine Harvest Canada
Nominees:
BC Centre for Aquatic Health Sciences
As the Salmon Capital of Canada, Campbell River has a key role in salmon and marine environment stewardship. Our mandate is to improve the health of aquatic animals and ecosystems, by developing applied scientific knowledge. BC CAHS provides state-of-the-art diagnostics and research services to help protect our salmon and surrounding waters. By offering fish pathogen diagnostic capability, expertise on environmental monitoring and consultation on key environmental issues we are helping to grow the knowledge base and raise awareness of our most precious resources. We serve the wild and farmed salmon sectors and we work to support environmental stewardship organizations dedicated to helping sustain or rebuild salmon stocks. The majority of our work is on fish health diagnostics, the next line of business is research – both large and small projects and the third line is education and outreach to the community and private sectors. Our programs span large collaborative, multi-year research projects of national scope, to helping community fisheries programs, to hosting school-age children in our lab to teach them the basics about salmon. Our skills range from molecular biology to ecosystem ecology; all aimed at keeping aquatic ecosystems healthy.
Campbell River and District Adult Care Society
Campbell River & District Adult Care Society has been in existence since 1980. It was started in a Church basement and the phenomenon grew since then. Originally there was a small group of seniors who got together for socialization. Few years later the program moved into a small hall where services were offered three times per week. In 1994 Adult Day Program moved to 12-142 Larwood Road where we lease this beautiful building from Willow Point Supportive Living with a bright activity hall and a beautiful kitchen. We provide services to ‘otherwise shut-in’ seniors in our community Monday to Friday. This program focuses on social activities & entertainment, peer interaction, group exercises & mental stimulation, nutritional hot lunch and snacks, transportation to centre and outings, monitoring of medical conditions and medications, nursing support, toileting, feeding, and mobility assistance. Currently we provide approximately 4500 days of service per year. We also have a hot lunch program to meet the nutritional needs of our seniors who are unable to cook for themselves. Our mission statement is “To restore a sense of dignity, reduce isolation, improve quality of life and assist individuals to remain in independent in the community”.
Campbell River and North Island Transition Society
The Campbell River and North Island Transition Society provides shelter, housing and outreach services to women and their dependent children. The main focus of our programs and services is the prevention of violence and abuse.
The Society was formed in 1985 and opened Ann Elmore Transition House in 1987. Since that time we have developed a full continuum of safe housing, starting with the Ann Elmore shelter and safe homes (in Gold River and Cortes Island), 2nd stage at Rose Harbour Transitional Housing and 3rd stage and permanent housing at Palmer Place, a partnership with the CR Association for Community Living.
Campbell RIver Beacon Club
For more than 20 years we have provided a safe, respectful and welcoming environment in which adults with mental illnesses spend time with their peers and work on their recovery. We offer a variety of activities and programs to our members including Mindfulness, Effective Communication, Chair Yoga, Clay Studio, in-house band, bingo, trips to other Island communities, hiking, swimming, fishing, concerts, board games, garden tours, Wii games, karaoke, shuffleboard, air hockey, pool, ping pong and crib. We also offer workshops on topics such as First Aid and Internet Safety, and the members have two computers to use.
Annual events include the HOPE Awards (Health Optimism Pride Empowerment) during Mental Illness Awareness Week in October, Halloween and Christmas parties and Thanksgiving, Easter and Christmas dinners. The holidays also include bake and takes, light tours, sing-a-longs, crafts and tree decorating.
We are a member-run club. They make up half of our board of directors. (They serve two-year terms, the same as our community board members, and are elected at the AGM.) They attend the monthly members’ meeting to discuss the budget, activity ideas and any issues of concern to them.
Campbell River Gymnastics Association
Campbell River Gymnastics Association is devoted to providing affordable gymnastics based fitness in a positive healthy environment for children and adults of all ages. Our full range of classes is geared towards many different fitness levels. These include our recreational programs from ages 18 months to adult, pre-competitive and competitive groups, high school gymnastics, and school group lessons, classes for ski club, dance, swim club, and birthday parties. We also offer private sessions and instruction for special needs individuals or groups. Our coaches are trained, certified and experienced, they understand basics and progressions of movement, at the same time as allowing individual athletes to explore their own potential. Our recreational program has consistently had over 300 participants per session and our competitive program has an average of 85 athletes. Fitness, fun, fair play, and team spirit are our key values and we celebrate and support the continuing development and achievements of all our athletes.
Campbell River Volunteer Society
For the past 25 years Volunteer Campbell River has supported volunteerism and civic engagement in the community, working with aprox. 100 organizations and 1000 volunteers each year. Our mission is: To advance the quality of volunteerism and community engagement through leadership and training to individuals and non-profit organizations. Our vision is: Working together to build strong and healthy communities.
Our programs and projects include Information Sharing (monthly newsletter, website and on-site resource library); Volunteer Recruitment and Referral (Online recruitment and referral software, volunteer database, administer police information checks, weekly volunteer spotlight (radio, in the newspaper and on our Facebook page)); Offer Workshops and Training (Non-profit Management, Volunteer Management, Board Development); Community Engagement and Volunteer Promotion (Volunteer and Non-Profit Fairs, National Volunteer Week Volunteer initiates, VCR AGM, International Volunteer Day and National Volunteer Manager’s Day promotions and the Good Deeds Project (highlighting a volunteer each month for their Good Deed)); Rentals (projector, event tents, speaker system etc.), Online Resource Templates and Samples we are currently working on to assist community groups with administration of Non-profits and Volunteer Management, and Volunteer Engagement for the CR Better at Home Program, in partnership with CR Family Services (marketing, screening, intake and orientation of/for volunteers).
Greenways Land Trust
Greenways is a registered charity and conservation organization, established in 1996, that works to enhance recreational and ecological greenways for people and wildlife. Our mission is to restore, sustain and protect natural areas and critical habitats, particularly ecological and recreational greenways, for the benefit of our community. We act as an umbrella organization that works together with local stewardship groups, community organizations and local government.
To achieve our goals, GLT collaborates with First Nations, government and municipal agencies, such as the Campbell River Indian Band, Fisheries and Oceans Canada, the BC Ministry of Forests, and the City of Campbell River as well as other non-government organizations.
Staff and consultant appointments, fundraising and policy decisions are made by a volunteer Board of Directors. The area of interest covered by the Greenways Land Trust is from the Oyster River to Chatham Point.
North Island Employment Foundations Society
NIEFS is a charitable community-based not-for-profit organization and the major employment agency for Northern Vancouver Island. As a leader in workforce development we provide services to over 5000 job seekers and 500 companies annually. As an organization, we have been actively connecting employers with workers since 1986. With almost 30 years in business, NIEFS is a cornerstone in our community building extensive partnerships with businesses, other organizations, communities and individuals in Campbell River and across the North Island. These partnerships are integral to our ability to assist people to build self-sufficiency through active and sustainable participation in the labour market and assist employers to hire the right people, with the right skills at the right time contributing to a strong, resilient and healthy community.
North Vancouver Island Aboriginal Training Society
North Vancouver Island Aboriginal Training Society (NVIATS) is a community based organization that had been mandated to deliver the Aboriginal Skills and Employment Training Agreement.
Our Mission: To assist all Aboriginal people to achieve self-sufficiency by endeavoring to facilitate the highest quality training and employment opportunities and services in the North Vancouver Island Region.