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Who is your hometown hero?

George Jeffrey Children’s Foundation launches a Hometown Hero initiative to recognize the people who make our lives better.
Hometown Heroes
Steve MacDonald, executive director of the George Jeffrey Children's Foundation, and Kirsten Untinen, charitable giving advisor, place a nomination for their hometown hero at the George Jeffrey Children's Centre. (Photo by Doug Diaczuk - Tbnewswatch.com).

THUNDER BAY - Heroes can take on many different shapes and forms and sometimes it can come down to someone who doesn’t leap tall buildings, but just someone who lifts you up above them.

The George Jeffrey Children’s Foundation, along with ProKids and Firefly, want to know who your hometown hero is through its new initiative: Who is your Hometown Hero?

“We thought about a feel good initiative where people can recognize who their hometown hero is, whether it’s a neighbor who mows your lawn, a teacher, someone who helps you cross the street on your way to school, or a colleague or whether it be someone on the community you may not know but look up to,” said Steven MacDonald, executive director of the George Jeffrey Children’s Foundation.

Presented by Gillons Insurance, Hometown Hero boards are popping up in workplaces and at businesses across Thunder Bay and the region. Nominating someone as a hometown hero not only gives that person some much needed recognition, it is also helping to support children in the community through nomination donations.

“We’re not focused on a fundraising total as we are about getting the word out in the community about who our hometown heroes are,” MacDonald said. “The core of this initiative is recognize each other, acknowledge these charities, and raise awareness for the charities as well as raise some money at the same time.”

The George Jeffrey Children’s Foundation hosts an annual Hometown Heroes Children’s Charity Golf Classic and MacDonald said the Hometown Heroes campaign is a way of continuing the feel-good nature that comes with the tournament.

This is the first time they have expanded the idea outside of the tournament and MacDonald said they will be reaching out to the community to see what the future of the initiative looks like.

“We will let the community decide that,” he said. “We are rolling this out now and we‘re going to keep it going to at least the end of October so we will see how the community reacts and make decisions thereafter.”

To nominate someone, you can visit any Gillons location or the George Jeffrey Children’s Centre, and people are encouraged to look out for the Hometown Hero posters and boards around the city of Thunder Bay and surrounding region. You can also nominate someone online through the George Jeffrey Facebook page.

And when it comes to what makes someone a hero, it can be anything. It is entirely up to you. The sky is the limit and you can choose anyone who helps you reach for it.

“We often go through our day to day lives without recognizing the people in our lives who may make our day better, so we wanted to do something to help raise our community spirit,” MacDonald said. “Hero is whatever a hero means to you. Whether it is someone you look up to, or someone who helps you in your day to day life. It is someone who is meaningful to you.”



Doug Diaczuk

About the Author: Doug Diaczuk

Doug Diaczuk is a reporter and award-winning author from Thunder Bay. He has a master’s degree in English from Lakehead University
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