Charlottetown citizens recognized for positive contributions to city

Charlottetown has a new set of award winners recognized for their positive contributions in the city.

Charlottetown Mayor Philip Brown and members of council presented the 2019 Mayor's Citizen Recognition Awards at a ceremony held on Thursday at Beaconsfield Carriage House.

"Charlottetown is the great place it is today because of the efforts of those receiving recognition this year," said Brown, in a news release from the city.

This also marks the first year for the Mayor's Award of Merit, where three individuals were recognized for their "unique contributions" toCharlottetown.

"On behalf of Charlottetown city council and our citizens, I would like to thank the recipients for their hard work and selfless efforts," Brown said in the release.

Merit awards

The 2019 Mayor's Merit Award recipients are Betty Begg-Brooks, Janet Buchannan, and Denis Boudreau.

Begg-Brookscollects and provides everything from food, clothing, personal items, furniture, household items, toys, pet food, and other important things to low-income Islanders, or people who are dealing with temporary hardships, free of charge.

Buchannan is a retired nurse and walks every day. While she is out, shepicksup garbage and litter that others leave behind.

Boudreauhas been sharing his musical talents and entertaining audiencesatseniors' homes andcommunity gatherings since working for the city in 2003.

Youth of the year

The 2019 Youth of the Yearaward aims to recognize and promote youth leadership, involvement and contributions to the community and was given to Tyler Murnaghan.

Murnaghan grew up in the city and at a young age started toappreciate the value of public service. He put his name on a ballot and ran for city council in 2014 and has served the community in a volunteer role on boards, such as the Youth Futures Council, Fusion Charlottetown, and Pride P.E.I.

Citizens of the year

The 2019 Citizenof the Year awardswere givento two organizations.

100 Women Who Care was brought to P.E.I. in 2013 by Aileen Matters when she returned home from Saint John, N.B. She quickly got a small group together and began raising funds for deserving organizations. The group has grown to more than 300 women who meet every three months and eachcontribute $100 to a pool of money that is then provided to a charitableorganization. The organization has donated over $300,000 since being created.

Guys Who Give A $hit was founded by Jason Mosher in 2016. As a business owner in Charlottetown for many years he came up with an idea and pitched it to everyone he knew to create a simple, effective way to give back. The group gave away itsfirst $10,000 prize in June of 2018. Now, the group is one meeting away from reaching $100,000 in charitable donations.

The Forbes Kennedy Volunteer of the Yearwill be awarded at the Forbes Kennedy Recognition Open House on Sunday, the release said.

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