The Hazel Lipes Award, named after the former Côte Saint-Luc City Councillor, recognizes an individual’s significant contribution to Community Services. Beverley Rath was this year’s winner.  She has been volunteering at the library since 2007. During that time she has taken the 'Your Opinion' program and really made it her own. Each week, she visits one of the four local seniors' residences that we currently partner with, to present current events in the news in discussion groups, which have grown to up 50 people each time. She has really become part of the family, both in the physical library and in the residences; she frequently gets invited to birthday and holiday festivities by ''her ladies'', as she warmly refers to those who frequent her program. She is a mother, a wife, and a long-time resident of CSL, and says that she does all her wonderful work as a library volunteer, ''for the love of it'', and because it does her just as much good as it does her ladies (and gentlemen too). We love her here at the library, and cannot express to her enough, the huge impact that she is making in people's lives and just how proud of her we, and the City of Côte Saint-Luc are.

He is always ready to help, volunteering hundreds of hours, including many overnight shifts. As head of the equipment team, he is an innovator and helps EMS stay on the cutting edge of new equipment and technologies. He keeps an open mind and an attentive ear to the needs of the other volunteers and continuously leads by example. The second EMS Award, presented for excellence in education, went to Jarred Knecht. Since taking over the driver training portfolio, he has brought a breath of fresh air to the training of new EMS drivers. He works to ensure that new drivers have the knowledge and skills to manoeuver the vehicles quickly and safely through the streets of Cote Saint-Luc. Also an active team leader, he is a great resource person for members new and old. The third EMS Award, presented to the Rookie of the Year, went to Phil Vourtzoumis.

Since becoming a medic in spring 2009, he continuously seeks to get involved in new projects and tasks. He is a member of the quality assurance team and equipment team. Even as a rookie, defined as less than one year of service, he is a model member and a great part of the EMS team.

The vCOP (Volunteer Citizens On Patrol) Award is presented for outstanding contribution as a leader in the promotion of community safety. Susan Schwartz was thus year’s recipient. As a vCOP supervisor, she is responsible for coordinating the numerous special events around the City, including sporting, cultural and educational events. She volunteers countless hours at events and on regular patrols. You'll always find her at our monthly City Council meetings, helping maintain order and assisting residents. She is always smiling and a great asset not only to vCOP, but to the whole city.

The ECO Award is presented to a volunteer in recognition of leadership in the promotion of environmental advocacy and action within the community and tonight we have two recipients to honour. Two co-winners were Alison Levine and John Sciascia

Alison started as an Eco Action volunteer back in 2008 and got so involved with her community that she became a summer 2009 Green Patroller for the City.  Her job was to ride her bike and promote environmental awareness through courtesy notes, games, kiosks, pamphlets, etc.  Her mandate is over and is still helping the city. John began attending EcoAction meetings in 2008 and since then has helped numerous times during events such as Canada Day, EcoAction Day, and Gigi Cohen's Cooking Class.   Despite his busy student and now professional life, he is always willing to help raise environmental awareness in the community.

The Ambassador of the Year Award, is presented to the citizen best portraying charitable qualities and serving the community at large. Al Grosser, a member of the Côte Saint-Luc Senior Men’s Club almost 15 years, was this year’s winner. In those 15 years and until the today, he has been involved in every project, from the annual dinner and dance to the mundane of tasks that other members shun. He brings a positive, enthusiastic and energetic attitude to any situation in which he is involved and this enthusiasm is transmitted to other members. As big as he is, his heart is even bigger. He has refused presidency many times, claiming that he can do more for the club being an all-round member who will tke on any job, then sit in the president’s seat. So, he carries the title of honourary vice-president.

The Sports Award, presented for exceptional contribution to community sports, went to Jack Rosenfield. He has been a tireless volunteer for the Côte Saint-Luc Tennis Club during the past several years, but his true contributions to the Tennis Club blossomed over the last three years. During that period, he donated his time and professional expertise as a computer consultant in bringing the club into the 21st Century.He initiated a customer communication programme so that members could be informed about club activities on a regular basis. He drafted checklists for staff, developed data entry programs for membership statistics, assisted club managers in preparing project timelines, and prepared and presented a ‘’virtual’’ tour of the club to parents of new tennis campers this summer. As well, he drafted a rules and regulations manual which each member received this year, the first such manual distributed in more than 10 years. Finally, one of his greatest achievements was negotiating a new working agreement initiative between a private Tennis Camp organization and the City’s Tennis Club.He regularly devoted anywhere from forty to fifty hours a week over a period of more than six months during each of the past three years, to the club and is a true example of volunteerism at its best.

The Stewart Mankofsky Memorial Trophy, presented in memory of Stewart Mankofsky, a young Côte Saint-Luc athlete who passed away at a far too early age, was presented by Mark Rothpan. He spoke about his dear friend Stewart, who was only 21 when he passed away. Mark and Stewart’s parents presented the award to Matthew Zeitz as an individual who best exemplifies the qualities of dedication, sportsmanship, and love of competition. He is both a Côte Saint Luc athlete and volunteer. Growing up in the community he played house-league hockey, graduated into the inter-city hockey ranks with the Westluc Saints organization, and participated in high school hockey with Centennial Academy..When he wasn’t playing, he moved on to his next love…which was volunteering his time with young athletes. He supervised the Camp B’Nai Brith Hockey program, followed by a coaching stint in house-league baseball. He then started coaching inter-city hockey and has been doing so for the past seven years. He served as co-chair of the popular Bar-Mitzvah Hockey tournament and raised much needed funds for ORT and United Talmud Torah. He volunteered his time to sit on the Board of the Starlight Foundation and participated in the March to Jerusalem and the Walk to Cure breast cancer.

The Edward J. Kirwan Trophy, presented to the Volunteer of the Year for exceptional contribution to the Parks and Recreation programs, went to Cynthia Segal-Friedman. It is truly fitting that the person nominated for the "Côte Saint-Luc Volunteer of the Year Award" has lived in Côte Saint-Luc her whole life. She grew up in CSL as a child and as a mother chose to bring up her own family in CSL. She has been actively working in the Côte Saint-Luc Figure Skating Club since 2000 for the early part on the front lines responsible for the group sessions. She worked at this position for several years before serving on the board of directors. She became a director on the FSC board in 2002-03 seasons and for the past five years, has been the First Vice President responsible for the Intermediate & Senior skaters. She has repeatedly undertaken to organize the Club skaters for the Cities Winter Carnival skating show.  To describe her in just a few words is almost impossible. Her strong sense of fairness is her dominating character trait. It goes without saying that she has a strong commitment to both her family & community. Her level of diplomacy carries her through many situations with great kindness and caring. Her organizational skills allow her to always be at the "top of the game."