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To celebrate Winnipeg's 150th anniversary the mayor decided to honour 150 individuals who have been major contributors to making Winnipeg a better place. On Saturday there was a tree-planting ceremony for 30 individuals, including Kent Dueck of ICYA.
"I was a little surprised, honestly," says Dueck when he received the call saying he was one of the 150 people being honoured. "Sometimes you have to lean in and accept it. I was humbled and honoured and a little sentimental."
In 1986, Dueck started a little ministry in the North End of Winnipeg called Inner City Youth Alive (ICYA). It was just him and a few volunteers who helped families and youth with different needs. It's grown to over 60 staff and many more volunteers.
"Scott Gillingham, our mayor, we were meeting in the mayor's garden at the Assiniboine park. It was by invitation only so there was 30 award recipients. We could invite a small group of guests. It was an intimate experience. They read a little bio on each of the award recipients and what they had contributed."
Gillingham honoured each of the 30 with a medal, a plaque, and a tree planted in their honour.
"It felt like you were sitting amongst giants. There were some really amazing people that received awards. You know that whole saying, it takes a village to raise a child? It takes a village to build a city. Sometimes when we look out into the world and what's happening we can be disparaged. But then when you look at the fact that there are people trying to make the world a better place, well, it was nice to sit in that circle."
