CALEB NICKERSON
SHAWVILLE Oct. 10, 2018
A Pontiac resident is being feted by a provincial organization for her contributions to the vitality and reputation of her community.
Hayley Campbell of Shawville was recently announced as the recipient of the Quebec Community Groups Network’s (QCGN) Young Quebecers Leading the Way Award.
“It feels really good. It was a big surprise to me to get the call to say that I was selected,” she said. “I’m really honoured for that.”
The QCGN is an umbrella organization of English-speaking community groups in Quebec, and they created the Young Quebecers Leading the Way Award in 2015 in partnership with the Fondation Notre Home Foundation and CBC Quebec. It will be presented alongside three other QCGN honourees at the prestigious St-James Club in Montreal Nov. 1.
Campbell has been involved with the Shawville Fair for many years, and was even the 2011 Ambassador. Following her win, she remained involved with the ambassador committee, as well as volunteering with the horticulture division and educational day.
“It’s something that’s really important to me, my family’s very involved with the fair,” she said.
Campbell attended Bishop’s University in Sherbrooke where she was a member of the Alpha Phi Fraternity, and worked to fundraise for a local women’s shelter. They also partnered up with local girl guides, a group that Campbell had been a part of when she was younger.
“It was kind of nice to have an older group of girls or women helping out a younger group of girls,” she said.
At school, she also became involved with the formation of advocacy group for young English-speakers, Youth for Youth Quebec.
“I’ve actually attended two Bishop’s forums, events that happen at Bishop’s University,” she explained. “It’s a week-long program for public civic engagement and I met our current president Malcolm there and he was talking about the organization. It was a relatively new idea then, just trying to get things formed.”
The non-profit held its first AGM in March and Campbell currently serves as the group’s secretary.
“We’re working towards working on policy briefs and things like that to get our voices heard and make sure we’re consulted on different issues,” she said. “The outreach is important too, because we want to connect people in the community. We do have a youth forum coming up in March, so that will hopefully bring together people from across the province and they can share what they’re facing.”
Campbell returned to Shawville after graduating and is currently working towards her Human Resources Professional certification.
