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.