Eric Campbell is the Moose Jaw & District Chamber of Commerce Citizen of the Year for 2022. The awards luncheon, held on Jan. 31 at the Heritage Inn, honoured efforts made during the time period of Jan. 1 2022 to Dec. 31, 2022.
Campbell was nominated for his work giving back to the community and specifically for his coaching. In 2022, he volunteered as head or assistant coach for eight different athletic teams in Moose Jaw. He developed the Mavericks Fall Festival and the Campbell Female Hockey Camp, participated in the Men's Night Out in the Cold fundraiser for Transition House, and volunteered more of his time to care for a local ice rink.
Each nominee for the 2022 Citizen of the Year award was given a certificate honouring their work. Scott Greenough, representing sponsor CAE, noted that being nominated is an honour in itself and added that each nominee was setting an example for others to follow.
Ryan Hrechka, president of the Chamber of Commerce, and Moose Jaw Mayor Clive Tolley also spoke, thanking nominees for their contribution to the city. Jay-Douglas Haughton was the event's MC.
The other nominees for Citizen of the Year were:
- Darlene Geib
- Jared Mathieson
- Jody Oakes
- Laurie Kosior
- Maguire Jackman
Darlene Geib was nominated for the abundance of charitable work she does for unhoused people in Moose Jaw. Geib spends hundreds of hours of her time giving rides, making phone calls, and co-ordinating with friends, family, and strangers to help people with nowhere to go. She helped to provide 271 nights of warm, safe accomodation in 2022. She volunteers at John Howard Society, the Moose Jaw Health Foundation, the Snowbirds Alumni, and was adopted as an honorary Snowbird last year.
Jared Mathieson is well-known in Moose Jaw as one of the masterminds behind events like the Men's Night Out in the Cold and the group River Street Promotions, which was nominated for Group of the Year. He also previously worked with the Moose Jaw Health Foundation to put on Concerts of Hope at the Mae Wilson.
Jody Oakes is the director of John Howard Society in Moose Jaw. She is one of the city's most passionate advocates for the unhoused and works endlessly to help the most vulnerable. She's grown the My Place program at John Howard Society, helping hundreds of people while also raising awareness of their needs and of the systemic failures that contribute to their misery. On the coldest nights of the year, at all hours, she can be found on Moose Jaw's streets making sure everyone is accounted for.
Laurie Kosior has been the chair of the Moose Jaw Health Foundation's Festival of Trees fundraiser for 11 years, helping to raise over $2.9 million for medical equipment at the Dr. F.H. Wigmore Regional Hospital. Kosior helped establish a permanent nursing scholarship at Sask Polytech for a student from Moose Jaw and surrounding area. She is also on the volunteer committee of River Street Promotions.
Maguire Jackman raised over $1,600 this year by selling her own homemade sparkly bags at various events and venues around the city. The 10-year-old began her efforts after her mother was diagnosed with breast cancer. The money she's raised will go toward breast cancer research and buying socks to keep the feet of cancer patients at the Allan Blair Cancer Centre in Regina warm.
