Mary Fredlund and Kathleen Irwin of Rankin Inlet were among 46 dedicated Canadians to receive the Sovereign's Medal for Volunteers from Gov. Gen. David Johnston during a gala ceremony at Rideau Hall in Ottawa, Ont, on Monday, April 24.Editor's note: Kathleen Irwin was still travelling for most of the past week and could not be reached for comment by Kivalliq News.

The prestigious award recognizes the exceptional volunteer achievements of people from across the country in a number of wide-ranging fields.

The medal is an official Canadian honour and, as such, it pays tribute to the dedication and exemplary commitment of volunteers.

In receiving her award Fredlund was cited as a dedicated volunteer with the Ikurraq Food Bank (Deacon's Cupboard) in Rankin, where she operates the thrift store and distributes food to hundreds of families.

Her efforts have raised awareness about poverty in the North, and have stimulated an influx in donations and relief from throughout the country.

Fredlund said receiving the medal marked a truly great day for her.

She said she knew she was going to receive the medal about a year ago.

SA国际影视传媒淭hey don't have the ceremony every year, as I understand it,SA国际影视传媒� said Fredlund.

SA国际影视传媒淚n my case, recipients for the past two years came together for the April 24 ceremony to receive their awards.

SA国际影视传媒淪omebody nominated Kathleen (Irwin) and I for the award, and I'm not even sure how that works.

SA国际影视传媒淚 received a little note from the Governor General's office saying I had been nominated for the award and then confirmation that Kathleen and I were to be among this year's recipients of the Sovereign's Medal for VolunteersSA国际影视传媒�

Fredlund said she's been volunteering since her days in high school.

She said her mother, Audrey, strongly believed in volunteering, and was very involved with elders and buying groceries for people within her church.

SA国际影视传媒淎s her daughter I got dragged around a lot doing that too, so I've always been very active as a volunteer.

SA国际影视传媒淐ertainly, during the past 20 years, I've been heavily involved with the food bank in Rankin which opened in 1994-95.

SA国际影视传媒淜athleen and I were both there at the beginning, and she took over when I decided to take a bit of a break.

SA国际影视传媒淪he had been doing everything while I was away and she was, sort of, burned out a bit by the time I came back, so I stepped back into it.SA国际影视传媒�

Fredlund said she's always maintained that giving back to your community is very, very important, and she taught her children that.

She said as much as she enjoyed receiving the medal, she's more proud of the fact her kids have stepped up to become steady volunteers in their community.

SA国际影视传媒淚've had kids coach hockey and soccer and be involved in all kinds of different types of activities in the community including the food bank, so it's been quite rewarding for me to see what's happened with the kids in that respect.

SA国际影视传媒淓veryone in the family is expected to help out at the food bank, including my grand kids and daughter-in-laws.

SA国际影视传媒淏ut, again, I really believe giving back to the community and not expecting anything in return, be that money or glorification, is something we should all be doing.

SA国际影视传媒淚t follows my value system and what I believe in.SA国际影视传媒�

Fredlund said she has a lot of people in Rankin who help out at the food bank and the second-hand store.

She said when she puts a call out for someone to step forward and help out, somebody almost always answers.

SA国际影视传媒淚 was looking through my list and I've had about 25 people during the past 10 years who have been really faithful in helping out at the food bank until, you know, they moved away or got involved with other activities in their lives.

SA国际影视传媒淩ankin, I think, is luckier than many communities in that it does have a number of people who are willing to volunteer or to step up and help out from time to time.

SA国际影视传媒淲ould more step forward if they got some kind of official recognition for it? Probably, because everyone likes recognition, but, to me, it's all about doing your part to help your community.SA国际影视传媒�

Fredlund said the awards ceremony at Rideau Hall was absolutely beautiful.

She said she received her medal, as well as a little award pin that came with it.

SA国际影视传媒淐anadian medals are reserved for ceremonial types of occasions, so you can only wear it at certain times, but I can wear the pin anytime I like.

SA国际影视传媒淚 thought they did the ceremony with a lot of elegance and class, but they didn't go overboard.

SA国际影视传媒淚 was looking around and thinking wow, if we could put all the money that this cost towards the food bank, we'd have quite a bit of money to spend.

SA国际影视传媒淲e didn't get what you'd call the royal treatment, but we certainly stayed at a nice hotel, they gave us a nice reception with good food and they paid for the travel, two nights at the hotel and 1.5 days of government per diems for our meals.SA国际影视传媒�

Fredlund said she has no plans to start slowing down anytime soon.

In fact, she said, the more volunteers she can get, the more she can branch out to doing different things.

SA国际影视传媒淭here's so much we can still do at the second-hand store and the food bank, and, no matter how far you get along with it, there's always something more that can be done.

SA国际影视传媒淩ight now I have some of the folks from the adult group home helping us out, and they are really taking a big burden of the work off of my shoulders.

SA国际影视传媒淪o now I can get to do a little more of things like writing people thank you cards and stuff like that, which I really like doing, as well as co-ordinating more to make sure there's always someone there to open the store every Saturday and somebody there for the food bank stuff all the time.

SA国际影视传媒淚 just enjoy helping out so much, so I won't be stepping away from things anytime soon in Rankin Inlet.SA国际影视传媒�