The man who gets credit for being the major sponsor for the annual Mayor’s Walk for Charity was lauded by the mayor last week.
Dan Roy of Roy Financial Services was presented with the first annual Mayor’s Philanthropical Award. It was presented to him during a chamber of commerce luncheon and caught him completely off guard. Mayor Nolan Crouse said that it took a bit of sneaking around to guarantee that Roy would be present.
“We had to work with his wife to make sure that he was going to be there.”
The idea for the award came from some brainstorming between the mayor and members of St. Albert Parents’ Place. They wanted to highlight some of the hardworking humanitarians in the city who do so much, but always reflect the attention on worthy causes. Because of his sponsorship, the event has been able to raise more than $400,000 for dozens of city and area charities.
Crouse said that it is all about giving credit where it is due.
“[We try to do] all the things that we can do to make sure that businesses are acknowledged and people are acknowledged in giving. We can’t lose opportunities.
“What we’re really trying to do is reinforce … that there is a role that businesses [and businesspeople] play in terms of giving to the community,” he indicated. “[Roy] is a giver. [Roy] is the kind of guy who has just given and given and given for all of his life, so we wanted to make sure that we were recognizing him.”
Roy said he truly appreciated the honour but, with his trademark humility, he deferred the real applause to the people at St. Albert Parents’ Place who organize for the Mayor’s Walk. He stated this kind of success only happens when people like that work together. According to him, his part in promoting the cause just comes naturally.
“St. Albert is a very easy community to want to give back to. It’s just something that I’m happy to do.”
This is the ninth year for the event. The organizers hope that participants will be able to raise $75,000.
This year’s Mayor’s Walk will be held on Saturday. For more information or to get involved, call Heather McKinnon at St. Albert Parents’ Place at 780-459-7377 or visit www.royfinancialmayorswalk.com.
