Three midwestern Ontario youth have earned the 2019 Ontario Junior Citizens award.
In all 12 young men and women ranging in age from 10 to 17, worked hard to create awareness or raise funds for causes close to their hearts.
Christopher Pennington, 15, of Kincardine has been involved with the Kidney Foundation of Canada since 2015, shortly after he was diagnosed with an autoimmune disorder.
Christopher has Henoch-Schonlein Purpura (HSP), which can cause chronic kidney disease. Rather than letting the illness get him down, Christopher has become a spokesperson. Keen to find a cure, he has been dedicated to raising awareness in his community and rally others to help support research Kidney disease, which now affects 1 in 10 Canadians.
He was the honourary chair of the first Owen Sound Kidney Walk that year and the following year, and later helped found the Goderich Kidney Walk. In 2018 he began an online auction, which has attracted 180 businesses over the course of two years. This year he was able to secure a Toronto Maple Leafs jersey signed by Mitch Marner.
Since first becoming involved with the foundation, Christopher and his crew have raised over $60,000 to support research. In 2016, Christopher’s Crew (a group of community members that he has recruited) was ranked fifth in the province for total donations raised.
Islay Graham, 14, of Georgian Bluffs, is working to support the rare Piping Plover.
In 2017, the town of South Bruce Peninsula used a bulldozer and other heavy equipment to remove vegetation from Sauble Beach in order to make it more appealing for visitors. As a result, the Great Lakes Piping Plover, an endangered species of shorebird, was affected. As of 2019, only 75 nesting pairs of Piping Plovers could be found throughout the entire Great Lakes regions, with only six pairs left in Ontario.
The city claimed it preferred a "clean beach" and argued they did nothing wrong. Disagreeing with their statement, Islay took it upon herself to investigate whether this was true. She launched several research studies, which included analyzing current nests, examining historical nests, and tracking the habits of the Piping Plovers and their chicks over the course of four weeks. This included observing them at 15 minutes intervals every hour throughout a day for four weeks. From her careful observations, she was able to conclude that the species Do Not prefer a clean beach. In fact, over half of the bird’s day was spent along the high-water mark where driftwood and reeds settle.
She put her research into her Science Fair project which won her a Platinum Award as the Best Junior Science Project in Canada.
Mikayla Ansley, 12, of Blyth, survived of bilateral retinoblastoma and became legally blind at the age of two.
Mikayla had to undergo chemotherapy (on top of 55 operations) in the first few years of her life. As a result, her left eye was removed and she lost most of the vision in her right, And while it has been an adjustment living with limited sight, Mikayla has remained positive and focused on advocating for kindness.
Last year, her essay titled ‘Kindness Matters’ was awarded the Grand Prize and worldwide recognition for the Lion’s Club International’s Peace Essay competition. The achievement earned her the opportunity to speak to 1,500 Lion dignitaries from all over the world at the United Nations in Manhattan.
To celebrate her accomplishments, her home municipality of North Huron proclaimed April 14, 2019 as Mikayla Ansley Day.
The Ontario Community Newspapers Association (OCNA) is proud to recognize them as 2019 Ontario Junior Citizens. The OCNA, along with its 240 members, is looking forward to celebrating their achievements. The 12 finalists will be invited to receive their award during a special ceremony on Friday, April 3, 2020.
