Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much. – Helen Keller  

This year, The Honourable Dr. Helena Jaczek, Minister of Community and Social Services and MPP for Oak Ridges-Markham will receive the 13th Annual Canadian Helen Keller Centre Award at the April 5th luncheon at the Fairmont Royal York Hotel.  Minister Jaczek has been chosen for this due to her enduring help and dedication to the betterment of the community. 

This year also falls on an important milestone for deafblind communication. On April 5th, 1887, Helen Keller was finally able to understand that everything has a name. When her teacher, whom later became her life-long companion, Anne Sullivan spelled ‘water’ into the hand of the young girls he life began to take shape. Helen Keller later went on to become the first deafblind person to earn a degree, she graduated with honours from Radcliffe College in 1904.

To help raise money to support the important services that CHKC provides free of charge to its clients, each year an annual luncheon is planned to help raise funds and awareness and to also recognize those who have supported the deaf-blind community and their families.

Special guest speaker at this year’s event is Gail Asper O.C., O.M., LL.D., President of The Asper Foundation and sitting Board Member of The Canadian Museum for Human Rights in Winnipeg Manitoba. Ms. Asper currently is currently the Chair of the Board of the National Arts Centre Foundation, is a member of the Board of the Canadian Museum for Human Rights and is a Governor of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

2016 attendees wait for the Award presentation in the Concert Hall of the Fairmont Royal York Hotel.

As of July 2001, the doors opened to Canadas first and only residential training centre for persons with vision, hearing, and combined vision hearing impairment, The Canadian Helen Keller Centre is a place for the deaf-blind community to go for affordable housing, access to services, and training to live independently.

CHKC has been giving the award since 2005, past winners include York University; George Brown College: Canadian National Institute for the Blind; The Honourable David C. Onley; IBM Canada; The Honourable Vim Kochhar; ICICI Bank Canada; Microsoft Canada; Reverand Robert L. Rumball; Jim Sanders;  and Joan McTavish.

http://www.chkc.org/

Intervenor teaches a CHKC client the “two-hand touch” method of communicating

Written by: Paula McDines

Mr Larry Corke (Awards Chair, CHKC) and Cindy Accardi (Executive Director, Rotary Cheschire Homes and CHKC) presented the 2013 Canadian Helen Keller Award to John Rafferty CEO & President of CNIB and this included a special plaque made in Braille…do you know how hard it was to find a supplier who does awards in Braille?

The award was a great opportunity to network and mingle as 250 guests came to honour the award recipients and to listen to the wise words of Premiere of Ontario Kathleen Wynne and the audience enjoyed her update on the provinces involvement in this community.

The luncheon was paced by awarding London Olympic Paralympics athletes Patrick Anderson (wheelchair Basketball), David Durepos (Wheelchair Basketball), Jared Funk (Wheelchair Rugby), Virginia McLachla (Athletics), Nathan Stein (Swimming) and Michelle Stilwell (Wheelchair Race) with the King Clancy Award.

For this occasion the national anthem was wonderfully sung by Major Beverly Ivany.

Master of Ceremony Rob Snoek was our host for the day as a former Paralympics world champion and president of the CFPDP.

Picture of the 2013 CHKC Award Luncheon: http://www.flickr.com/photos/cityeventstoronto/sets/72157633432561322/

Picture of last years’ CHKC Award: HERE

What a great success! 

The 29th Great Valentine Gala was a fantastic event hosted by The Canadian Foundation for Physically Disabled People. The event commemorated the 29 years of CFPDP’s efforts to raise funds and awareness to benefit physically disabled persons.

On February 9th 2013, over 500 people gathered together at the Fairmont Royal York Hotel to support physically disabled Canadians through a special evening of amazing food, wine, a special tribute and live performances by Randy Bachman, Adrien Breda, and artist Elaine Stewart.

                                                                                                                                                             The reception was a great start to the event! At 6:00pm guests gathered together as they enjoyed the sounds of talented Adrien Breda playing on a live piano, excellent beverages, a TELUS photo-booth and a fantastic artist painting live.

Master of Ceremony, Suhana Meharchand was excellent! Excitement filled the room as the Honourable Vim Kochhar welcomed everyone to the event.  The excitement in the room grew as the Tombola Balloons were dispersed and bought for $60 with prizes ranging from $60-$3000. The Tombola Balloons are such a great addition to the event!

While dinner ended the awards began! The prestigious King Clancy Awards were presented to each athlete on stage to recognize their outstanding achievements in the disabled community.

During the King Clancy awards, Lieutenant Governor of Ontario, Honourable David Onley and Vim Kochhar stood on stage congratulating each paralympic medal winner as they accepted their award.

TELUS and Cineplex were the grand recipients of the esteemed Corporate Awards. John Lutz and Honourable Vum Kochhar welcomed Joe Goodbaum, President of TELUS retail and Ellis Jacob President and Chief Executive Officer at Cineplex to accept their awards on stage.

“The Gala is a celebration of things that really matter- things like character, compassion and community.” – Kochhar.

As the awards ended the night continued as guests enjoyed the live performance of the talented Randy Bachman. Randy Bachman did a fantastic job!

As the night came to an end, guests retrieved their tombola prizes while others danced until the very last minutes of the event.

What a great night! Looking forward to The 30th Great Valentine Gala!

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