Linda Orriell and Marilyn Braude Civic Hero Award
Vaughan Council presented the City’s Civic Hero Award for Ward 5 to residents Linda Orriell and Marilyn Braude. Both women were nominated by Ward 5 Councillor Alan Shefman.
Linda Orriell and Marilyn Braude - Ward 5 Civic Hero Award, 2012
Linda Orriell and Marilyn Braude are founding directors and officers of the Gallanough Resource Centre. After the City of Vaughan Library Board decided to close the Gallanough Library for budgetary reasons, a group of local residents stepped forward with a plan to maintain the small facility on Brooke Avenue in Thornhill. On November 8, 1999, the Gallanough Library re-opened to the public as the Gallanough Resource Centre – the first community operated resource centre in Canada.
“Today, the Gallanough Resource Centre is a thriving, vibrant testament to how partnerships between community, grassroots initiatives and the City of Vaughan can improve the quality of life in a community,” said Ward 5 Councillor Alan Shefman.
Ms. Orriell has also been a volunteer with the Toronto Art Show, the United Jewish Appeal’s walkathon and helped at a number of events at Beth Tikvah Synagogue. Ms. Braude was a volunteer with the fracture clinic at Mackenzie Richmond Hill (formerly York Central Hospital) and the Richmond Hill Distress Centre.
Ms. Braude has lived in Vaughan since 1985 and Ms. Orriell has been a resident since 1995.