Vimy Pilgrimage finalist goes to Ottawa

By Joan Janzen

Jill Dobbin, a Grade 11 KCS student, has been selected as a finalist for the 2021 Vimy Pilgrimage Award. The award recognizes the actions of young people who demonstrate an outstanding commitment to volunteer work through positive contributions, notable deeds, or bravery that benefits their peers, school, community, province or country.

While the recipients weren’t allowed to travel to Vimy Ridge for Remembrance Day, Jill, along with the remaining nineteen ward winners from across Canada, will travel to Ottawa from November 8th to 12th. The other winner from Saskatchewan is a student from Lucky Lake.

The trip to Ottawa will be an awesome privilege for the winners, which consists of a fully funded educational program to study Canada’s tremendous First World War effort. The program features daily visits to important sites, including memorials and museums and a series of conferences and discussions, as well as participation in Remembrance ceremonies.

Jill said she believes there are two ways to reach future generations through active commemoration. First of all, she said we can find examples every day of freedoms we enjoy because of the sacrifices that were made on our behalf. Secondly, we can benefit by focusing on lost soldiers as fellow human beings with families and personal lives lost.

Jill is an example of a young person who is dedicated to community service, who is interested in the importance of Canadian history. Congratulations, Jill on a well deserved award! We can’t wait to hear all about your trip to Ottawa!