Awarded on: 2006-11-28
Elaine Garfinkel, Gloucester, Ontario
Governor General's Caring Canadian Award
For almost 40 years, Elaine Garfinkel has used her wisdom and experience to improve the quality of life of those around her. The school breakfast program, which she launched in 1990 as a pilot project in one school, has since expanded to 91 schools in four districts, with over $2.5 million raised to feed as many as 5,700 children. She is also a founding member of the Teddy Bears' Picnic Committee of the Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario. In addition, she has helped to raise money for the Queensway Carleton Hospital Foundation through her volunteer work on the Kanata Kountry music festival. A born leader and role model, Ms. Garfinkel has dedicated herself to initiatives benefiting children, their families and the Ottawa community as a whole.