The Rotary Club of North Bay honoured four people last night by presenting each with an “Unsung Heroes Service Award.” This is the first time the Rotary Club has given these awards, and about 200 people gathered at the Grande Event Centre on Main Street to take part in the celebration of community service.
Megan Lee, Chantal Brousseau, Christine Lacoste Froud and Seth Compton were all recognized with an award, “as each truly exemplify Rotary’s motto ‘Service above Self,’” noted Rotary Foundation Co-Chair, Ghislaine Côté, in a release.
Côté explained that each recipient has also been designated as a Paul Harris Fellow – the highest honour a Rotary club can bestow. Paul Harris founded the Rotary Club in 1905.
See: Do you know an unsung community hero? Contact Rotary North Bay
“This is really recognizing people who have gone above and beyond,” Côté said before the award ceremony, “who do things without expecting any recognition. They just do it from the bottom of their hearts.”
As for those recognized, Megan Lee founded the Judy Coalter Memorial Scholarship fund. This fund, named after her figure skating coach who passed away, strives to increase accessibility to youth sports in the community. Each year, the fund covers a full season registration for a deserving skater. Lee also volunteered at the North Bay Regional Health Centre, the West Parry Sound Health Centre, and helps coach at the South River Figure Skating Club. She’s now enrolled at McMaster University, and volunteers at the children’s hospital there.
Chantal Brousseau “is a strong advocate and supporter of individuals with disabilities,” the Rotary noted in a release. She is “strongly dedicated” to sledge hockey within the community and is one of the founders of the North Bay Icebreakers and serves on the executive of the Ontario Sledge Hockey Association. Brousseau also organizes Tour the Trout, where swimmers swim the contour of Trout Lake to raise funds for the North Bay YMCA.
Brousseau is a Child and Youth Worker for special needs students and has made a positive impact both amongst students and co-workers. For 16 years she headed the “Troupe de dance”, an activity that helped develop skills and build confidence to benefit students throughout their lives, the Rotary release explained.
Christine Lacoste Froud was also honoured at last night’s gala, “an absolute unsung hero to the staff and clients of the homeless shelter where she works,” the club detailed. Known for her big heart – “one of the most empathetic people you could meet” – she is well-known by the clients, and their dogs love her as well, because she keeps a box of treats behind her desk.
Meagan Brylikowski, who nominated Lacoste Froud for the award, said “Christine is kind, hardworking, and one in a million. I am so proud to have her as an ambassador for our team and as a colleague. She is invaluable to our team and so suitable for this honor”.
Seth Compton, who founded and operates OUTLoud, a community space for the 2SLGBTQ+ youth, was also recognized. “Through Seth’s leadership, this much needed service has grown to include services such as mental health workshops, suicide prevention, educational supports, and other services, many offered through community partners that Seth built relationships with,” the Rotary Club noted.
David Briggs is a Local Journalism Initiative reporter who works out of BayToday, a publication of Village Media. The Local Journalism Initiative is funded by the Government of Canada
