Exceptional women sought for International Women’s Day event

by Stephen Dafoe

Residents have three weeks to nominate exceptional area women for some special recognition. For the past 19 years, the St. Albert Bahá’í community has sponsored an annual celebration of United Nations International Women’s Day by recognizing the contributions women make to society.

These contributions include generosity of spirit, courage, creativity, determination, steadfastness, leadership, enthusiasm, love, caring, and other attributes that enrich the communities in which they live. This year’s celebrations will take place in St. Albert on Mar. 7 but the deadline for nominations is Feb. 8.

Committee member Sarah Hall said she was pleased to be serving on the committee again this year with another Morinvillian – April Heppleston.

“We are thrilled to recognize and honour local, inspirational women,” Hall said. “Our town shone bright last year, with so many to celebrate, and [it] turned out to be one of my very favourite memories of the year.”

Last year, three Morinville residents were selected for recognition. Brandi Robinson, Rebecca Balanko and Kaileen Chisholm were all recipients of the St. Albert / Morinville / Sturgeon County International Women’s Day award.
Organizers say their goal is to grow the annual event into a much-anticipated, and much-loved community event where remarkable women living in the community inspire others.

The committee is currently looking for help finding nominations for unsung heroines living in St. Albert, Sturgeon County and the communities within Sturgeon County.

Nominations are open to women and female youth who demonstrate generosity of spirit, courage, creativity, determination, steadfastness, enthusiasm, love, care, leadership, and other qualities that enrich community life. Nomination considerations include the areas of motherhood, aboriginal initiatives, science, arts, business, community service, health, literacy, mentorship, peace, and youth. The public, organizations and community groups are all welcome to submit nominations.

In addition to raising awareness of exceptional women in the community, the event also raises money for causes related to women.

The Jessica Martel Memorial Foundation will be the recipient of event funds this year.

Deadline for nominations is Feb. 8. Nomination forms are available at www.stalbertbahai.org, or by email at stalbertbahai@shaw.ca. For more information call May Brocken (St. Albert) at 780-459-4060 or Sarah Hall (Morinville) at 780-231-6682. you can also download the nomination form here.

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