“You are never too old to be recognized.” That was the sentiment echoed at a special ceremony held by the National Council on Ageing as it presented twenty two awards to older men and women today. According to NCA’s Executive Director Lindy Jeffery it’s about time elderly citizens who have given selflessly of their time to improve the lives of others should be given the recognition that they truly deserve.
Lindy Jeffery, NCA
“They’re being recognized because they have done so much in society for a number of years. We’re talking about people, some of the people are in their nineties and they have been volunteers in their communities as teachers, midwives, and just community activists. So we thought it is about time that some of these older citizens were honoured and we are saying thank you for all they have done over the years.”
Jacqueline Godwin,
How were they selected?
Lindy Jeffery,
“Well we did a lot of publicity and we asked for nominations from the public; anybody that recognizes that they feel that these people are worthy of an honour. Unfortunately we should have this event in October to coincide with international day for older persons but the nominees were slow to come in and I think that sometimes people just don’t feel that older people are worthy of being recognized because older people themselves feel that they give their time and they don’t think anything of it. They don’t want any reward for it often. So we pushed and we pushed and the more we talked about it the more nominations came in so we had, and anybody that was nominated is getting an award today, whether they are going to be Golden Age Hero, one from each district, or they are going to receive a certificate of recognition.”
Some of the golden hero’s awardees include Elfrida Miguel from Corozal, Orange Walk’s resident Arcadia Carillo, Julio Alvarado from Benque Viejo and San Ignacio’s Godsman Ellis. Awards were also handed to Belmopan’s golden hero Justo Castillo, Dangriga’s resident Martha Hill and from Punta Gorda, Camilla Bonnel. Posthumous awards were given to families of the late Sister Marilyn Panton and Sadie Vernon.
