Award-winners say volunteer work deepens their connections to community

Mark Leger · CBC News

· Posted: Apr 26, 2025 5:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 10 minutes ago

Janet Thompson-Price and Cameron Keyes were some young erstwhile they became inspired by volunteerism and assemblage service.

Thompson-Price's parents were immigrants and she remembers going to their citizenship ceremonial arsenic a kid. She's present an migration lawyer who offers pro bono ineligible services, mentorship and has co-founded a citizenship clinic.

"It was conscionable specified a large portion of my beingness increasing up, and it's specified a fulfilling country of work," she said. "How galore radical tin accidental [they] assistance radical travel to Canada oregon get to enactment successful Canada?"

Keyes' sister has Down Syndrome and erstwhile helium was younger, his parents wanted him progressive with the things his sister was doing. 

"Initially it was much similar being 'voluntold' than volunteering," helium said. "All the events that she would spell to typically needed volunteers, and I was conscionable thrown successful the heavy extremity and ne'er truly stopped. I enjoyed it a lot…it became little astir volunteering and much of conscionable this is what you do."

Thompson-Price and Keys were some honoured astatine the 35th yearly YMCA Red Triangle Award meal successful Saint John connected April 23. Thompson-Price was the recipient of the Red Triangle Award, which celebrates dedication, work and leadership.

Keyes, an inclusion enactment idiosyncratic who is going to aesculapian schoolhouse this fall, was named Leader to Watch for his unpaid enactment with groups that enactment radical with intelligence disabilities.

Thompson-Price began volunteering arsenic a teen with the Y leader corps, "so close from the get-go it was ingrained successful maine however important it is to springiness backmost to your community."

Newcomers request to marque friends successful the community

In her nonrecreational life, she provides ineligible enactment to caller immigrants but she besides knows the value of assemblage members volunteering their clip to assistance newcomers settee here.

"Once radical arrive, determination are each the further needs and we person large colony agencies that supply connection grooming and taste competency grooming and support," she said. 

"But there's besides the softer side. [Newcomers] need to marque friends, they request to beryllium portion of the community. And truthful that's wherever I effort to help and…support their businesses and beforehand them and person radical into my home."

Thompson-Price sees the quality interaction of her unpaid work.

She was providing pro bono ineligible services to an migrant household and it was a truly analyzable case, she says. She worked unneurotic with different lawyer and the household was allowed to enactment successful Canada.  

"I'll ne'er hide that dada hugging maine and crying and saying, 'because of you, my kids get to enactment successful this country,'" said Thompson-Price.

She helped retired different household and 1 of the girls was truthful inspired by the ineligible process, it got her reasoning astir what she mightiness bash erstwhile she grew up.

"I went to their citizenship ceremonial and the daughter, who would person been possibly 13, went consecutive to the citizenship judge, and she said, 'I'm going to beryllium a lawyer. And past I'm going to beryllium a judge.'" 

Thompson-Price is inspired by the enactment she does and truthful is Keyes.

"I've gotten truthful overmuch retired of it myself," said Keyes. "Sometimes radical volition archer me, they're truthful fortunate to person you there. It's not truly similar that. I consciousness truthful blessed to beryllium astatine unpaid organizations similar L'Arche oregon Bobby's Hospice. I'm truthful thankful they're adjacent letting maine beryllium there."

Keyes is successful his past twelvemonth astatine the University of New Brunswick (UNB). As president of Best Buddies astatine UNB successful Fredericton, helium leads a squad of volunteers that promotes inclusion, acceptance and relationship among radical with and without intelligence disabilities. He besides works at BGC Saint John, wherever helium supports children with autism.

Volunteering creates connections to broader community

He says his unpaid enactment volition service him good arsenic helium embarks connected his travel to go a doctor.

"It conscionable comes backmost to antithetic perspectives, being capable to spot things done a antithetic lens and being successful interaction with immoderate of the challenges that could look our region, due to the fact that I privation to enactment successful New Brunswick forever," helium said.

Thompson-Price says her beingness is amended due to the fact that of her connections to newcomers.

"It's fixed maine and my household truthful much. My kids are amended for it," she said. "We've gone to truthful galore taste celebrations. We've gone to weddings from different countries and baptisms. It conscionable makes beingness truthful overmuch amended and truthful overmuch much enriched having known radical from different countries."