CFKR Accepting Nominations for 2026 Community Volunteer Award
ʔakisqakⱡiʔit, ʔamakʔis Ktunaxa/Cranbrook, BC (November 2, 2026) – As the season of giving draws near, the Community Foundation of the Kootenay Rockies (CFKR) is delighted to invite nominations for the 2026 Knights of Pythias Community Volunteer Award.
This award recognizes an unsung hero who volunteers their time and energy in a quiet, dedicated, and selfless manner, making a positive impact in Cranbrook and the surrounding area. Preference will be given to nominees who have not previously received a community/volunteerism award from another organization.
Nominations are open from November 2nd to November 23rd and can be submitted quickly and easily via the online form: https://forms.gle/NPbjiWQRUxky9S336
The Community Foundation of the Kootenay Rockies will announce the 2026 recipient on Giving Tuesday, December 1st. The recipient will have the opportunity to designate a $750.00 donation to a local CRA-registered charity/qualified donee of their choice.
In 2025, Tony Bourke received CFKR’s Community Volunteer Award. Tony is a dedicated community volunteer, generously sharing his time, skills, and energy with the Cranbrook Food Bank, Cranbrook Hospital Auxiliary, and Key City Theatre. As the 2025 award recipient, Tony designated the accompanying $750.00 donation to KidSport Cranbrook, to assist local children and youth with the costs of participating in sports.
CFKR is honoured to steward the Knights of Pythias endowment fund, which includes the direction to recognize a community volunteer on an annual basis, including a donation to the recipient’s charity of choice. Previous award winners of the formerly named “Sustainable Community Builder Award” include:
- 2024 – Laura Kennedy: in recognition of her life-long dedication to community service, leading and supporting multiple groups, committees, and boards, including youth programs, Rails to Trails, Cranbrook Chamber of Commerce Turkey Drive, Sam Steele Days/Spirit of the Rockies, and Cranbrook Rotary.
- 2023 – Mike LeClair: in recognition of his dedicated volunteerism to establish and lead the Therapeutic Paws of Canada chapter in Cranbrook, which offers free therapy pet visits throughout the community;
- 2022 – Nancy Banks: for her over 25 years of volunteer service to the Christmas Wrap table in the Tamarack Centre Mall, which provides a valuable community service and raises significant funds for the Canadian Cancer Society;
- 2021 – Jim Nicol: recognizing his leadership, dedication, and many volunteer contributions to the Cranbrook Community Forest Society;
- 2020 – Colin Campbell: posthumously awarded, in recognition of his significant community contributions through Rotary, the Masons, and various community projects;
- 2018 – Jean-Ann Debreceni: for her many years of service with the East Kootenay Community/StellerVista Credit Union Board, Cranbrook Community Theatre, Cranbrook Garden Club, Key City Theatre, and Fort Steele Heritage Town;
- 2017 – Donna Brady Fields: for her dedication to and advocacy for the United Way and their funding recipients, including poverty reduction, food security and many social issues that impact the community;
- 2016 – Robert Williams: celebrating his many contributions to ʔaq̓am and the Ktunaxa Nation;
- 2015 – Gord Johnston: recognizing his work with the Cranbrook Boys’ and Girls’ Club (now BGC Cranbrook) and Habitat for Humanity Southeast BC
For more information, please contact Lynnette Wray, CFKR Executive Director, by phone (250-426-1119) or email ([email protected]).
Knights of Pythias
In 2010, upon the surrender of their Charter and dissolution of their Lodge, the Knights of Pythias Crescent Lodge No. 33 gifted the then Cranbrook and District Community Foundation with $25,000, to establish the Knights of Pythias Crescent Lodge No. 33 endowment fund. The Knights of Pythias Crescent Lodge, and their companion branch, the Pythian Sisters, had a long history in Cranbrook, and, at one time, owned a hall located between City Hall and Rotary Park. They contributed to many charities and good works in this area.
The Fraternal Order Knights of Pythias began in 1864 and was the first non-sectarian fraternal order to receive a charter by a special act of the United States Congress, when Abraham Lincoln was President. It is based on the legendary friendship of Damon and Pythias during the ancient days of Syracuse and the philosopher Pythagoras. Pythians practice Friendship, Charity, and Benevolence.
Community Foundation of the Kootenay Rockies (CFKR):
Established in 2003 as a federally incorporated not-for-profit and a CRA-registered charity, the Community Foundation of the Kootenay Rockies is governed by a volunteer Board of Directors and employs one staff person. CFKR stewards a total of over $6.5 million in 48 permanently invested funds. Since 2003, thanks to the income earned from its endowment funds as well as external project funding, CFKR has granted a total of over $1.8 million to hundreds of local non-profit projects in the communities of Elkford, Sparwood, Fernie, Cranbrook, and the surrounding rural areas.
CFKR Vision: Together, building healthy, vibrant, and inclusive communities, now and forever.
CFKR Mission: We strengthen our communities through long-term and sustainable charitable giving, community granting, and positive leadership.
CFKR Values: CARES – Community, Accountability, Responsiveness, Excellence, and Sustainability
CFKR Land Acknowledgement Statement: In the spirit of truth and reconciliation, the Community Foundation of the Kootenay Rockies is honoured to serve our communities within beautiful ʔamakʔis Ktunaxa, the traditional and unceded homelands of the Ktunaxa Nation, alongside our valued friends and neighbours in the communities of ʔaq̓am and Yaq̓it ʔa·knuqⱡi‘it. CFKR recognizes that this traditional territory is also home to the Shuswap Band (Kenpesq’t) of the Secwépemc Nation, the Rocky Mountain Métis Association (a Métis Nation British Columbia Charter Community), and all other Indigenous people who reside here.
As a signatory to The Philanthropic Community’s Declaration of Action, established at the closing session of Canada’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission on June 1, 2015, CFKR commits to being actively engaged in the work of reconciliation. (For reference: Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada: Calls to Action)
For more information about the Community Foundation of the Kootenay Rockies, please visit:
https://www.instagram.com/communityfdnkootenayrockies/
www.facebook.com/CommunityFoundationKootenayRockies/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/community-foundation-of-the-kootenay-rockies
www.facebook.com/ElkfordCommunityFund/