• Awarded on: April 20, 1999

Jan Stirling, Yellowknife, N.W.T.
Governor General's Caring Canadian Award

Through her nursing career and volunteer commitments, Jan Stirling has helped a variety of people in the Yellowknife area and in the vast, remote regions of the Arctic. She played an important role in the establishment or operation of health associations, charitable and religious groups, community recreation activities, and crime prevention and victims assistance organizations. She helped the Vietnamese refugees of Yellowknife adjust to life in the North, and is affectionately referred to as "Grandma Jan". In addition, Mrs. Stirling has counselled both children and adults with various social problems and often opens her home to abandoned street kids and Yellowknife's less-fortunate residents.