On an annual basis, Grande Prairie & Area Safe Communities presents the Ambassador for Safety Awards.  Nominations are received for 3 categories: Individual, Organization and Business.  The awards recognize a commitment and dedication to health, safety and injury reduction to make Grande Prairie and area the safest place to live, learn, work and play.  These individuals, organizations and businesses have played an important role to reduce the impact of illness and injury in our community.

Volunteer - Ambassador for Safety Award
Helen Neufeld

Helen is forthright with her opinions about health and safety, education and the environment. Grande Prairie & Area Safe Communities is very fortunate to have her energy and drive to increase the profile of our organization in the region. Safe Communities would not be as strong as we are today without her support. Helen’s enthusiasm is contagious and we greatly appreciate her as a member of our team.

Organization - Ambassador for Safety Award
AMA School Safety Patrol
Award accepted by Michelle Murphy

Since the late 1930’s, the Alberta Motor Association has funded and coordinated the AMA School Safety Patrol program. Since its inception, no one has ever been killed or seriously injured at a patrolled crosswalk. Each year nearly 16,000 Grade 5 and 6 students and their teachers from approximately 490 schools in Alberta commit their time and efforts to keep their fellow students safe. The AMA partners with local police, teachers and parents to ensure the continual success of the program. The 2010/2011 school year saw 692 Patrollers serve 24 Grande Prairie and area schools.

Our local AMA School Safety Patrol Regional Coordinator, Shelley Biendarra joined our Injury Prevention Committee in April 2010 and from there became a Director on our Board in November 2010. Shelley shares her knowledge of pedestrian and traffic safety at both of these monthly meetings and also provides many resources necessary in the planning of injury awareness campaigns and initiatives. Shelley has been instrumental in developing the curriculum for our Safety City and the Street Smart program which will opened to Grades 2 – 4 this September. AMA School Safety Patrol was active in sharing key traffic safety messaging at our Safety City Open House held on National Safe Communities day in October 2010, and at the Devon Safety Expo this past June. Shelley has also been committed to our various fundraising efforts by selling raffle tickets, volunteering her time at Golf Tournaments and writing grant proposals. AMA also helped organize a provincial campaign in partnership with the Alberta Junior Hockey League, Safe Communities groups and the RCMP called “None for the Road”. The campaign included pamphlets that were handed out at AJHL games that had a QR code for taxi cabs, and featured “Buzzed driving is drunk driving” messaging. Grande Prairie’s press release had local media and hockey players attempting to shoot a puck and score a goal while wearing the “fatal vision goggles”. Our AMA School Safety Patrol is also instrumental in the Safe Routes to School program and working with various key stakeholders in the community that are also committed to keeping our children safe. The AMA School Safety Patrol has a long standing history in communities for working with children on injury prevention strategies. Building on the success of this program, Grande Prairie and Area Safe Communities is pleased to be working in partnership with the Alberta Motor Association to reach our common goals.

Business - Ambassador for Safety Award
FOCUS
Award accepted by Randy Glenn

Focus regards safety as more than just a workplace concern; safety is a lifestyle – the way you live and think. They believe that when safety becomes a way of life, it is likely to be easily and consistently integrated with work – for the benefit of everyone involved.
Locally, Grande Prairie & Area Safe Communities has been witness to this commitment when Randy Glenn from the Focus office in Grande Prairie agreed to take on the role of Project Manager for Safety City in 2008. Safety City was at a critical stage of needing construction expertise and direction. Focus came to the table with unending support of this important safety education tool for our community. They also have brought a wealth of knowledge and vision for the project as a whole, including a network of contractors that are realizing our dream. Focus has been dedicated to our monthly Construction Committee meetings and continues to go above and beyond with site visits and additional contractor phone calls and meetings. For a project that was only supposed to take one season, Focus has faced the challenges of our ‘scaled-down’ construction with persistence and dedication. Focus is contributing in-kind time for part of the management fees which is an asset to this $2 million project. Focus has also committed a crew from their office that will donate their time and construction skills to construct our Jeep Storage building which was started late this fall. Not only is safety a value, but their commitment to community service is also a key element to their business mission. Our Board of Directors agrees that without the support of Randy Glenn and the local Focus office, Safety City would not be a reality for our community.