Mr. Speaker, I rise today to salute the dedication and commitment of the many volunteers of Scarborough General Hospital in my riding of Scarborough Centre.
I had the pleasure of attending the hospital's volunteer appreciation dinner on April 19 last week. I must say I was struck by the longstanding commitment to the hospital that all the volunteers had. There were over 300 volunteers in attendance at the appreciation dinner with 76 of them receiving awards for service ranging from 5 to 40 years.
In particular, I want to recognize four volunteers who dedicated over half of their lives to volunteering at the hospital: Doris Daniel, Shirley McDonald, Jean Kennedy and Thelma Thomson. Each of these people have served the hospital for 40 years plus.
At this time, when labour unrest seems to be prevalent, it is indeed heartening to see that there are still many people who are willing to put their time and heart into a job simply because they love it.
I extend my congratulations to all the volunteers who were given awards at the dinner and thank them for giving so much to our community.