Stettler resident Janie von Krogh has been named the regional Volunteer of the Year award at a ceremony in Calgary on Thursday, April 14.
Von Krogh has been a volunteer with the Red Deer chapter of the Canadian Diabetes Association (CDA) since 1995 when her daughter Angela was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes at the age of 12.
"I was really surprised when I got the call from Jackie Morrison from the Red Deer CDA branch that I had been selected to receive the regional Volunteer of the Year award," said von Krogh. "When you volunteer for something, you don't expect any formal recognition, you're just volunteering, so it is quite an honour to be chosen."
According to von Krogh, she has been the Stettler area captain for 13 to 15 years.
"It's the annual door-to-door fundraising campaign in October that I'm mainly involved with," added von Krogh. "There are usually about 40 Stettler canvassers, many really dedicated ones who I can count on that have been volunteering their time year after year, knocking on doors and asking for donations, especially in October when the weather isn't always the nicest and it gets dark early, but Stettler is a pretty generous community."
"I've been told by the Red Deer office that Stettler has often raised the most money compared to other towns our size," said von Krogh. "In 2014, we raised over $14,000, while last year we raised over $11,000."
There are so many good causes out there, noted von Krogh, and you can't support all of them, but diabetes hits close to home for their family.
"Besides our daughter, my brother-in-law and sister have to deal with the daily challenges of living with it," said von Krogh. "There have been so many advances and improvements in diabetes treatment and management in the last few years, and many of them thanks to the doctors and research people right here in Alberta, it is rewarding to know that the time and effort all the volunteers invest has been a part of making those advances and future ones possible."
In 2006, von Krogh's daughter, Angela, decided she would be a member of the Team D team, and run a marathon in Rome.
Once again von Krogh and her husband Frank stepped up to the plate for their daughter and assisted her in fundraising for her to achieve this dream andtravelled to Rome with her other daughter Susan to cheer for Angela.
Susan, who didn't take part as a registered Team D member, ran alongside her sister to cross the finish line together.
"Janie volunteers with other organizations in her community and shows on a daily basis that she believes that the spirit of giving, support and community are important in every aspect of her life," said Jackie Morrison, community engagement coordinator, CDA. "Congrats Janie on all of your achievements and thank you for all that you do."