2022 Volunteer Awards

Tyler Dauphinee

For the past 15 years, Tyler Dauphinee has been very involved in the community as the Fire Chief of the Nine Mile River & District Volunteer Fire Department, served as President of the Central Nova Scotia Fire Service Association and most recently, added President of the Nine Mile River Trails Association to his list of volunteering service.  As Fire Chief, he provides leadership to the department as well as consistently responding to fire calls as one of the few drivers for the department.  An average week would see Tyler volunteering six hours, responding to calls and attending training, and this does not include his involvement with CNSFSA or the hours spent on the Nine Mile River Trails. Over the past two years, Tyler has led the three organizations through the COVID-19 pandemic, showing strong leadership that has inspired all the other volunteers involved.

Charlie Dingle

For over 20 years, Charlie Dingle has made his presence in Milford known not only for his volunteering, but also for his large sense of humour.  Charlie has he been a member of the Milford Volunteer Fire Department for over 20 years, and he is also extensively involved with 4-H as a 4-H Leader and as a volunteer for achievement days.  Each December he takes on the task of playing the jolly bearded man in the red suit at the annual Milford and District Lions Club Children’s Christmas gathering. 

Becky Grant

For more than 30 years Becky Grant has been contributing to the East Hants Community.  From the East Hants Community Learning Association to the Elmsdale Legion Branch #48, coaching minor softball in Lantz or leading Girl Guides and Brownies, Becky is always quick to offer her time and skills to her community. She is also a long-standing committee member with Ducks Unlimited Canada. Over the past 15 years with the Elmsdale Legion, she has led the kitchen for Dinner Theater fundraisers, Remembrance Day Ceremonies, Legion award ceremonies, the New Year’s Levy, Friday night dinners and Sunday community breakfasts.

Margaret Logan-Graham

For 8 years Margaret has been heavily involved with the Caring and Sharing Foodbank.  Starting out as a weekly clerk she has grown to be the Thursday Food Bank Leader and now coordinates volunteers and organizes community food and toy drives.  Margaret helps to build partnerships with RCMP and local Fire Departments and works to grow relationships and programming with other community agencies such as the East Hants Community Rider and the East Hants Family Resource Centre.  In addition to lending her many talents to the Caring and Sharing Foodbank, Margaret was a choir director at local schools, a Girl Guide Leader, a Board Director of Camp Kidston, and is currently also a member of the Canadian Ski Patrol at Ski Wentworth.

Laura Mather

Laura has been serving as a volunteer Firefighter at the Elmsdale Fire Service for 12 years, but her contributions to the East Hants Fire Service extend far outside Elmsdale’s fire boundary.  Within the East Hants Fire Service, she serves as the Medical First Responder (or MFR) Coordinator for the MFR Program, ensuring all East Hants Fire Fighters are properly trained.  She also volunteers as a peer responder with the Critical Incident Stress Management (or CISM) team within Zone 4, which is East Hants, and is a member on the Executive of the Nova Scotia Provincial CISM team.  Within the community, she has personally made East Hants a safer place to be.  She canvasses businesses to purchase Automated External Defibrillators or AEDs and provides training to the businesses’ employees on the use of the AEDs.

Margaret Mauger

For over 15 years Margaret has been an advocate for all gender survivors of trauma, violence and abuse.  During this time, she completed her Masters of Counselling and served as Executive Director and Trauma Counselling Therapist at the Colchester Sexual Assault Centre.

Recognizing the need for no-fee trauma and mental health services, she co-founded the non-profit organization, the After Trauma Empowerment Network (ATEN) in Shubenacadie.  Since 2020, Margaret has been providing at least 10 hours a week of free counselling and support to anyone who needs it.

Margaret Mauger

For over 15 years Margaret has been an advocate for all gender survivors of trauma, violence and abuse.  During this time, she completed her Masters of Counselling and served as Executive Director and Trauma Counselling Therapist at the Colchester Sexual Assault Centre.

Recognizing the need for no-fee trauma and mental health services, she co-founded the non-profit organization, the After Trauma Empowerment Network (ATEN) in Shubenacadie.  Since 2020, Margaret has been providing at least 10 hours a week of free counselling and support to anyone who needs it.

Andrew Raisbeck

Since the age of 9, Andrew has been volunteering with the East Hants Skating Club as an on-ice assistant.  Since then, he has grown in his technical and leadership skills to become an invaluable member of the coaching team.  Over the past 9 years he has helped teach hundreds of children how to skate through the East Hants Skating Club. Through his own skating career, he has become a competitive pairs figure skater and plans to take the Skate Canada Coaching courses for both CanSkate and PowerSkate as he heads off to university in the fall.

Colleen Smith

For the past 5 years, Colleen has become a very invested member in the Milford Recreation Association, and is now serving as Vice President.  In 2017, she became very involved with the MRA’s Canada 150 celebration, coordinating activities and events for children.  Since then, she has become extremely involved with both operations and vision planning for the facility, including the net-zero project.  Colleen has a strong vision for the future of the MRA and we can look forward to the continued development of this valuable community facility.

Candace Stephens

Candace has been involved with Tri County District Girl Guides for the past 8 years. She is known for having the best laugh and is a popular Guider with the girls.  Without Candace, the 2019 European Trip for the Tri County Pathfinders and Rangers would not have happened.  She worked tirelessly to ensure enough funds were raised to make the trip possible. Through the COVID-19 pandemic, Candace helped transform how Guiding is delivered and successfully kept it fun for the participants.  She is a strong role model for all participants within Girl Guides and has previously received the Bronze Unit Guider award. She was also the District Commissioner for the Tri County District for three years.

Gaylene White

Gaylene has been serving in the Kennetcook community for many years.  She is known for being community oriented and willingly helps with fundraisers and other events.  She is an active member of the Noel Road Community Club and often assists the Kennetcook District Fire Department with their special events.

Heather White

Heather White is a dedicated community volunteer, who always helps out whenever and wherever she can.  Not only is she involved with the Noel Road Community Club, she also helps with fundraisers at the Kennetcook District Fire Department.

2023 Recipient: Becky Grant