Congratulations to Cindy!

It was a delightful surprise for me when I found out that my colleague and friend Cindy Lloyd had won BILD Member of the Year earlier this month!

Cindy (pictured here with Bryan Tuckey of BILD and Paul Golini of Empire Communites), an advertising sales manager here at the Star and BILD board member, was given the honour for her volunteerism, participation and commitment.

The Star is one of BILD’s (the Building Industry and Land Development Association) marketing partners and Cindy has helped to cement that great working relationship.

"It is such a special honour," Cindy told me. "I was totally surprised at the chair’s dinner; I was thinking about leaving early." Good thing she didn't ... she would have missed her big moment!

Cindy is a tireless organizer for the Toronto Star/BILD Race for Humanity, a raucous scavenger hunt that has participants going all over Toronto solving clues that would lead them to their next destination. The teams race not only to beat their opponents to the finish line but, more importantly, to support Hatbitat for Humanity Toronto.

Congratulations Cindy!

Photo by Rodney Daw courtesy of BILD

 

As one door closes, another opens

This is a sad time for me. My friend, Neil Hetherington, is leaving Habitat for Humanity Toronto, and this is his final day.

Neil is one of the good guys. In fact, he's one of the very best. A natural-born giver, Neil has given over his career to Habitat and has worked tirelessly to make life better for countless Habitat partner families in Toronto.

And what better testimony to Neil, that when his friends and colleagues got together to bid him farewell, donations to Habitat in Neil's honour amounted to over $600,000. If you can measure a person's worth in dollars and cents, Neil is a very rich man.

But Neil isn't finished with Habitat, he's just taking on a bigger challenge, moving to New York City to become CEO of Habitat for Humanity NYC.

I wish my friend all the best and also give him this warning: I'm coming to visit, so you better have a comfy sofa for me to sleep on!

For those of you who don't know what Habitat for Humanity is, this is from their website:

"Established in 1988, Habitat for Humanity Toronto is a non-profit, non-denominational Christian housing organization. We welcome all people without discrimination to join us as we build simple, decent, affordable homes in partnership with low-income families. One hundred percent of all administrative and fundraising costs are paid for by the operation of our ReStores. Habitat ReStores sell quality new and used donated household and building materials. Every 10 minutes, Habitat for Humanity helps a family improve their housing situation in more than 100 countries around the world."

This is me, Neil and Tina Holmes from Marketplace Events. A fabulous trio if there ever was one.

Top photo of Neil Hetherington by David Cooper/Toronto Star