ESPANOLA – A former resident of Little Current who remains a member of the local Lions Club, Mike Dubreuil, has been awarded the Volunteer of the year Award from Manitoulin North-Shore Victim Services.
Mr. Dubreuil, now of Espanola, who along with his wife had lived in Little Current for several years (moving back to Espanola last year), and who is still a member of the Little Current Lions Club, was presented with the award recently.
“I had no idea I was up for this award,” Mr. Dubreuil told the Recorder last week. He explained he has been with the Manitoulin North-Shore Victim Services “for about three years now. I had been asked by Joe Charette and Ellie (Eleanor) Charette (executive director of North-Shore Victim Services) to join.”
“The Victim Services group provides a whole range of services; basically to help when someone has been the victim of any type of crime, they provide help and resources to people,” said Mr. Dubreuil. “For example, if someone is in a car accident and needs a ride to a hospital we can provide this.”
“Then there is a whole other educational component of victim’s services,” said Mr. Dubreuil. “For instance, they go into schools and discuss with students the issue and concerns with such things as human trafficking.”
Mr. Dubreuil is also a member of the Jump Start program, having started at about the same time he started with Victims Services. And, “I joined the Lions Club in Espanola in 2013, and when we moved to Little Current around 2015 I joined the Lions Club in Little Current,” he said, noting he is a full-time Lion of one and an associate member of the second.
“Mike is all about community for sure,” Joe Charette told reporter Patricia Drohan and the Mid-North Monitor in its September 5 edition of the newspaper.
Mr. Dubreuil helps run the very popular ‘Catch the Ace’ progressive lottery through the Little Current Lions Club, which raises funds for several community groups and organizations in Espanola and Manitoulin, including the Manitoulin North-Shore Victim Services.
He also is the Canadian Tire Jumpstart representative for the Espanola-Manitoulin chapter which helps children explore a range of sports options. The Jumpstart program sees 100 percent of customer donations go directly to support kids across Canada.
“I am just one of many volunteers for Victim Services,” Mr. Dubreuil said adding, “volunteers play a big role in small communities.”
