Do you know someone in Burns Lake who has contributed greatly to the health and wellbeing of the community? If the answer is yes, you might want to nominate this person to Northern Health's Community Health Stars program.
The newly launched program will highlight exceptional individuals and the impact that they are having on their communities. One Community Health Star will be selected each month from the list of nominees and will win a Northern Health Fit Kit in addition to being highlighted in their local communities and on the Northern Health Matters blog at http://blog.northernhealth.ca.
Wayne Mould, from Dawson Creek, is one of these ordinary citizens that are doing extraordinary things. Mould overcame kidney cancer at 70 years old. Only one year later, Mould ran a marathon, winning in his age group.
Community Health Stars will also include Seamus Damstrom, from Terrace. The 15-year old is the only northerner on the Healthy Living Youth Council. He is now helping bring healthier foods into his school canteen.
Community Health Star Myles Mattila, a 15-year-old Prince George resident, has partnered with mindcheck.ca to promote mental health in youth through delivering school presentations. Mattila, whose hockey teammate and friend suffered from mental illness, was inspired to try to help his friend after finding out that Vancouver Canuck Kevin Bieksa was involved with the website.
“Northern Health knows that there are a lot of people across our region doing a lot of outstanding work to improve their own health and the health of their fellow community members,” said Sabrina Dosanjh-Gantner, Northern Health lead for healthy community development. “They’re doing this amazing work, on their own time, because they recognize how important health is. We want to shine the light on these people to highlight their amazing community involvement, to spread the importance of personal health and risk management, and to inspire others to support building healthier northern communities.”
To nominate someone in Burns Lake, go to northernhealth.ca.