'She gives of her heart': Long-serving volunteer chosen as Prince Albert’s Citizen of the Year
The 2021 Prince Albert’s Citizen of the Year is being praised for her work ethic and compassion for people.
The award committee selected Marie Mathers to receive the honour. The award is sponsored by the Kinsmen and Kinnette Club and the Prince Albert Daily Herald.
“She gives of her heart and her soul. She just does whatever she needs to do,” said nominator and fellow Legion volunteer Suzanne Bantle.
“She will donate to under privilege people, people who have gone through fires and she doesn’t even know them. She’ll do Christmas hampers at Christmas time.”
Mathers says she was surprised with the news on Tuesday at the Legion and didn’t know she was nominated.
“I thought ‘why me?' There’s lots of people that do things,” she said.
Mathers is 88 years old and still volunteers with the Royal Canadian Legion Branch No. 2 Prince Albert, is on the Carment Court Tenants Council, Vintage Power Machines Threshing Festival, and St. John’s Ambulance.
“It gives me a lot of satisfaction to know that I make people happy or that people are happy because of the things that I have helped with,” Mathers said.
She also spent 47 years volunteering with the local chapter of Scouts Canada and led many activity nights and camping trips throughout the years. She says many of the youth are now adults and often stop to talk to her when they see her.
“I just loved doing different things in Scouts because I worked with different age levels from the age of eight to 17. And this was really something. We even did winter camping,” said Mathers.
At the age of six, she says her father taught her how to volunteer and be a good citizen, but it was a life-and-death experience that made her even more dedicated to making the world a better place.
“I was told that I had a week left to live and I told the doctors and the nurses that there was no way I was going to leave the hospital in a basket. And that prompted me more to really get doing things,” she said.
Mathers moved to Prince Albert in 1966 from a French-speaking community in Manitoba. Once she learned English, she became involved in the schools, Scouts and the farmers' market.
She encourages others to get involved in the community.
The award committee says a formal presentation of the 2021 Prince Albert’s Citizen of the Year Award is still in the planning stages.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Cisco reveals security breach, warns of state-sponsored spy campaign
State-sponsored actors targeted security devices used by governments around the world, according to technology firm Cisco Systems, which said the network devices are coveted intrusion points by spies.
I just don't get Taylor Swift
It's one thing to say you like Taylor Swift and her music, but don't blame CNN's AJ Willingham's when she says she just 'oesn't get' the global phenomenom.
opinion RFK Jr.'s presidential candidacy and its potential threat to Biden and Trump
Although it's still unclear how much damage Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s candidacy can do to either Joe Biden or Donald Trump this election, Washington political columnist Eric Ham says what is clear is both sides recognize the potential threat.
Student anti-war protesters dig in as faculties condemn university leadership over calling police
Students protesting the Israel-Hamas war at at universities across U.S., some of whom have clashed with police in riot gear, dug in Saturday and vowed to keep their demonstrations going, while several school faculties condemned university presidents who have called in law enforcement to remove protesters.
Toxic testing standoff: Family leaves house over air quality
A Sherwood Park family says their new house is uninhabitable. The McNaughton's say they were forced to leave the house after living there for only a week because contaminants inside made it difficult to breathe.
More than 115 cases of eye damage reported in Ontario after solar eclipse
More than 115 people who viewed the solar eclipse in Ontario earlier this month experienced eye damage after the event, according to eye doctors in the province.
Hamas is reviewing an Israeli proposal for a ceasefire in Gaza, as possible Rafah offensive looms
Hamas said Saturday it was reviewing a new Israeli proposal for a ceasefire in Gaza, as Egypt intensified efforts to broker a deal to end the months-long war and stave off a possible Israeli ground offensive into the southern Gaza city of Rafah.
'The world is too messy for bureaucratic hurdles': Canada still bars Afghanistan aid
Ottawa has plans to finally stop blocking Canadian development aid to Afghanistan this year.
Harvey Weinstein due back in court, while a key witness weighs whether to testify at a retrial
Harvey Weinstein will appear in a New York City court next week, the first step in potentially retrying the film mogul after his 2020 rape conviction was overturned.