Nominate that special young person in your life

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Jim Cumming, Publisher

They are young, from kindergarten age to high school seniors. They are ordinary, yet they have done the extraordinary things that make a difference. They are Ontario’s Junior Citizens.

Every year community newspapers across Ontario seek out nominations of young people who have done the extra ordinary things that make a difference in communities. The Rainy River district has had its several young people make the list of Ontario's Junior citizens.

Our heros have included a young man who put his life at risk to pull a person out of the ice to safety. Another hero, was a young lady who while over coming physical disabilities showed that determination to help others could improve the lives in the community.

I remember sitting in Toronto, with the family of a seven year old boy who was being recognized because he felt that homeless people needed help and persuaded family to go out on the streets in winter with nourishing soup for the homeless. And from that boys action, the community sprang to follow his example and put in place soup kitchens and opened hostels.

A year ago I had the bumped into another young man who I had been introduced to a year earlier at a Junior Citizens program. He and his father were touring a university compass that the young man hoped to enter this past fall. This particular young man suffered from Hepatitis C and through his actions and challenges to the Prime Minister in the House of Commons and collection of signatures from across Canada, he helped play a role in providing compensation to Hepatitis C victims in Canada.

Other young people have been recognized for assisting in helping youth, working with the disabled, working with seniors, initiating new school activities, rescuing distressed people and comforting injured. The common thread through all the stories in the 20 years of the Junior Citizen Award program is that their age and youth had not limited their ability to make a difference.

Across the Rainy River district we too have those young people who are making a difference. We want to recognize their contributions to family, to schools, and to their communities.

We ask you to pick up nomination forms at the Record Office and nominate the best of our youth for the 2002 Junior Citizens Awards. Join in recognizing our finest youth.