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Red Deer woman honoured for volunteer work

A Red Deer woman was awarded the highest honour a volunteer can receive in Canada.
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Red Deer’s Sharon Schultz (left) with Lois Mitchell, Lieutenant Governor of Alberta, at Tuesday’s Sovereign’s Medal for Volunteers ceremony in Edmonton. (Contributed photo)

A Red Deer woman was awarded the highest honour a volunteer can receive in Canada.

Sharon Schultz was one of 18 Albertans to receive the Sovereign’s Medal for Volunteers from Lois Mitchell, Lieutenant Governor of Alberta, at a ceremony in Edmonton Tuesday.

“I didn’t expect all this and it’s really humbling,” said Schultz, who’s coordinator of the Finish Line program at Red Deer Public Schools.

“I was overwhelmed to be honest - I’m not much for the limelight. I almost felt not worthy because there are people who do so much, but I was really honoured,” she said.

Schultz found out she won the award last October after receiving a letter from the Lieutenant Governor’s office - she didn’t even know she was nominated at the time.

Schultz has raised money for the Canadian Cancer Society for nine years, notably by founding and hosting an annual tea party to support the purchase of head coverings for cancer patients.

Volunteering has always been a part of her life, she said.

“I’ve loved every minute of it,” she said. “The secret to volunteering is to find what you have a passion for and where you feel the most needed.”

Schultz’s first taste of volunteering came when she was in her early teens and has continued volunteering since, she said.

The medal ceremony at Government House in Edmonton was a great experience, she added.

“It was a very beautiful and intimate ceremony,” said Schultz. “I was very blessed my three boys were able to attend. It meant the world to me to have them be there.”

The two people who nominated her for the medal attended the ceremony as well.

As an employee of RDPS, Schultz said she hopes to inspire young people to volunteer.

“I work around young people every day so I hope I can properly set an example for them to do good things.

“I was lucky to have parents who taught me the art of volunteering. You just did it, you wouldn’t even call it ‘volunteering,’ you just did good things for people,” said Schultz.



sean.mcintosh@reddeeradvocate.com

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Sean McIntosh

About the Author: Sean McIntosh

Sean joined the Red Deer Advocate team in the summer of 2017. Originally from Ontario, he worked in a small town of 2,000 in Saskatchewan for seven months before coming to Central Alberta.
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