Local Emergency Social Services Director (ESS) director Liz Jones is one of 40 British Columbians being awarded a Sovereign’s Medal for Volunteers on behalf of Julie Payette, Governor of Canada, by Janet Austin, Lieutenant Governor of B.C, in Victoria today.
The Sovereign’s Medal for Volunteers recognizes the exceptional volunteer achievements of Canadians from across the country in a wide range of fields.
“I’m nervous,” she says. “There’s a lot of people that should be here with me.”
It’s hard to describe and feels both proud and humbled, she says.
“I was very, very surprised. It was something I was not expecting ever and volunteering is something that I’ve always taken very seriously… If you want to make the world a better place, you have to do something about it yourself.”
She’s always volunteered in various degrees since she was 12, she says.
“The culmination I guess here is with the ESS and 2017 and everything that happened there, somebody’s very nicely put my name forward and here we are.”
She says she’s looking forward to meeting the other nominees. It’s nice to get down there, she says, adding that she thinks the last time she was there was when she was three years old.
The ceremony runs from 2 to 3 p.m. and can be watched live here.
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