THE NATIONAL CHAPTER OF CANADA (RCMP) COMMUNITY RELATIONS AWARD
IODE Canada, on behalf of its members, established an award to recognize outstanding voluntary community service given by a Member, Unit or Detachment of the RCMP. Each year, the Commissioner of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police chooses the recipient. Framed certificates, one for the recipient and the other for the detachment, accompany a monetary award to further the recipient’s community service.
THE NATIONAL CHAPTER OF CANADA (RCMP) COMMUNITY RELATIONS AWARD
presented to
Sergeant Grant Alexander MacDonald
“M” Division, Masset British Columbia
IODE Canada was honoured to present The National Chapter of Canada (RCMP) Community Relations Award to Sergeant Grant Alexander MacDonald of Masset, British Columbia, in recognition of his exemplary public service to his community outside of his official duties. Accompanying the framed award certificates, one for the recipient and one for the detachment office, was an IODE gift of $500 for him to use to further his community service.
Sgt. MacDonald, Detachment Commander of “M” Division in Masset, has devoted significant personal time throughout his career with the RCMP, dedicating his volunteer activities to the youth in each community he has served since joining the RCMP in 1990, specifically, The Canadian Cancer Society, Arctic Winter Games and North American Indigenous Games.
With the Canadian Cancer Society, he volunteered for seven years as a Rent-A-Santa, attending between 15-20 children’s Christmas parties each year; was a camp counselor at Camp Goodtimes, a youth summer recreation program; took annual leave each year and incurred personal expense to travel from Whitehorse, Yukon, to Vancouver, BC, to work with youth aged 6-15 having cancer; actively sat as a steering committee member on the Relay-for-Life fundraiser in Whitehorse which raised over $125,000 and engaged students from his Drug Abuse Resistance Education (DARE) Program to take a leadership role in the community forming a team entitled “DARE to Care”, raising money for the Cancer Society while instilling self confidence and pride in the children involved.
At each of the multi-sport events of the Arctic Winter Games in 2004 (Fort McMurray, Alberta), 2006 (Kenai, Alaska) and 2008 (Yellowknife, NWT), Sgt. MacDonald volunteered on TEAM Yukon as Mission Staff. He built positive relationships with athletes while promoting the RCMP as a career choice amongst many youth he came into contact with.
As a badminton coach for Team Yukon at the North American Indigenous Games, Sgt. MacDonald developed strong relationships and garnered trust and respect from his athletes. He improved communications between the youth and their parents, incurring personal expense to ensure that the athletes he coached were able to communicate their results to their family by cell-phone.
IODE Canada is proud to acknowledge Sergeant MacDonald’s dedication to the youth of his communities with this annual award.
