2019 Myeloma Canada Community Awards

Myeloma Canada 2019 community awards

Recognizing Outstanding Leadership

from our Community

We're excited to announce the winners of Myeloma Canada's 2019 Community Awards! These awards are given in recognition of our outstanding community volunteers from across Canada. We applaud their leadership and passion in raising community awareness for multiple myeloma. We appreciate and thank them for all of their hard work and dedication in supporting and helping to advance our mutual cause.

Executive Director's Leadership Award

Lorelei Dalrymple, (Edmonton, AB)

Lorelei Dalrymple

On behalf of Myeloma Canada, Martine Elias is thrilled to announce that the Executive Director's Leadership Award for 2019 has been awarded to Lorelei Dalrymple for her outstanding and significant contributions to the Canadian myeloma community.

Lorelei's extraordinary work and spirited engagement in empowering the Canadian myeloma community has been exemplary over the last year.

Below are just some of the many activities in which Lorelei is making myeloma matter:

Chair of Myeloma Canada's Patient Advisory Council (PAC);
Involvement in her local community with the Myeloma Alberta Support Society;
Presentations at the Myeloma Canada Support Group Leader’s Summit, the Myeloma Canada Scientific Roundtable, and at our annual National Conference;
Participation at the 2019 Montreal Multiple Myeloma March;
Participation at the 1st Voices of Myeloma Summit;
And most recently, Lorelei's appointment to the Myeloma Canada Board of Directors.

Lorelei, we applaud you for who you are and all that you do! It's because of people like you that we're able to move forward in helping to improve the lives of those impacted by myeloma.

Carolyn Henry Memorial TEAM Award

Jackey LaBossiere, (Winnipeg, MB)

It is an honour to announce that Jackey LaBossiere is the 2019 Carolyn Henry Memorial TEAM Award recipient.

We congratulate Jackey for her extraordinary leadership and spirited engagement in pioneering advocacy efforts in Manitoba over the last year.

Jackey's initiative in raising awareness for myeloma in the community and in the media, as well as succeeding in having March 1 proclaimed as the official Myeloma Awareness Day in Manitoba!

Jackey, we salute you for your commitment and drive, and are thankful to have you as a passionate leader to help support and further our cause.

Jackey Labossiere and her husband

The Myeloma Canada Excellence in Advocacy Medal (TEAM) Award was created in 2009 to recognize outstanding achievements by patient advocates and their supporters who lead successful campaigns to fight for equitable access to myeloma treatments. In 2012, the award was renamed the Myeloma Canada Carolyn Henry Memorial TEAM Award in recognition of Carolyn’s pioneering advocacy efforts.

Nathalie Allard Memorial Award

Shawn Crossman, (Moncton, NB)

Shawn Crossman with his doctor, Dr Nizar Abdel Samad

It is with great pleasure that we announce Shawn Crossman as the winner of the Nathalie Allard Memorial Award for 2019.

Incredibly, Shawn raised close to $23,000 through his fundraising campaign for the 2019 Moncton Multiple Myeloma March!

We congratulate Shawn on being the top fundraiser in all of Canada, an achievement for which he should be very proud.

Shawn, we thank you and feel so fortunate to have your amazing positivity, enthusiasm and motivation in making myeloma matter .

The Nathalie Allard Memorial Award was created in memory of Nathalie Allard who, for several years, dedicated her time in raising substantial funds for Myeloma Canada through her Montreal Multiple Myeloma March campaign. This award honours Nathalie’s memory, the significant footprint she made in improving patient outcomes, as well as all those who follow in her footsteps.

Community Achievement Award

The Vettorello Family, (Windsor, ON)

We are delighted to honour the significant contributions the Vettorello family has made to the myeloma community, especially in 2019.

Not only do Vettorello family members volunteer as committee members, solicit local sponsors and participate in the Windsor/Essex County Multiple Myeloma March year after year, their spirited team, “Life is Good”, raised $12,060 in 2019, and more than $20,500 in the past two years alone!

The Vettorello family at the 3rd Annual 'Mangia for Myeloma' fundraiser dinner

We'd also like to congratulate this amazing family on raising a record $6,000 at their 3 ^rd Annual “Mangia for Myeloma” birthday fundraiser, held in honour of their patriarch Guido. The proceeds from this event were included in their overall team goal for the 2019 Windsor Multiple Myeloma March.

Vettorello family, we applaud your creative initiative to increase community awareness for myeloma and to help raise funds for research and important patient programs .

Newcomer Award

Kristy Ahola , (Newmarket, ON)

Kristy Ahola and her husband, Nic, at the Newmarket Multiple Myeloma March in Ontario.

Congratulations to Kristy Ahola for being chosen as Myeloma Canada's Newcomer Award for 2019!

In a very short time, Kristy took tremendous strides in making myeloma matter within the Newmarket community.

Thanks to Kristy's enthusiasm and drive, Newmarket's first-ever Multiple Myeloma March was a resounding success and surpassed everyone's wildest expectations!

As a result of Kristy's hard work and dedication, the Newmarket March raised $50,779 for the cause, garnered close to 200 participants and made a splash in the local media 4 times. An engaged leader, Kristy also managed to raise awareness beyond the myeloma community by including local businesses, sponsors and government representatives, to name a few, in her fundraising and support initiatives.

Kristy, thank you for so quickly making a difference in the lives of those touched by myeloma in your community and for being a part of Myeloma Canada's amazing volunteers.

Notable Volunteer

Vénus Bélanger , (Shebrooke, QC)

We're happy to award Vénus Bélanger Myeloma Canada's Notable Volunteer award for 2019 in recognition of the important contributions she made to the myeloma community throughout the year.

Not only is Vénus leader of the Myélome Estrie Support Group in the Eastern Townships, but she also helped organize the very first Multiple Myeloma March in Magog. The March raised an amazing $12,000 for the cause, including $2,500 from Vénus' pickleball tournament. Vénus also encouraged members of her support group to get involved in the march and create their own team. Thanks to their efforts, the group raised over $7,000, way exceeding their initial goal of $2,000!

Vénus Bélanger and her team at the

Magog Multiple Myeloma March in 2019.

Finally, we cannot ignore Vénus' involvement in Myeloma Canada’s Awareness Day at the Quebec National Assembly. There, she advocated for the interests of patients in the province and raised parliament members’ awareness to the issues surrounding access to clinical trials.

Vénus, it's thanks to volunteers like you that we continue to raise awareness for myeloma and to strengthen our voice.