The Psalm 23 hosted its Northern Courageous Starfish Awards at the Valley Room in 100 Mile House on Nov. 22.
The event was the Psalm 23 Transition Society’s annual dinner and auction. Psalm 23 Recovery Training Centre is located at Mile 59 and is well known by most people.
The evening opened with a silent auction and the items that were donated to be bid on were of excellent quality.
Dinner was provided by the Fifty9 Mile Business Centre Catering Team. The meal was fantastic and there was plenty of food for all.
Next came the Volunteer Appreciation Awards. These awards are given to people who volunteer to help Psalm 23.
Recipients included Dave and Vicki Skoda, Pastor Vicky Escobedo, Mike and Jacquie Boyd, Reg Berrington, Larry Hillstad, Gina Myhill-Jones, Wes and Gloria Friesen, Sheila Forman Zacharias and Brad Arthurs.
This was followed by the Charitable Support Awards given to the companies that provided financial and physical support to Psalm 23.
Recipients included Sunrise Ford, Save-On-Foods, 108 Resort, Heritage Signs, Central GM, Royal Bank, United Concrete, Bell-E-Acres, Donex, Safeway, 100 Mile House Free Press, Andre’s Electronic Experts, Centennial Law Corporation and Hops & Vines U-Brew.
Phase 1 BuildingSupporter Appreciation Awards were also given to companies that supported the building of projects at the Psalm 23 site.
Recipients included Omega-1 Contracting Ltd., TIMBER MART, Ainsworth, Dave Skoda and United Concrete.
We were treated to a testimony by Keith Rowlands who was the first recipient of the Coveted Starfish award. After a number of years of still being clean and sober, he is successfully working in a teaching capacity and giving back to society.
The winner of this year’s 2014 Starfish Award is Mike Born who has been courageous enough to stay clean and give back to society. His testimony was very informative about his past and his future and we all wish him well.
Shelley Declare, wife of Marvin Declare, gave her testimony of her life with Marvin. Her story was very moving as she shared how difficult it was for her living with an alcoholic and that the change started to happen when she no longer accepted his excuses.
It was a very touching story which affected us all.
The evening was excellent and the audience witnessed a lot of emotional feelings and lifestyles.
Many thanks to Psalm 23 for providing such a great evening.
Reg Berrington is a Psalm 23 volunteer and a 100 Mile House Free Press correspondent.
