2012 Corporate Social Responsibility Report 11 People that make a dif fer ence Ontario Public Service Spirit Recipients The Ontario Public Service OPS cr eated the OPS Spirit A war d to r ecognize exemplary employees who give their time and energy to important causes in the community This year thr ee OCW A employees wer e honour ed at the OPS Spirit volunteer r ecognition cer emony Her e ar e their stories Eric Nielson Eric Nielson Senior Operations Manager knows that living in a small town of 10000 limits the number of community activities that ar e available for childr en to enjoy V olunteers can help to fll this gap by pr oviding structur ed activities for kids that pr omote their physical wellbeing and teach them about teamwork and the r ewar ds of har d work That s what inspir es Eric to devote his fr ee time to coaching hockey and teaching young childr en goju ryu karate Eric has experienced the impr ovement in the listening skills and behaviour of childr en enr olled in karate as a r esult of the structur ed teaching appr oach He enjoys seeing the pride and happiness on the faces of the childr en that he works with and feels truly enriched by the experience of volunteering Dave Nussey For nearly four decades Dave Nussey Senior Operations Manager has been a volunteer fr efghter with the Lakeshor e Fir e Department Prior to his r etir ement Dave was the District Chief of the Comber Fir e Hall wher e he was r esponsible for the safety and training of 20 fr efghters as well as maintenance of the fr e equipment and fr e trucks In addition to r esponding to appr oximately 100 fr e calls a year the Comber Fir e Hall participated in many social events for the community which ranged fr om fr eworks displays and family barbeques to participating in local Santa Claus parades Over the years Dave has r eceived two medals for his contributions the Fir e Services Long Service Medal fr om the Ontario Fir e Marshal s of fce for 20 years of service and the Fir e Service Exemplary Service Medal fr om the Gover nment of Canada for over 25 years of service Carlos Silva Everyone at OCW A knows that Carlos Silva is a dedicated volunteer and Scout leader Carlos has been volunteering his time and skill for 30 years and for the last 18 years he has dedicated his time to Scouts Canada Scout pr ograms make a positive dif fer ence in the lives of childr en and youth giving them the opportunity to gr ow and become mor e physically ft energetic outgoing conscientious and compassionate Carlos r eached the position of Ar ea Commissioner in Durham Region wher e he was r esponsible for 400 adult volunteers delivering pr ograms to appr oximately 1000 youth Recently Carlos was awar ded the pr estigious Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal fr om the Gover nor General of Canada for his contributions to Scouts Canada