by Connie Boucher, ECA Director
This is the third in our series of articles to thank the recipients of our 2020 Volunteer Appreciation awards. We are honoured to acknowledge the contributions of the following Community Builders who truly make Edgemont the wonderful community it is. Thank you!
Rick Petrowitsch
Rick is the principal of Tom Baines School and has been supportive of many ECA initiatives over the years. He values and encourages community involvement by making community service as an integral part of school life for staff and students. His care and commitment to community is reflected in Tom Baines’ Baking Club, where a group of young, enthusiastic bakers have made muffins on a regular basis supporting the Breakfast Club. He takes his time to coach volleyball and was instrumental in starting the One World Celebration. He continues to be a leader in this annual celebration of community and diversity, bringing together residents and agencies and giving students from all our schools, along with their families, a place to come together to share their knowledge, talents and cultures. Rick always listens when potential community projects are discussed and his input is invaluable in making the projects happen.
Margie Kennedy
Margie is the owner of Friends Cafe which has been a staple in our community for many years. She has created a community hub at Friends and has been an enthusiastic supporter of more groups and programs in our community than any of us can count. Every month she supplies fresh baked muffins to our Breakfast Club feeding children’s hungry bellies and helping them be more successful in school. Friends is the place to go for coffee with a friend, great food, and a warm welcome and atmosphere. And nothing says almost home like great soup!
Asha Nenshi Nathoo
Asha is our youngest Community Builder recipient with big contributions. She has been Tom Baines School representative to the ECA board and currently represents Sir Winston Churchill High School on the board. Asha is the Leader of the Edgemont Youth Press, contributing her talents to writing articles for our Inside Edgemont community newsletter and to mentoring the new reporters. She is active in leadership roles and volunteer recruitment within her schools and has been an active contributor to Edgemont’s One World Celebration. Asha is also a contributor to “Youth Are Awesome” (YAA), a blog written entirely by youth for youth and promoting youth voice and perspectives to connect and inspire the next generation of Calgarians. She is an outstanding leader, debater and volunteers at the library.
Tom Baines School
The students and staff at Tom Baines School are an amazing group of community minded people, providing volunteers in our Community, year-round. They are involved in helping to bake muffins for the breakfast club, Inside Edgemont article writing by the Edgemont Youth Press, outstanding support of collecting items for and helping wrap Christmas Hampers and helping out in the community as needed. Tom Baines also provides one or two students to represent the school and community youth on the Edgemont Board of Directors, bringing a very different and valuable perspective to this group. They are the next generation of Community Builders.
North West Community Church
The North West Community Church offers ongoing support for a number of community projects including Edgemont Clean Up Day, where they host the community garage sale. The members are truly dedicated to community and there’s always someone who will pitch in, such as putting up Christmas lights, bringing and running a barbecue to feed volunteers, bringing hot chocolate when a Spring blizzard hits our Clean Up (which happens surprisingly often). NWCC has hosted a monthly Men’s Breakfast Group and annual Serve Day where members help out throughout the community with everything from picking up garbage, to tightening screws (old rink), to painting and tasks as needed.
Westminister Presbyterian Church
The Westminster Presbyterian Church has offered a community Lunch Program for many years and has facilitated a homework club. They were supporters of the EDGE Group, a pioneer initiative for the City that provided a place for youth to meet and play a role in designing the programs they wanted to pursue. Westminster Church and its members are large supporters of our annual Christmas Hampers.