BY: Roderick Benns
DATE: Friday, November 21, 2003
They are in a familiar place, both Community Living Campbellford and Norfolk Association for Community Living. Today their representatives will be in Queen’s Park, wondering if they will be accepting the prestigious Donner award for Services for People With Disabilities.
Last year, it was Community Living Campbellford accepting the award. In 1999 and 2001, it was Norfolk Association. In fact, Norfolk has been recognized on the shortlist for six consecutive years.
As the winners last year, Nancy Brown of Campbellford Association says they “are excited” as the time approaches. “Obviously, we’re doing something right here,” she adds. Nancy says the association provides quality supports and services and is looking forward to trying to repeat their success of last year.
Linda Newbery, resource manager for Norfolk Association, says they are happy to be nominated for the sixth year in a row. “We’re proud of our services. We know employees work hard and that there’s strong collaboration in the community,” she says. The resource manager says they are proud to be associated with the Donner name, and they consider it a “good test” of the association.
Awards totalling $65,000 will be presented to nine non-profit agencies selected through a competitive process of performance evaluation. Nearly 300 applications were received from across Canada. The program is unique in providing participating non-profits with valuable performance information that ranks them relative to similar agencies in their field of social service delivery. There are three groups vying for the award, the two Community Living associations and the Multiple Sclerosis Society of Canada, Calgary chapter.
The Donner Canadian Foundation, with the assistance of The Fraser Institute, established the annual Donner Canadian Foundation Awards For Excellence in the Delivery of Social Services in 1998. They were designed to recognize excellence and innovation among non-profit agencies at the community level.
