East-ender honoured for volunteer work By Laura Cummings
Orléans Star
Tuesday, February 10, 2009 Like any good surprise, Walter Robinson was the last to know when it came to being honoured for his years of commitment to local volunteering last month. The Orléans resident – who received United Way/Centraide Ottawa’s Community Builder Award on Jan. 20 – admits he was taken aback when he first heard of the recognition. “It was humbling,” Robinson says, jokingly recounting how he started to suspect something when colleagues began poking around for biography information. “If you look at the calibre of people given this honour ... it’s a pretty amazing group.” Robinson – who briefly served as Mayor Larry O’Brien’s chief of staff, ran for federal office in Ottawa-Orléans and currently serves as a columnist for the East Ottawa Star – has been involved with the local community in a variety of functions, ranging from work with Team Ottawa-Orléans to coaching east-end sports to almost a decade on the Ottawa Regional Cancer Foundation’s board. Looking back on his numerous achievements, Robinson points to his time with the foundation as the most memorable, including watching their fundraising grow from collecting $1 million in a year to over $10 million. “It’s providing real hope for cancer patients across the region,” he explains. “It’s been really fulfilling.” At the community level, Robinson says coaching has been his most gratifying activity. “It’s been an opportunity to give back to my love of sports,” he continues, as well as an opportunity to work with supportive, enthusiastic parents in Orléans. United Way/Centraide Ottawa’s Community Builder Award has been in place since the early 2000s, explains president and CEO Michael Allen, with the aim of recognizing local residents who “have made a contribution to Ottawa, to make it a better, stronger place … to celebrate the vibrancy and contribution of volunteers.” When it comes to Robinson, his dedication to the local community has been “quite extensive,” Allen continues, from neighbourhood-type involvement in schools and sports to his time as chair of a regional health-care foundation. Like many other Community Builder recipients, Allen applauds Robinson’s “sense of commitment to something that’s bigger than they are. “They’re building the community to be a better place than it is,” he says. “It’s what makes the community special.” Even with Ottawa’s population continuing to grow, “we are still very much a community that sees itself, in many ways, as a small village,” Allen explains. “It’s important not to lose that.” For Robinson, his long-term volunteerism has also provided a sense of perspective. “Work is one thing – community is quite another,” he says, adding that while professional advancement isn’t the goal, charitable work often allows for the chance to step into leadership roles sometimes not available on the job. “It’s the duty and responsibility of citizenship to be active and engaged. Everybody has something to contribute.” = = = = = United Way/Centraide Ottawa will hold its Community Builder of the Year awards in May. To nominate someone you know, or for more information, please visit www.unitedwayottawa.ca |