By Chelsea Laskowski

Prince Albert’s Citizen of the Year caught by surprise

Jan 3, 2015 | 7:31 AM

A room full of volunteers involved in a Prince Albert woman’s charitable efforts concocted quite a ruse to give her a much-deserved honour.

This year, the Kinsmen Club and others chose Jeanette Eddolls, a past teacher in the city and avid volunteer, as the city’s Citizen of the Year.

Eddolls explained she arrived expecting to sign some paperwork in the Catholic Family Services board room. This is nothing out of the norm, since she donates a lot of her time to Catholic Family Services.

However, she got much more than she bargained for when she entered the room to see the nominating committee for the honour, and a group of people who chose her as the Citizen of the Year.

“It definitely was a shock. I didn’t know what this group of people was all gathered there for because it was such a cross section of people that normally wouldn’t meet, and some of them I didn’t know, and I’m thinking, ‘what is this all about?’”

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The idea of more than 20 people writing letters saying why Eddolls deserved the award had never even crossed her mind, let alone the thought she may win the award.

Kinsmen Club president Daren Solomon explained their selection committee looks for community involvement and “something that they may have done that was unique or special in the last year.”

“For her it was more of decades and decades of service to different things around the community,” Solomon said.

Eddolls has spent the bulk of her volunteer time with Catholic Family Services as the chair of its board.

Counselling and support for families, individuals, and in school are a large part of what the nonprofit provides in Prince Albert.

“We also offer a wide variety of education/life skills programs, such as dealing with anger management, dealing with separation, divorce… just sort of healthy living, decision-making,” she explained.

Despite the religious affiliation, Eddolls said their services are for all people in the community regardless of background.

This applies to an ex-offender job reentry program called Bridges, which boasts a high employment rate for its students after nine weeks.

She also works at St. Michael’s parish on council and as a volunteer. She tries to “be a helping hand” with tasks like gathering items to donate to the food bank and women’s shelter.

Yet another effort is to help women and children find services when dealing with violence.

The value of volunteerism

A retired teacher and Saskatchewan Rivers School Division administrator, Edolls still works as a SUNTEP instructor and with primarily Japanese high school students.

The busy volunteer schedule Eddolls operates on comes naturally to her.

“It’s not rocket science,” Eddolls said with a laugh. “I’ve got time, I’ve got capacity, and I’ve got good health and so putting all that together just sort of makes sense… just to become a useful contributor to society.”

Not one to bask in the limelight, Eddolls insists she receives just as much as she gives by meeting new people and working with organizations as a volunteer.

She is well regarded for her ability to recruit others to the volunteer life, whether it’s having a friend helping out with a “one shot” effort like a food bank donation drive or something more.

“It doesn’t have to be a financial contribution. Our hands can do, our feet can do a lot of work. Just sitting and visiting with somebody… that all helps to build a stronger community.”

That statement echoes Solomon’s reason for continuing to give out the Citizen of the Year award. The practice dates back to the 1950s, he said.

“The tradition continues just to recognize those people that are contributing to making Prince Albert a better place and a better city.”

Eddolls said she’s seen plenty of community building, even just on the way to St. Michael’s Parish, which is in the West Flat.

“Here are two little girls pushing a grocery cart. But they were picking garbage up off the street. And I thought, ‘what a good job.’ They were doing their part.”

claskowski@panow.com

On Twitter: @chelsealaskowsk