Community Service
The Government of Canada Workplace Charitable Campaign (GCWCC)
The GCWCC helps fund crucial community and health programs and support life-saving medical research. In the fall 2005 GCWCC, DCC head office employees succeeded in raising a total of $16,223.49. During the month long campaign, employees participated in team building events to raise funds for this valuable community cause.
DCC
employee trades vacation time for Hurricane Katrina relief
help
When Patricia O’Donnell received the call from the
Canadian Red Cross to help coordinate relief efforts for
survivors of Hurricane Katrina, she didn’t think twice.
After wrapping up work as a Contract Coordinator at the FOX-Main DEW Line site at Hall Beach, Nunavut, Patricia, an
Environmental Project Officer with Environmental Services at head office, decided to use
her vacation time to help those in need.
There
were several challenges Patricia and the other volunteers
faced in Louisiana. She had been briefed by the Canadian Red
Cross on health and safety concerns in the area, including
water disruption, power outage, limited food availability,
extreme heat and humidity, housing shortages, limited health
care access, extreme emotional stress, difficult travel
conditions, transportation limitations, and air quality and
respiratory concerns.
"I
think everyone was aware that as difficult as some of the
conditions were, they were nothing compared to what others
were facing," said O'Donnell.
"We all knew we would be going home, and had homes
to go to.”
Kids
are key
Does
spending the weekend winter camping with 20 kids sound like
fun? For Patricia Baker, DCC Site Manager at ASU London,
it’s all in a day’s “work” in her role as a volunteer
with a local Scouting troop. Her troop of boys and girls aged
11 to 15 plans 10 camps a year, and she helps them develop the
skills they need. Richard Allie, Manager of Contract Services
at headquarters in Ottawa, is involved with three camps a year
as senior leader of a Cub pack, and helps run weekly pack
meetings. And his colleague Brigitte Trau, Administrative
Assistant, Contract Services, helps lead local and
international trips for groups of girls in her role as a
Division Commissioner with the Girl Guides of Canada. All
three volunteers say the chance to be with kids and help them
learn inspires their involvement with Scouting and Guiding.
“I enjoy being a role model for young girls,” says Trau.
Christmas Giving 2005
In Ottawa, employees remember the holiday season by collecting personal articles for the Shepherds of Good Hope Christmas Hamper Program. Every year, DCC employees strive to make the holiday season a bit brighter for those in need by participating in local charity programs.
NATO Medal and Canadian Peacekeeping Service Medal (CPSM)
The NATO Medal is awarded to military and civilian personnel who are, or have been, engaged in operations or in direct support of operations conducted by NATO. The Canadian Peacekeeping Service Medal (CPSM) was created to recognize all Canadians who contribute to international peace through specific peacekeeping missions.
Last year, there was one employee who received both of these
medals:
Ms. Marie-Reine Mereb, Manager, Contract Services
Ottawa, Ontario
Operation PALLADIUM (Bosnia-Herzogovina)
Rotation 13, 2003-04
The General Service Medal
The General Service Medal (GSM) is awarded to members of the
Canadian Forces and to Canadian citizens other than members of
the Canadian Forces who deploy outside of Canada to provide
direct support, on a full-time basis, to operations in the
presence of an armed enemy. The following DCC employees received
the General Service Medal for participating in Operation ATHENA
(Afghanistan) in 2004-05:
Richard Allie, Manager, Contract Services
Ottawa, Ontario
Rotation 00, 2004
Keith Dyer, Contract Coordinator
Trenton, Ontario
Rotation 00, 01, 2004-05
Perry Wallace, Contract Coordinator
Greenwood, Nova Scotia
Rotation 01, 2004
Robert Morgan, Contract Coordinator
Cold Lake, Alberta
Rotation 02, 2004
It's a Family Affair
Shawn Helmerson, a contract manager for the DEW Line Clean-Up Project at Head Office, is not only part of the expanding DCC family, but is also part of an expanding family of his own. He and his wife Stephanie are foster parents. With three children of their own, they've been helping the local Children's Aid Society of Ottawa (CAS) for the past two years by taking in children who, for one reason or another, need somewhere to live.
The Children's Aid Society of Ottawa's mission is "committed to protecting the children and youth of the community from all forms of abuse and neglect. They work to keep them safe and secure, both within their families and the communities in which they live." Find out more about society, visit the Children's Aid Society of Ottawa or contact your local Children's Aid Society.
Saving Lives on Vancouver Island
For DCC construction project supervisor Tony Knowler, leading his local search-and-rescue team is a way to give something back to his community. Saving people's lives is definitely rewarding work. "Because you generally have no line of sight in the forest, you typically go from zero results to 100-percent results, pretty much instantaneously," he says. His efforts have not gone unnoticed. He and his wife Susan shared the title of Metchosin Day 2003 Volunteers of the Year. Tony has one last bit of valuable advice to share with people who don't want to be searched for and rescued: "Never hike alone!".
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