On May 12th, local radio station myFM handed out their community-voted Spirit Awards and the winner of this year’s Spirit Award for Favorite Health Care Worker is Carefor Pembroke Renfrew County Program Manager Jennifer St. Cyr.

 “I am so grateful for this award but truly couldn’t accept it without acknowledging the amount of effort the Care Teams at Carefor Civic Complex and Mackay Centre make daily to care for our residents,” commented Jennifer. ”I’m grateful for the care and enthusiasm they put into serving our clients.  I may be the manager, but when it comes to Carefor we are truly a team with a common goal of taking care of our clients. Often the clients see our staff more than their families and with that in mind, our team always tries to treat our clients like family. Throughout my time at Carefor I have witnessed the staff going the extra mile and truly making a difference in our clients’ lives, be it helping dress them up for Halloween or lending that extra helping hand to clients who need it most. So, thank you to the Carefor staff for making my role so rewarding.”

 Joining the Carefor team in 2018, Jennifer has been part of the leadership team for five years helping manage and operate Carefor’s two Pembroke locations, Carefor Civic and Carefor Mackay Centre, as well as helping oversee the operations at Carefor Richmond Care home in Ottawa. As someone who has been part of the world of senior care for over 25 years Jennifer fully appreciates the hard work each member of the Care Team puts into taking care of seniors living at Carefor retirement homes.

The Annual Carefor Maple Brunch and Dessert Competition made a sweet return on April 15th with two local businesses taking home winning trophies for Best Maple Dessert and the People’s Choice Award. This annual event is adored by people of all ages and features a maple brunch made by the Kitchen Eatery in Pembroke and a tasting of maple desserts made by four local competitors: Milano’s Petawawa, 7th Heaven Sweets, IFL Cookies, and The Kitchen Eatery. In the weeks leading up to this event competitors were supplied with local maple syrup generously donated by Mapleside Sugar Bush and gifts-cards donated by Pembroke No Frills to help offset the cost of competing.

This year we were honored to be joined by six judges ready to taste the Ottawa Valley’s best desserts: Petawawa Mayor Gary Serviss, Pembroke Mayor Ron Gervais, Myfm Representative Tabitha Given, No Frills Owners Steven and Julie Townsend, and Renfrew-Nipissing-Pembroke MPP John Yakabuski.

Our six judges put their taste buds to the test judging desserts on taste, appearance, and overall theme. The competition was tough, but they could only choose one with Milano’s Petawawa Pizza’s decadent Maple Walnut Cheesecake coming out as the winner. Close second were 7th Heaven Sweet’s Maple Crème Brule Macaron and IFL Cookie’s Spiced Maple Pecan Cookie.

While the esteemed panel of judges chose their winner, attendees got to work tasting sample versions of desserts made by local businesses that donated their time and efforts. In the end, for the second time ever, there was a tie for the People’s Choice Award. This year both Milano’s Petawawa and 7th Heaven tied for the People’s Choice Award.   

This event was made possible with the help of our event sponsors, Frank Carroll Financial and Pembroke Mitsubishi. The event space was donated by the Zion Lutheran Church in Pembroke. Maple Syrup for the event was donated by Mapleside Sugar Bush; and music for this event was performed by Blaine Sack,  Church Musician at Zion Lutheran Church.

We at Carefor would also like to thank everyone who came out and made this event a huge success. Together we raised just over $3,500 towards our Everyone Deserves a Place to Call Home campaign. With this funding, we will be able to help keep costs affordable for Ottawa Valley seniors who call Carefor Civic Complex and Mackay Center home. The Everyone Deserves campaign was created to help residents at Carefor Civic and Mackay access the holistic care they truly deserve. Through the funding of essential programs such as a full activities calendar, nutritious meals, and the peace of mind and security of knowing that help is there when they need it, be it help with medication or assistance from our Care teams. For more information on the Everyone Deserves a Place to Call Home campaign and how you can help visit everyonedeserves.ca