The longtime facilitator of the St. John Ambulance Therapy Dog program in Vernon has been honoured for her work, earning one of the new commemorative medals to mark the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee.
And last month, Jo-Ann Johnston travelled to Government House in Victoria to be presented with the Diamond Jubilee Medal by Lt.-Gov. Steven L. Point, who is also Vice Prior of the Order of St. John.
“I am very excited, overwhelmed, and so honoured to be chosen,” said Johnston. “Since I learned about this award, (my husband) Laurence has tried numerous times to stop me from bouncing off the walls —neither he, nor Hugo, my therapy dog, have been successful.”
There are 25,000 St. John Ambulance volunteers in Canada. The organization was allotted 33 Diamond Jubilee Medals to be awarded to deserving individuals within St. John based on eligibility criteria. The BC & Yukon Council submitted eight nominations for community services volunteers and six were approved by National for this honour. From these six, only one was approved from B.C. to receive the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Medal.
The Diamond Jubilee Medal is a way for Canada to honour Queen Elizabeth for her 60 years of service, while at the same time honouring significant contributions and achievements by Canadians.
During the year of celebrations, 60,000 deserving Canadians will be recognized. To be selected, they must have made a significant contribution to a particular province, territory, region or community within Canada, or an achievement abroad that brings credit to Canada.
