It鈥檚 been a week that Presley Onufreychuk will never forget.
On Tuesday afternoon, the Manor resident wrote her final Grade 12 exam. She鈥檚 looking forward to studying pre-social work at the University of Regina this fall.
The day before her last exam, she was presented with a provincial Junior Citizen Award. The honour is handed out by the Saskatchewan Weekly Newspapers Association (SWNA), in partnership with SaskPower. The ceremony was held at Government House in Regina.
Only four Saskatchewan youths are presented with the Junior Citizen Award each year. Each honouree receives a $3,000 bursary from SaskPower to be used for post-secondary studies.聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 鈥�
鈥淚 enjoy doing different volunteer activities, and it鈥檚 nice to be noticed,鈥� she said in an interview with Lifestyles.
Onufreychuk has found many ways to be involved in the Manor area. Among them is her effort to organize a skate-a-thon for the village鈥檚 rink on Feb. 19. Her efforts raised $2,500 for the arena鈥檚 operations.
鈥淲e have this beautiful rink in Manor, and we鈥檙e a smaller community, and so I wanted to have a way to get people to our rink, but at the same time, have a fundraiser for the rink. It turned out awesome, so many families made comments of how it was the perfect Family Day (activity), and that they hoped it could be a tradition.鈥�
Onufreychuk was concerned that young people wouldn鈥檛 raise money for a skate-a-thon, so she went to businesses in the area for donations and raffle prizes. She received gift baskets, gift cards and more, creating a big raffle table that accounted for more than half of the funds raised.
She was also on a mission trip to Mexico in early April through onechurch.ca in Carlyle. Team members painted an orphanage and delivered food hampers, among other activities. She was away from home and her family for 10 days.
鈥淚 learned just how amazing it is to be where we are, and live in Canada, and have all the utilities that we have. It was an eye-opener.鈥�
In the community, she has volunteered with the village鈥檚 fowl supper, and helped out with children鈥檚 games during the annual Professional Bull Riders鈥� rodeo in Manor. Onufreychuk has also assisted with activities at Manor School and at the Moose Mountain Lodge in Carlyle.
And she has travelled to Regina on a couple of occasions to help out at Soul鈥檚 Harbour.
鈥淭hey all have so many different reasons for why I chose to do them, but one of the biggest things is I am so grateful for everything that I have, and so I always feel that it鈥檚 my job to make sure that other people have that same gratefulness,鈥� said Onufreychuk.
A community can鈥檛 run without volunteers, she said, so it鈥檚 very important for people to help out.
鈥淔or a small town, it takes a lot of hands to make things happen,鈥� she said.
The Junior Citizen ceremony was a great experience. It was exciting to be there, meet the other recipients and learn how they have been involved.
鈥淵ou could truly tell that the other three 鈥� were very deserving and have done all kinds of good things to be labelled as a junior citizen,鈥� said Onufreychuk.
Photos were taken with Lieutenant Governor Tom Malloy, and representatives of SWNA and SaskPower. A reception followed the ceremony.
She gives credit to both her school and her family for encouraging her to be active as a volunteer. Much of her time has been dedicated to her school.
鈥淢anor School has been the basis of what originally made me want to be a more active member of the community,鈥� said Onufreychuk.
As for her family, her mother has always been a huge supporter of everything she has done.
鈥淢y entire family was a huge help during the skate-a-thon, because it ended up being an even bigger task than what I thought it would be, so I needed extra hands,鈥� said Onufreychuk.聽
Before she had her driver鈥檚 licence, her grandmother always drove her wherever she needed to go to volunteer.聽
Onufreychuk expects she will continue to be active as a volunteer once she starts university in the fall.
鈥淚 am excited to have different volunteer experiences once I鈥檓 in a bigger area, where I鈥檓 in a city where there are lots of places I can spend my time and volunteer my time.鈥�
She is also excited to continue to help out at Soul鈥檚 Harbour.
And she is optimistic she will be able to help out in Manor during her summer holidays, and her other breaks in the school year.
鈥淚鈥檓 sure on any breaks I will find myself stopping in at the school, because our small school is such a family community,鈥� she said. 鈥淚鈥檒l miss it more than anything.鈥澛�
