Mr. Speaker, on April 28, I had the pleasure of participating in the fourth annual fundraiser for the Société Saint-Vincent de Paul de Québec. This highly successful event raised $106,000 for this organization, which has been helping those in need in my region for more than 165 years. This organization runs on donations, of course, but primarily on the dedication of some 800 volunteers.
Today, I want to talk about these volunteers and, especially, about all the good they do in my riding and in my region. I come across these kind people in Saint-Jean-Baptiste, Sainte-Geneviève, Notre-Dame-de-Foy, Saint-Benoît, Saint-Charles-Garnier, Saint-Thomas, Saint-Mathieu, and Sainte-Ursule, which is where I am from. These volunteers include people like Léda Bouchard, who has been the backbone of the food bank in Notre-Dame-de-Foy for more than 15 years.
These people have class, a strong social conscience, and all kinds of compassion. Every week, they quietly help hundreds of people in my community. They make me realize, every time I come back to Ottawa, that I truly do have the most wonderful riding.