2023 Mayor’s Award recipients

Mike is most well known for his volunteer service with the Guelph Coalition for Active Transportation (GCAT). Through his service with GCAT, Mike is committed to reducing greenhouse gas emissions by increasing the quantity, quality and safety of active transportation in Guelph. Mike has served GCAT as a long-standing member, a Board Director, as Vice-President, President and, currently, as Chair of GCAT’s Advocacy Committee. He spends countless hours researching active transportation issues, developing proposed infrastructure solutions, building the City’s community of active transportation users, and liaising with City Staff, members of Council and other stakeholders.

Mike also volunteers his time to build the outdoor ice-skating rink in Riverside Park. This involves not only standing outside on the coldest of winter days hosing down the rink, but also marshalling and co-ordinating others in the neighbourhood to help.

Mike was also an active volunteer participant in the development of Guelph’s Community Plan.

Volunteering is Narine’s passion. An active volunteer since 2002, he volunteers his time to mentor Guelph citizens to achieve their career and academic goals, including teaching mathematics. He helps Guelphites craft resumes and cover letters and prepare for job interviews. From 2002 to 2012, Narine also drove community members, who had no personal transportation, to their workplaces.

During the pandemic, Narine, who is a registered social worker with the Ontario College of Social Workers and Social Service Workers, volunteered his time to provide mental health counselling for immigrants, women, people of colour, people with disabilities, and international students. As a member of the BIPOC community, he understands and can relate to many of the challenges faced by his fellow community members on a daily basis. Narine continues to make himself available for counselling as needed.

Narine has been recognized for his volunteer service with the 2014 Tourism Industry Award of Excellence for Volunteer of the Year, Governor General Caring Canadian Award for Volunteerism, the June Callwood Outstanding Achievement Award for Volunteerism from Ontario’s Ministry of Citizenship and Immigration, and the Volunteer Impact Helping Hands Award from the Volunteer Action Centre in Kitchener.

Jim is known as “the guy who builds bridges”. He helped design, plan and build the Cove Valley Bridge as a volunteer with the Guelph Hiking Trail Club and he continues to maintain the bridge to ensure it stays structurally sound. That’s in addition to the ongoing trail maintenance he’s been doing for the last 20 years on the Radial Line Trail.

During his many years with Habitat for Humanity Guelph Wellington, Jim’s built homes for fellow community members in his role as crew lead. Jim has also led numerous kitchen salvages as an important member of the Kitchen Salvage Crew.

During Jim’s volunteer work with the Guelph Little Theatre over the last 20 years, he’s designed plenty of sets and recently built a puppet stage area for Praise the Ward.

Shannon is a ray of hope. She’s been volunteering with Hope House and their event, Hope in the Street, for the past five years. She’s been the Chairperson of the event since 2019, successfully pivoting the event to an online format in 2020 and bringing it back to an in-person event. Through her volunteer service with Hope House, she helps serve vulnerable people in Guelph. The Hope in the Streets event is a key fundraiser for Food Programs, Community Services and Health Programs. Shannon leads an organizing committee of 9-10 volunteers, which arranges multiple music and food vendors, along with other organizations, to bring the community together for this important annual event for a good cause.

Shannon brings her entrepreneurial spirit, as well as her upbeat approach, to the Hope in the Street event, which raises tens of thousands of dollars for Hope House each year.

A Guelphite since 2016, Dhruv has been a busy bee, volunteering with various Guelph community and non-profit organizations.

During the pandemic, Dhruv volunteered as a project manager to raise funds for Ontario hospitals and food banks, including Guelph General Hospital and Guelph Food Bank, raising nearly $65,000. During this time, Dhruv also volunteered with the Children’s Foundation of Guelph and Wellington to support the school nutrition program.

Dhruv also served as a voluntary President and Treasurer with the Hindu Society of Guelph from 2019-2022. Since 2021, Dhruv’s been volunteering at Sunday Table, where more than 100 people line up to receive free meals and groceries. In 2022, he served as a volunteer stage manager at The Guelph & District Multicultural Festival, where he coordinated more than 60 performances and presentations from diverse cultural groups. That same year, he started volunteering with Hope House, he continues to volunteer at Hope House Food Market to provide free groceries to low-income families and was recently appointed as a member of the Hope House Board of Directors.

Dhruv also volunteers planting trees, helping with the annual Spring Community Clean Up, and community focus group.