A project from the heart and a gift to the Banff community and Canada wound up after five warm, welcoming years, Tuesday (June 13).
The SHINE Awards, developed by the Banff Community Foundation (now expanded to the Banff Canmore Community Foundation) to recognize those who go above and beyond, trod the extra mile, lend a helping hand and make a difference in their community, came to an end with the smiling faces of 52 individuals emblazoned on the Marten Street side of the IGA building.
The idea for SHINE (share, help, inspire, nurture, enrich) sprouted in 2011 when then-BCCF executive director Lorraine Widmer-Carson, Nancy DaDalt and Jess Price found themselves in Vancouver, where Governor General David Johnston encouraged community foundation delegates to, “join me in imagining a smarter, more caring country,” said Widmer-Carson.
“He challenged us to think about a gift we can give Canada in 2017. That sparked it for me and we came back and started some conversations with the Town, the Banff Ideas Bank and the Banff Volunteer Centre about how might we be able to build a smarter, more caring nation.
“The challenge from his excellency resonated and we were able to find some folks around town who were able to join in our dream and help us believe that in 2017 we would have a gift for Canada’s 150th.
“This exhibit is about building our social capital. It wasn’t a fundraising initiative, it wasn’t about making a whole bunch of money. It was helping people understand community is built on people and their time and their talent.
“This cost nothing, it’s about building empathy and that’s what we need to keep expanding and extending. It’s about human rights, it’s about care and concern, it’s about nurturing our children, it’s about honouring the gifts people give, your time and your talent.”
Banff Councillor Corrie DiManno, thanked organizers and everyone in Banff, “who uses kindness to shape this place we call home.”
Harvey Locke, whose mother Ralphine was one of the first SHINE Award honourees in 2012, spoke on her behalf, saying, “my mother believed very strongly in community, particularly this community. This idea of helping people is something that ran very deep in my mom.
“My mom really valued this place and the people of this place. We’re an unusual place, we are the symbol of Canada in the world. When global surveys are done, and and people are asked what you think of when you think of Canada, the answer is Banff. We’re also a world heritage site, which means by treaty Canada has agreed to manage this place on behalf of all the people of the world.
“Banff is also our most famous national park. And we’re a town within that setting, which makes us pretty much unique in the world. There are very few places that have all that meaning to that many different people. That meaning also applies to the level of our community, and how well we treat each other and whether this is a decent place to live.
“I really like this emphasis on kindness. The world around us is very challenging right now and we’re very lucky to live in this place, which has magic about it, has nature about it and we share this place with grizzly bears, with wolves and other species, which makes us unique again.
“So our whole community of caring and our place as one species among many in this beautiful world is something that meant a lot to my mom, it means a lot to us and I think we’re a note of hope in a world that’s undergoing radical transformation, instability and a lot of challenges that people feel very deeply about.
“This helps make our community a better place and the world a better place, and that’s a special opportunity for us. May Banff shine on.”
In wrapping up the event, board president Bill Fisher said the SHINE project has ended, but will be replaced in some way by a SHINE 2.0 after community consultation.
“As you look at this wall, there are 52 individuals who live in our community and three organizations (Banff Greenhouse Society, IODE and BCHS Green Team) and we need to recognize them as well.
“This was a five-year project to culminate in 2017 and we’re going to take a break this year to recognize and honour our award winners and we have to think about what will happen for SHINE 2.0.
“We’ll need your help to figure out what that should look like for maybe the next five years. Or maybe the next 10, or 15, or maybe the next 150 years.”
Fisher also thanked volunteers and institutions which provided financial support, such as Banff Credit Union and ATB.
