On November 14th 2008, MANITOBANS had thousands of fantastic reasons to celebrate National Philanthropy Day, however the shareholders, staff, management and independent community pharmacists who together constitute Procurity Inc., were among the very top.

Fellow Award Recipients Take a Few Moments to Celebrate Together

This year the provincial celebration of the National Philanthropy Day events and awards were organized by the Manitoba chapter of the Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP). Three categories of recognition are awarded annually, including: Outstanding Philanthropist; Outstanding Volunteer Fundraiser; plus the award given to Procurity this year - Outstanding Philanthropic Organization.

According to Procurity President & CEO Wayne Rivers, "As a province that continually ranks as one of the nation’s most generous in terms of financial and volunteer support given by its corporate and private citizens, it's truly an honor to have Procurity recognized among past organizations such as CanWest Global, and James Richardson & Sons, in receiving this award that both celebrates philanthropy and its benefits to our communities."

“I was very excited to see the number of people and organizations nominated this year,” said Linda Lindsay, AFP-Manitoba’s president and National Philanthropy Day committee volunteer. “As a professional fund-raiser, I’m able to meet so many generous individuals and organizations and it’s great to be able to have a way to publicly celebrate them.”

According to Lindsay, with so many Manitobans and local businesses routinely making philanthropic activities part of their daily lives, selecting the awards recipients is always a challenging task. AFP-Manitoba uses a nomination process and relies on both professional fund-raisers and those not professionally involved with raising funds to generate a pool of potential award recipients. Procurity was fortunate to be nominated by Barbara Becker, Director of Development & Alumni Affairs for the University of Manitoba's Faculty of Pharmacy.

Wayne Rivers Shares the Spotlight with Barbara Becker, who nominated Procurity for the 2008 Award for Manitoba's Outstanding Philanthropic Organization.

This year’s recipients were honored in an article in the Winnipeg Free Press, as well as at the special awards ceremony which was hosted by Janet Stewart, newscaster on CBC’s News at 6 program, and attended by more than 300 guests. Stewart remarked on the leadership displayed by Procurity in their many efforts over the years to support important causes on a provincial and local level, including their generous financial contributions to the U of M's Faculty of Pharmacy.

Officially elected as this year’s award recipients were:

• Outstanding Philanthropist — Conrad Wyrzykowski
  A fervent supporter and volunteer of the St. Boniface Hospital;

• Outstanding Volunteer Fundraiser — Susan Glass and Arni C. Thorsteinson
  Jointly selected to receive the award for their numerous contributions both locally and nationally with the RWB and National Human Rights Museum;

• Outstanding Philanthropic Organization — Procurity Inc.

National Philanthropy Day is meant to recognize all volunteers and supporters, but this year’s awards recipients were noted not only by name, but also via short video vignettes that were produced and aired by Shaw Cable.

“It is really important to let people in our community know that their support of charities or not-for-profits, either through volunteering, leadership or by a financial gift, is greatly appreciated and is helping make our province a better place,” said Delaquis, a professional attending the event who has more than 11 years of fund-raising experience.

For more information on National Philanthropy Day, visit http://afpmanitoba.afpnet.org/Home.aspx .