Past Unsung Hero Award Recipients

The Unsung Hero award is intended to highlight the achievements of individual Crohn’s and Colitis Canada volunteers and their contribution to the fulfillment of our mission. The award recognizes a volunteer who has made a substantial contribution to the work of the organization over time and may or may not have held any particular office or been previously recognized for their efforts. This award is presented at our annual GUTS conference. In 2022 the Unsung Hero award will be given to volunteers from each province. 

Past recipients:

2023
  • AB - Ron Abramson
  • BC - Krista Olson
  • MB - Matthew MacNeil
  • NFL - Rick Slade
  • NS - David Harrison
  • ON - Chantal Wicks*
  • PEI - Carrie MacLellan
  • QC - Marie-Eve Labadie
  • SK - Jennifer Chami
2022 
  • AB - Karen Gay
  • BC - Hailey Kolenda
  • MB - Caitlynn Danchuk
  • NL - Beverly Swackhamer
  • NB - Louise Levesque-Burley
  • ON - Sarah Bouchard*
  • QC - Edden Gitelman
  • SK - Ryan Heistad
2021
  • AB - Kate Latos
  • BC - Matthew Sebastiani*
  • MB - Michelle Johnson
  • NL - Marion Ryan
  • NS - Kim Rowley
  • ON - Laura Shaver
  • QC - Jennifer Loschiavo
  • SK - Alesha Oborowsky
2020
  • BC - Perry Monych
  • AB - Patrizia Coppola
  • SK - Dan DeForrest
  • MB - David W Moore
  • ON - Debra Power* 
  • QC - Sylvain Mantha
  • NB - Mandi Lawson
  • NL - Betty Priddle
2019     
  • NL - Marion Organ
  • NB - Julie Cyr Dubé
  • SK - Nathan and April Stang
  • MB - Donna Doman
  • ON - Sharon Fennell
  • QC - Shannon Epstein*
  • BC - Peter Dobranowski
  • AB - Catharine Smart
* Recipient of National Unsung Hero Award

  • Canada has among the highest incidence rates of Crohn's and colitis in the world.
  • 1 in 140 Canadians lives with Crohn’s or colitis.
  • Families new to Canada are developing these diseases for the first time.
  • Incidence of Crohn’s in Canadian kids under 10 has doubled since 1995.
  • People are most commonly diagnosed before age 30.

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