In 2004, the Administrator of Cedar Lodge, Suzanne Claire Olaski, was awarded the highest honour in the Province, the Saskatchewan Order of Merit for her outstanding contribution to the community and province. the Premier held a banquet at the Hotel Saskatchewan in Regina for the 7 recipients that year where many dignitaries attended. The award was presented by Dr. Lynda Haverstock, S.O.M. who was the Lieutenant Governor at the time.
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
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