Citizen of the Year

The Teesha Sharma Memorial Award

Teesha Sharma was honoured as the 2018 Under 40 Citizen of the Year for her tireless advocacy and mentorship for youth in our community. She is deeply missed, and we want to proudly continue her legacy by naming our Under 40 award as the ” ” from this point onward.

Teesha worked as a youth services program director at the CEED Centre Society where she mentored homeless youth, created barrier-free programs for youth in need and spearheaded the creation of Blue Door Youth Services. She was recognized provincially, nationally and internationally for her advocacy in youth mental health and domestic human trafficking.

Even though each of her days was met with overcoming adversity of her own, she is remembered for her infectious laugh, incredible sense of humour and quick wit.

May her light, her impact and her work continue to shine bright in Maple Ridge.

Congratulations to our 2020 award winners!

From 1991 – 2017, the Maple Ridge Community Foundation recognized one local volunteer hero each year with the Citizen of the Year Award. The purpose of this award is to recognize and honour a dedicated individual who has made outstanding volunteer contributions to enhance the quality of life in Maple Ridge or to enhance the image of Maple Ridge in the larger community. Those contributions could be broad-based, and may be in the areas of arts, culture, athletics, social service or business. We thank these amazing community contributors for their unwavering commitment to Maple Ridge.

Beginning in 2018, we now recognize THREE outstanding volunteers in our community each year. Nominees must reside in Maple Ridge, and fit in into one of the categories below. Thank you for helping us learn about those doing great volunteer work. We are building a better community, together.

The Maple Ridge Community Foundation is a proud, community-based organization and the health, wellness and safety of our Maple Ridge residents is of utmost importance to us.
For this reason, given the current COVID-19 health concerns, we have chosen to delay our 2020 Citizen of the Year Fundraising Dinner to October 24, 2020 and host our event in a virtual setting.

Congratulations to our 2019 Citizens of the Year! 

Citizen of the Year Award Hall of Fame

The following individuals have received the Citizen of the Year award in recognition of their tireless efforts to make Maple Ridge a better place to live. As of 2018, we now recognize three outstanding individuals each year in the following categories: Lifetime Achievement, 40 and Under, Youth.

Charlie Perry

Charlie Perry

1991 Citizen of the Year Winner

 

Beryl Cunningham

Beryl Cunningham

1992 Citizen of the Year Winner

 

Helen MacDonald

Helen MacDonald

1993 Citizen of the Year Winner

 

Jane Dixon-Warren

Jane Dixon-Warren

1994 Citizen of the Year Winner

 

John Skanks

John Skanks

1995 Citizen of the Year Winner

 

Sheila Nickols

Sheila Nickols

1996 Citizen of the Year Winner

 

Reg Neligan

Reg Neligan

1997 Citizen of the Year Winner

 

Bonnie Telep

Bonnie Telep

1998 Citizen of the Year Winner

 

Bob Thomson

Bob Thomson

1999 Citizen of the Year Winner

 

Kathy Marshall

Kathy Marshall

2000 Citizen of the Year Winner

 

Carl Durksen

Carl Durksen

2001 Citizen of the Year Winner

 

Lorraine Bates

Lorraine Bates

2002 Citizen of the Year Winner

 

Betty Levens

Betty Levens

2003 Citizen of the Year Winner

 

Dick Lister

Dick Lister

2004 Citizen of the Year Winner

 

Tom Cameron

Tom Cameron

2005 Citizen of the Year Winner

 

Nita Spittel

Nita Spittel

2006 Citizen of the Year Winner

 

Tom Meier

Tom Meier

2007 Citizen of the Year Winner

 

Margaret Kury

Margaret Kury

2008 Citizen of the Year Winner

 

Bob Thompson

Bob Thompson

2009 Citizen of the Year Winner

 

Ineke Boekhorst

Ineke Boekhorst

2010 Citizen of the Year Co-Winner

 

Mike Murray

Mike Murray

2010 Citizen of the Year Co-Winner

Fred Armstrong

Fred Armstrong

2011 Citizen of the Year Winner

 

Candace Gordon

Candace Gordon

2012 Citizen of the Year Winner

 

Sammy Nelligan

Sammy Nelligan

2013 Citizen of the Year Winner

 

Bob Shantz

Bob Shantz

2014 Citizen of the Year Winner

 

Maria Raynolds

Maria Raynolds

2015 Citizen of the Year Winner

 

Ron Antalek

Ron Antalek

2016 Citizen of the Year Winner

 

Cheryl Ashlie

Cheryl Ashlie

2017 Citizen of the Year

Biju Mathew

Biju Mathew

2018 Lifetime Achievement COY

Teesha Sharma

Teesha Sharma

2018 Under 40 COY

Ryder Moore

Ryder Moore

2018 Youth COY

Jan Hickman

Jan Hickman

2019 Lifetime Achievement COY

Katelyn Glen

Katelyn Glen

2019 Under 40 COY

Victoria Gardner

Victoria Gardner

2019 Youth COY