Suzanne Claire Olaski has been called “a voice for those who have no voice”. She has given of herself to comfort the afflicted, feed the hungry, rescue the addicted and bring hope to those in despair. Her own journey has taken her from a successful paralegal career in Toronto to a dangerous urban ghetto in California to a street ministry in Saskatchewan.

In 1995 Ms. Olaski opened a soup kitchen in Saskatoon. Her clientele expanded exponentially from 5 families to 1200 and she founded Community Alive, a non-profit organization which distributes food to outreach ministries and first nations reserves. Distressed by her encounter with so many lost souls on city streets, Suzanne Olaski determined to find a safe haven for those, especially women and children, suffering from addictions and abuse.

With minimal funds, but armed with faith and optimism, she found a way to purchase Cedar Lodge on Blackstrap Lake. Through her blend of compassion, leadership and business acumen, Ms. Olaski has turned this vacant property into a thriving Hotel and Convention Center operated by volunteers, sought after by conference organizers across Canada and beyond. The hotel income subsidizes shelter and treatment for those suffering from drug, alcohol and gambling abuse, dysfunctional families and crime.

Suzanne Olaski has experienced the dark side of society at first hand. She is committed to the rehabilitation of its victims. She is an innovator whose charisma inspires others to follow her example and join in her cause. Non-judgemental, she seeks out the strengths in the individuals for whom and with whom she works and inspires them to change their lives. Your honour, I present to you for investiture with the Saskatchewan Order Merit an exemplary entrepreneur whose guiding motivation is social justice.

Nomination of Suzanne Claire Olaski by Nanette Moffatt, Saskatoon

The following information should shed more light on my decision to nominate Suzanne Claire Olaski for the Saskatchewan Order of Merit Award. In particular, I hope to share her vision, her dedication, her leadership qualities, her ability to cause government to revisit policies, all in addition to the fact that her contribution in the service to others ranks high in her notable achievements.

In 1965, a close personal friend of Suzanne’s became a drug user. She became involved in the drama of her friend’s fight for life and has been active since that time in setting people free from addictions. At that time she was a legal secretary in Toronto advancing quickly to the position of paralegal. At the age of 23, she was already freelancing in that capacity. Her clients often included as many as 11 notable law firms. She was known for her trouble shooting and problem solving skills, as well as the ability to mediate in the area of human resources. Those skills have been used over the span of some forty years to help countless individuals, at no cost, to negotiate terms of probation, mediation, family disputes and other matters of the law.

In 1965, while helping a small ministry on

in Saskatoon, she began a soup kitchen. Within a short period of time she was feeding more than 200 people every day, seven days a week. Many of those seeking food could barely walk due to the abuse of a variety of substances. Once the soup kitchen was up and running, she continued to work with producers in order to feed the many hungry families despite the many active outlets working hard to reduce this problem. Some of these families included those who were unable to get to the food bank due to illness, incontinence or just too many kids to get on the bus and get downtown.

She began with five families that she knew needed help. By the end of that first year her organization had a computer database of 1200 families. Several hundred of these would require assistance every month from Community Alive Inc. a non-profit organization founded by Suzanne in 1997. She drew to herself many supporters some of whom have loyally served the food distribution program as full time volunteers for the past seven years. These volunteers would pick up and deliver food every day, use their own vehicles and pay for the gas to get around. Even now, literally tons of food is distributed every week.

Community alive Inc. is dedicated to bringing the community ‘to life’. The number of outreach ministries and organizations who receive food vary each month. Here is a sampling of just some of the groups who may receive food several times each month: Crisis Nursery SSPC, Egadz Youth Center, Saskatoon Food Bank, Friendship Inn, Iglesia Evengelica Hispana, Interval House, Tamara’s House, Miracle Manor, Salvation Army, City Centre Church, The Bridge on 20th Soup Kitchen, Bethany House, Beaver Camp, Share a Meal, Southridge Outreach Center, St. Mary’s School, Victory Church and Victory Manor.

Additionally, many reserves receive from Community Alive Inc. 2-3 tons of potatoes at a time. These reserves include Mistawassis, Little Red River, Cote and Keesegoose, White Fish and La Ronge. North Battleford, Prince Albert and Big River also have ministries that receive food once or twice each month and the drivers deliver right to their door. Wonderful sponsors have been faithful for many years. These include Star Produce, Barrich Farms, Star Egg, Saskatoon Food Bank, Dawn Foods, Martin’s Produce, Dazzle Products, Family Pizza, The Great Canadian Bagel, IGA, Safeway, Co-op, Robin Hood Multi Foods, Family Oven Bakery, Super Poly Ltd., London Drugs

Another huge step in 1997. Without any funds of her own, she took the initiative to purchase by Agreement for Sale a 60 room hotel with 75 acres on Blackstrp Lake called Cedar Lodge. Having encountered lost souls during her time of making and serving soup, she was distressed at having nowhere for them to go. Her desire promoted the leadership to provide for people needing shelter a safe haven in order to restructure their lives. This would come to include women in distress or abuse situations, people in family crisis including children, victims of drug and alcohol addiction. Countless individuals have been helped over the years. While providing shelter and counsel, Cedar Lodge Hotel and Convention Center held retreats and conventions in order to subsidize the charitable work unfolding faster than could be financially managed. This has resulted in more than 1,500 events some of which were both national and international. thousands of visitors have been through their doors, from more than 30 countries. Add to this the families helped and the individuals guided, numbering into the many hundreds and you have an accomplishment that few can claim.

Her organization has qualified and worked with the Department of Justice in the Fine Option Program for many years and continued in this capacity to this day. As well, Judges have stayed prison time to individuals willing to work with Suzanne to address their areas of difficulty. Suzanne’s facility is currently impacting five arms of government: Social Services, Health, Justice, Tourism and Indian Affairs. With no government funding to date, but two grant writers just beginning and marketing expertise being offered to expand upon this incredible enterprise, it is only a matter of time before millions of dollars pouring through her organization, bringing wholeness to individuals, families and the community in ever increasing numbers.

Suzanne’s entrepreneurial spirit combined with her integrity, commitment to serve, great vision, motivation and consistency in following through, spanning forty years, makes her, I believe, an excellent candidate for the Saskatchewan Order of Merit Award. Thank you for the opportunity to nominate her.

Nanette Moffat

Saskatoon, Saskatchewan

Long Shadows on the Road

SCN Premiere – A television documentary series produced exclusively for SCN, each episode focuses on influential Saskatchewan people who have made significant contributions to their community, to the province and beyond. You can learn about their lives and accomplishments through their conversations with veteran writer and broadcaster, Bruce Steele.
Other notables in the series former Premier Grant Devine and Actress/Singer Andrea Menard.

Suzanne Claire Olaski S.O.M. Founder, Leader, Spokesperson and Administrator of Cedar Lodge Hotel & Convention Center and Outreach Services. A dynamic and motivating personality. Her story of faith is inspirational …

A copy of the program can be ordered by calling 306-492-4999
Cost $10.00 plus shipping.

It is the highest honour in the Province.

The Order recognizes individuals who have made their mark in such areas as the arts, agriculture, business and industry, community leadership, the occupations or professions, public service, research, and volunteer service. It takes precedence over all other provincial honours and awards.

Criteria and Selection

Any Canadian citizen who is a current or former long-term resident of Saskatchewan is eligible for nomination for the Saskatchewan Order of Merit and any individual or group may submit nominations. Only individuals may be nominated, not organizations or groups. Posthumous nominations are accepted within one year of the date of death. A call for nominations is made in the spring. From among the public nominations received the Saskatchewan Honours Advisory Council may recommend up to a maximum of ten members of the Order annually.

Insignia

The insignia worn by members of the Saskatchewan Order of Merit include a silver and enamel medal representing a stylized western red lily (the provincial floral emblem), bearing the Crown and Shield of Arms of the province, and suspended from a ribbon of green and gold, the official colours of the province. There is also a lapel pin representing a stylized lily and bearing the Crown. Each member of the Order receives an official certificate in the form of Letters Patent, sealed with the Great Seal of the Province of Saskatchewan. These are presented by the Lieutenant Governor at a formal investiture in the fall, alternating between Regina and Saskatoon. Members of the Order are entitled to use the post-nominal letters S.O.M.

Gallery

The Athabasca Gallery on the second floor of the Legislative Building contains the photographic portraits of the members of the Order and the citations read at their investiture.

National Status

In 1991 the Government of Canada granted recognition to the Saskatchewan Order of Merit and a place in the national sequence of orders, decorations and medals, immediately after national orders and before national decorations. By seniority of its establishment the Saskatchewan Order of Merit ranks after I’Ordre national du Quebec and before the Order of Ontario, Order of British Columbia, Alberta Order of Excellence, Order of Prince Edward Island, Order of Manitoba, Order of New Brunswick, Order of Nova Scotia, and Order of Newfoundland and Labrador.

This means that recipients of Saskatchewan’s Order of Merit are entitled to wear it on national occasions and that recipients of Canada’s national honours who also receive Saskatchewan honours may wear both in the sequence approved by the Governor General.

see
www.gr.gov.sk.ca/protocol/honours/index.htm

http://gr.gov.sk.ca/protocol/Honours/SOM_2004.htm

www.gov.sk.ca/news-archive/2004/10/20-638-attachment.pdf
www.gov.sk.ca/news?newsId=eeedb1c2-5d96-433f-86e9-ef2e8b17ba6b

(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commemorative_Medal_for_the_Centennial_of_Saskatchewan)

The Medal was created in May 2003 by the Legislature through amendments to The Provincial Emblems and Honours Act. The legislation establishes the Medal as an official honour of The Crown in right of Saskatchewan, to be presented by the Lieutenant Governor or her designate. It has been granted status in the Canadian Precedence of Orders, Decorations and Medals.

Recipients receive a medal displaying the provincial motto under a wreath of western red lilies surmounted by the St. Edward’s Crown. The words “Saskatchewan 1905-2005″ are around the circumference of the medal. On the reverse of the medal is the provincial shield of arms. The medal is suspended from a ribbon of gold with two narrow green stripes.

Suzanne Claire Olaski was awarded the Saskatchewan Centennial Medal Award …on March 17, 2006.

Taken in part from the Saskatoon Star Phoenix Wednesday May 5, 2004, Front Page of the Section LIFESTYLE.

Twenty-seven women will be recognized at the annual YWCA Women of Distinction Awards on May 13 at the Centennial Auditorium.

The awards program and banquet, with the theme “Inspiring Generations,” celebrates women’s achievements and accomplishments in this community.

“This is a night to celebrate women’s talents, skills, and contributions to the community,” said Peggy Slater-Johnson, YWCA executive assistant and fund development co-ordinator. “The awards allow us to publicly recognize women who are inspiring generations – the vibrant and dedicated women who consistently help those around them.”

The evening’s guest speaker is Severn Cullis Suzuki, daughter of well-known David Suzuki. She is a TV host, author and environmentalist.

Cullis Suzuki is known for addressing the delegates at the Rio Earth Summit when she was just 12, and for her work in protecting British Columbia forests. Suzuki is a graduate of Yale University, with a degree in ecology and evolutionary biology.

In the Category of “Lifetime Achievement” two nominees, Suzanne Claire Olaski and Carole Gorgchuck were named. Carole Gorgchuck won the prestigious award for which we sincerely congratulate her as she is a most worthy candidate.