Long-time Cranbrook resident Gord Johnston has been awarded the 2014 Sustainable Community Builder Award.

Johnston has a long history as a community leader and volunteer, most recently as the project leader for the Habitat for Humanity Cranbrook project. He also spent 25 years as an integral part of the Cranbrook Boys and Girls Club before retiring in 2014.

“I truly believe that to keep a community healthy, growing and prospering we can’t overlook a single citizen. Sustainability means having everyone engaged in a way that supports our collective community and enables each person living within it to prosper,” says Johnston. “The Habitat for Humanity build embraced this concept from the beginning. It was a huge undertaking and the volunteer support and commitment was like nothing I had ever seen. It was a wonderful community effort that inspired and united.”

City of Cranbrook Mayor Lee Pratt presented Johnston with the Sustainable Community Builder award on behalf of City of Cranbrook council.

The annual award is given to an individual, group, club, agency or society that has contributed to the social, arts/cultural, economic and/or environmental sustainability of Cranbrook. It includes $500 to be donated to a registered charity of Johnston’s choice. He chose to donate the funds to Habitat for Humanity Southeast B.C. to go towards a second house build in Cranbrook.

“Gord has been and I’m sure will continue to be a very active citizen in Cranbrook,” says Mayor Pratt. “His dedication and commitment to this community is recognized by many. On behalf of council and the city, I want to congratulate Gord. He is very deserving of this award.”

The $500 in funding for the Sustainable Community Builder Award comes from the legacy fund left to the Cranbrook and District Community Foundation (CDCF) by the Knights of Pythias, Crescent Lodge #33 of Cranbrook.

The CDCF is pleased to announce more than $35,000 will be received in 2015 by non-profit organizations serving the local community.

“The CDCF has given over $368,000 to the community since it was established in 2004,” says Riley Wilcox, executive director of the CDCF. “Endowment funds are held in perpetuity, which means the CDCF’s ability to support local non-profits is not only secure and permanent, but will grow stronger every year.

“We congratulate Gord, and thank him for the energy, time and talent he has given to our community throughout the years. We’d also like to acknowledge the incredible work of our grant recipients and local non-profits, and are proud to support them in their efforts to make Cranbrook a vibrant, sustainable, healthy, inclusive, and innovative place to live and grow.”

Cranbrook and District Community Foundation will give back more than $35,000 to local non-profits organizations in 2015; $368,000 since 2004

2015 Grant Recipients

Abreast in the Rockies Dragonboat Association

Better at Home Social Connections Program

Community Connections Society of Southeast BC

Cranbrook Community Theatre Society

East Kootenay Adaptive Snowsports

Friends of Children – East Kootenay

Community organizations that hold funds with CDCF see a return every year.

Children First

Salvation Army Soup Kitchen

East Kootenay Foundation for Health

Joyce Metcalfe Memorial Fund

Friends of Fort Steele

Symphony of the Kootenays

Mark Mahovlic Memorial Scholarship Fund

Lead image: (L-R) CDCF Executive Director Riley Wilcox, Gord Johnston and CDCF president Wayne Eburne. Photos submitted

Submitted

Article Share