Canadian Disability Hall of Fame Awards
December 20, 2012 by deblewis
Filed under Ontario, Past Events, Toronto
The Canadian Disability Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony took place on November 29th at The Fairmount Royal York Hotel in Toronto. As in past years, CityEvents is proud to have assisted in the planning of the 19th annual Canadian Disability Hall of Fame Awards. We thank you for the great turn out as well as your amazing support.
Among this years attendees were Hon. David Crombie, Hon. David Onley, Lt. Governor of Ontario, Hon. Vim Kochhar, and Guest speaker, Lindsay Gordon, President and CEO of HSBC, and many more.
At this years event four new members were welcomed into the Hall of Fame. The exceptional group of people inducted includes Ann Caine -builder, Tracey Ferguson -athlete, Robert Hampson -achiever, and Joyce Thompson -builder (posthumously).
Ann Caine- Builder
Ann is the founder of Sunrise Therapeutic Riding and Learning Centre near Guelph, Ontario. Ann has helped to introduce thousands of young people as well as adults with special needs to improved fitness, independence, and acceptance while at Sunrise. Ann plays a large role in the growth and practice of therapeutic riding and is a founding member and past president of the Canadian Therapeutic Riding Association and the Ontario Therapeutic Riding Association. Along with her other achievements Ann played an influential role in developing Paralympic equestrian sport and was a founding member and Canadian representative on the International Paralympic Equestrian Committee.
Tracey Ferguson- Athlete
Tracey was the first female with a disability to be inducted into the Scarborough Board of Education’s Elite Athlete Program, and at the age of sixteen she became the youngest person ever to be selected to the national women’s wheelchair basketball team. Tracey helped the team to go 10 years undefeated in international competition, earning three Paralympic medals and three World Championships. Tracey is a rare multi-sport Paralympian and competed in track at the 2008 Summer Games.
Robert Hampson- Achiever
Robert loves to test himself and enjoys activities such as sky diving, rock climbing, and skiing. In fact, Robert is an accomplished competitive swimmer winning medals in three rips to the Ontario Paralympic Winter Championships. Robert is a Variety Village ambassador and a strong promoter of accessibility. When he was five, Robert started to collect pop can tabs to buy wheelchairs for kids with disabilities. When he was eight he launched the Robert Hampson Tabs for Kids Fund and has since collected 21 million pop tabs.
Joyce Thompson- Builder (posthumously)
Joyce was the first Executive Director of Rotary Cheshire Homes (North America’s first fully accessible apartment complex for the deaf-blind). Joyce’s 30-year campaign to help build a world of greater security for deaf-blind Canadians resulted in the creation of many influential initiatives. Joyce’s vision was The Canadian Helen Keller Centre with the support of RCH Board, offering training for deaf-blind clients in independent living skills, communication and assistive technologies. Joyce significantly increased access to publicly funded intervener services, and helped to designate June as Deaf-Blind Awareness Month in Ontario.
For more information on this event visit: http://www.cfpdp.com/cdhf/
