Chantal Stefan was awarded the 2016 Local Hero – Hero of the Year Award for her work with the Everybody Deserves a Smile Project. Photo By McKinnon Photography.
Chantal Stefan did not create the EDAS project for the accolades. She did it because she cares. It’s what makes her such a special person.
For her work with the Everybody Deserves a Smile project, Chantal has been named the Hero Of the Year.
“I am so surprised by this. This is so kind of whoever nominated me. Awesome.”
Twelve years ago, Chantal and three friends came up with an idea, while living in Edmonton.
The four of them baked up some sugar cookies, wrote notes on little pieces of construction paper, added a pair of socks and put all the contents into little Christmas bags. They made 88 bags, went down the back alleys of downtown Edmonton, right before Christmas, and hung the bags where people would see them and pick them up.
Chantal moved to the Comox Valley a couple of years later, and introduced the Everybody Deserves a Smile program to the school district.
She got children involved in a stuffing care packs, making cookies, painting bags and making cards.
The project became much more than a project. Its lesson in human compassion has piqued the interest of the local school district to such a degree that philanthropy has become part of the curriculum in many local schools.
“I never imagined it would bossom into this,” said Chantal. “I think 12 years ago when we first thought of the project it was very much ‘in the moment.’ Every year I am so captivated with what these kids do… it always opens up a new door, every year.
“It has [grown] in such a magical way we could have never expected this. But the kids really take it to heart. and when you involve children, anything is possible, because they are so pure.
“To see a child understand that they have the power to make change in their local community, or someone else’s life, and then see it in the hands-on form, in the classroom… I don’t know that anything gets any better than that.”
Age: 41
Workplace: Ecole Puntledge park/District office
Lives in: Cumberland
Family: “About 400 children in SD 71”
Nominated by:
Quote: “When you involve children, anything is possible, because they are so pure.”
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