Awarded on: 2003-12-04
Jessie Kaye, Hamilton, Ontario
Governor General's Caring Canadian Award
Jessie Kaye believes that individuals matter, and in her work she has shown that they do. A 25-year member of Amnesty International, she spends 10 hours a week writing to political leaders about human rights issues. Through the Tibetan Trans Himalayan Society, a humanitarian organization, for 30 years she has sponsored Tibetan refugee children living in India. She has also raised funds for sanitation projects in the Himalayas. She has provided support to Tools for Peace, a Canadian non-profit organization working to improve education, employment and health care in Nicaragua. Despite health problems, she continues to reach out with energy, humour and sensitivity in whatever way she can to bring an end to human suffering.