Surrey’s Shawna Narayan is among 19 British Columbians to receive the province’s Medal of Good Citizenship.
Launched in 2015, the award recognizes individuals who, “through exceptional long-term service, have made outstanding contributions to their communities without expectation of remuneration or reward. The medal reflects their generosity, service, acts of selflessness and contributions to community life.”
The list of 2018 medal winners, selected from more than 100 nominations, was made public Tuesday.
Narayan created Empower The Future (empowerthefuture.info), a non-profit organization that connects inner-city students with post-secondary students to encourage personal and academic growth.
“As a young woman from a diverse city, (Narayan) showcases what the next generation is capable of by helping inner-city students with similar difficulties that she overcame,” says a bio posted to the provincial government’s website, among other award winners.
• RELATED STORY: UBC student’s work helps empower inner-city students in Surrey, from April 2018.
Premier John Horgan offered his congratulations to the medal-winning “community leaders,” whose work “helps strengthen our society.
“The Medal of Good Citizenship awards recognize these individuals and their remarkable contributions to our communities and our province as a whole.”
In addition to Narayan, the recipients announced Tuesday are:
Selen Alpay of Prince George
Alberta (Wadzeed) Billy of Quathiaski Cove
Joan (Bays) Blackhall (posthumous) of Langley
Suzanne Bolton of Vancouver
Edward Dickins of Kelowna
Stephanie Fischer of Nelson
Fran Fowler of Queen Charlotte
Joyce H. Fraser of Princeton
Ronald Allen Greene of Oak Bay
Michael O. Langridge of Saanich
Beth Laur of Langford
Brandon Laur of Langford
Darren Laur of Langford
Peggy Lee of Vancouver
Stan McCarthy of 150 Mile House
Lois Nahirney of North Vancouver
Sylvie (Silvakantie) Pather of North Vancouver
Kris Patterson of Port Alberni