Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, it gives me great pleasure to rise this morning and recognize a wonderful person from Hay River, a constituent of mine, Lori Uhlenberg. Mr. Speaker, Lori is the recipient of the NWT Outstanding Volunteer Award in the category of good neighbour. I have the distinct pleasure of accepting this award on her behalf later this afternoon in the Great Hall of this Assembly.
Mr. Speaker, I personally have known Lori Uhlenberg for almost 30 years. You would have to look hard to find someone so unselfishly caring for her fellow community members. Lori has been a resident of Hay River since 1971 and she has always been an active member of the community. Over the years, Lori has given tirelessly of herself to various organizations. Mr. Speaker, she spends a lot of time assisting the Elks Club over the years, along with her late husband, Herb.
In addition, Lori has been a volunteer at our local thrift shop for over 15 years. She also tutored children in her home for over five years and always on a strictly volunteer basis.
In addition, Lori takes discarded dolls, cleans them up, washes and curls their hair, then hand knits entire wardrobes for them. Mr. Speaker, she then sells these dolls at craft sales and donates any money that she raises to Woodland Manor or to the extended health care unit at the H.H. Williams Memorial Hospital, so that residents there can have birthday and Christmas gifts.
This remarkable lady, Mr. Speaker, has cooked meals and baked goods for weeks on end for deserving families in Hay River. Lori has spent countless hours at the hospital with a number of Hay River residents in their final days.
In addition, Mr. Speaker, Lori has nursed a number of sick children and pets in Hay River back to good health. She has been known to take other people's pets into her home and care for them when the owners were no longer able to do so.
Mr. Speaker, Lori's good deeds are far too numerous to mention here, but I wish I did have the time to mention more. Mr. Speaker, Hay River is truly blessed to have the volunteers that it has. They are the backbone of our community. I feel extremely honoured, Mr. Speaker, to have been able to call Lori Uhlenberg a friend for over the last 30 years. She is truly an extremely worthy recipient of the good neighbour award. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
-- Applause