The City of Kelowna held its 44th annual civic awards at the Kelowna Community Theatre.

(JOHN MCDONALD / iNFOnews.ca)

KELOWNA - The entire Journey Home Task Force was the winner of the Anita Tozer Memorial Award at the Kelowna Civic Awards ceremony last night, April 24.

The award is given to an individual or group that has made "an extraordinary and positive contribution to the quality of life in Kelowna," according to the City of Kelowna web site.

Journey Home was created to find a way to deal with homelessness in Kelowna. It reported to council in June 2018, after which most of its members continued on to create the Central Okanagan Journey Home Society to continue its work.

Other award winners were:

Central Okanagan Foundation – Volunteer Organization of the Year Award
Helping Out People Exploited (HOPE) Outreach

Fred Macklin Memorial Award - Man of the Year
Giuseppe (Joe) Iafrancesco (1947-2018)

Sarah Donalda-Treadgold Memorial Award - Woman of the Year
Angie Lohr

Bob Giordano Memorial Award – Coach/Sport Administrator of the Year
Devin Rubadeau

Bryan Couling Memorial Award – Athletic Team of the Year
Kelowna Ringette U16A Elite

Female Athlete of the Year Award
Kelsey Serwa

Male Athlete of the Year Award
Fynnian McCarthy

Female Augie Ciancone Memorial Award – Top High School Athlete
Lonica McKinney

Male Augie Ciancone Memorial Award – Top High School Athlete
Brandon Frechette

Young Female Volunteer of the Year Award
Keneisha Charles

Young Male Volunteer of the Year Award
Matthew Richardson

Teen Honour in the Arts Award
Annette Bakala

Honour in the Arts Award
Ryan Grenier

Corporate Community of the Year Award
Small Business
Secure-Rite Mobile Storage Inc.

Medium/Large Business
Raymond James – Kelowna Corporate Branch

Champion for the Environment Award
Gwen Steele

The Young Female and Male Volunteer of the Year Award winners receive $1,000 scholarships while the finalists each get $500 scholarships. The recipient of the Teen Honour in the Arts Award will receive an entrance scholarship to the UBCO Faculty of Creative and Critical Studies.

To contact a reporter for this story, email Rob Munro or call 250-808-0143 or email the editor. You can also submit photos, videos or news tips to the newsroom and be entered to win a monthly prize draw.

We welcome your comments and opinions on our stories but play nice. We won't censor or delete comments unless they contain off-topic statements or links, unnecessary vulgarity, false facts, spam or obviously fake profiles. If you have any concerns about what you see in comments, email the editor in the link above. 

News from © iNFOnews, 2019