Maria Jol, Coquitlam, British Columbia
Governor General's Caring Canadian Award
For nearly 25 years, Maria Jol has been working to help people with developmental disabilities. She leads a friendship class for them at her church, and coordinates workshop services involving the general congregation. She volunteers as a companion, caregiver and counsellor with an organization that runs homes and summer camps for developmentally challenged persons. All this is part of a broader commitment to her community, which has included helping refugee families in the late 1970s, visiting the elderly, performing church work and being willing to support anyone in need. To these tasks she brings respect, friendliness and an uplifting spirit.