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www.insideHALTON.com | OAKVILLE BEAVER | Thursday, April 25, 2013 | 10 Halton volunteers were recognized Monday at the annual Recognition Breakfast hosted by Community Development Halton's Volunteer Halton. Among the Oakville winners, from left: Oakville Trafalgar High School OTHS Lunch Buddies team Donna Stewart, Karen Eschlboeck, Nicole Butler, Connor Hammond, Sherif Mekhaeil, and Bailee Johnson, Ann Carbray of Halton Food for Thought, Anne Freeman of Halton Healthcare Services, and Annmarie Lavecchia of Big Brothers Big Sisters Halton. BETTER HEARING DAY Monday April 29 8:30-5pm A salute to our volunteers by John Bkila Special to the Beaver photo by Eric Riehl ­ Oakville Beaver (Follow on Twitter @halton_photog) OAKVILLE Call for your complimentary hearing test! (55+) SPACES ARE LIMITED When you lose your hearing, doing ordinary things takes more effort. You have to work harder to understand and to stay connected to the people and things that are a natural part of your world. You can regain your energy ­ and confidence ­ so you can move about your world, with Oticon Agil. ONE DAY ONLY Agil is the revolutionary new hearing device that helps you understand more with less effort. Research studies have shown that people fit with Agil hearing instruments report an amazing 86% Overall Satisfaction Rating and a 93% rating for Speech Clarity! With Agil, you'll reconnect with the voices, music and sounds that enrich your world. Life will seem brighter and more fulfilling, because you're hearing better and understanding more. IF YOU HAVE NOT LISTENED TO THE NEW DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY RECENTLY, THIS IS AN OPPORTUNITY NOT TO BE MISSED! A manufacturer's representative will be present at our Better Hearing Day to demonstrate the impressive Agil automatic processing digital instrument. It is available in several different styles and price ranges. Hear your phone conversations with ease ­ even cell phones ­ with the automatic phone feature. Come and listen to the actual hearing aids. This is the best technology available today. Listen and judge for yourself! H EARING SCIENCES Audiology and Hearing Aid Centre 2419 Marine Drive, Oakville 905-465-3277 Community Development Halton (CDH) may have had a tough time selecting its 2013 volunteer award winners with more than 57 per cent of the region's population volunteering their time to better their community. "We have a very active volunteer community in Halton... (it's) higher than our national and provincial averages," said Ann Coburn, director of Volunteer Halton at CDH and MC for Monday's Volunteer Recognition Breakfast at the Holiday Inn Oakville Centre. "With these awards, it's just a small token to share our appreciation of our volunteers." The event coincided with National Volunteer Week, April 21-27. Halton Regional Chair Gary Carr and Regional and Burlington Councillor Paul Sharman presented the awards. "We thank all our volunteers in Halton for the great work they do each and every day," Carr said. "We're truly amazed at this great region and we're very blessed. We have one of the highest standards of living per capita... but really what makes us a great community is the people." Awards were handed out in three categories: Community Volunteer, Cheers to Volunteers, and new to this year, Community Development, which recognized a team's volunteer efforts. Nominated by their individual organizations, the 2013 Community Volunteer award recipients were: · Annmarie Lavecchia (Oakville) -- Big Brothers Big Sisters of Halton · Alan Stupart (Burlington) -- Burlington Public Library's Visiting Library Services (VLS) · Sara Dunn (Milton) -- Big Brothers Big Sisters of Halton · Allison Jones (Halton Hills) -- Acton Community Garden Cheers to Volunteers award winners included: · Chuck Millar (Canadian Red Cross), Ann Carbray (Halton Food for Thought), and Anne Freeman (Halton Healthcare Services) -- all of Oakville · Jeff Grovestine (Canadian Blood Services), Don Thorpe (John Howard Society of Hamilton, Burlington and Area), and Jackie Newby (Acclaim Health) -- all of Burlington · Thelma Ramirez (The Salvation Army Milton), Diane Stanley (Town of Milton), and Lauren Hugo (The Darling Home for Kids) -- all of Milton · Judy Fraser (Links2Care), Chris Golden (Peer Outreach Support Services & Education ­ POSSE), and Corina Pries (North Halton Girls Association) -- all of Halton Hills The first annual Community Development award went to the Oakville Trafalgar High School Lunch Buddies Club, which has students work with fellow peers with Down's Syndrome. The Volunteer Halton Youth Advisory Council (VHYAC) also used the volunteer breakfast as the scene to kick off the Ontario government's 2013 Youth Volunteer Challenge -- a month-long challenge with the goal of getting 30,000 youths aged 14-18 years old to volunteer for at least three hours. "Considering that last year, close to 28,000 volunteers were engaged (over a three-week span), I know this can be achieved. Halton alone had more than 2,000 students participating in 2012, so imagine what we can do in four weeks," said Julia Mogus, VHYAC member and cofounder of Books With No Bounds. To help Halton students complete their required high school community involvement hours and make it easier to volunteer in the region, Volunteer Halton also launched its new free mobile app. Available on Apple, Android, Blackberry 10 and Playbooks, the free app helps youths search new volunteer opportunities, log volunteer hours and connect with Volunteer Halton. To download the app, visit http://bit. ly/10wtqJO.