A group of Winnipeg community advocates, organizers and philanthropists will be walking around with some hardware and a bit more civic pride.
To celebrate the city’s sesquicentennial, 150 Winnipeggers will be awarded Winnipeg 150 Medals for their contributions to the city and their communities.
Robyn Brown was in shock when she received the notice she would be honoured by the mayor for her charity, Warm Boots, Warm Hearts.
NICOLE BUFFIE / FREE PRESS
Winnipeg 150 Medal recipient Robyn Brown (left).
“It was a really nice surprise,” Brown said of being nominated. “Just, like, hearing all the wonderful people who’ve done wonderful things, it just sounded like really nice to think little old me was included.”
Brown has been operating Warm Boots, Warm Hearts out of her garage since 2019. Brown and her family collect new or gently used boots to give to anyone in need to brave the frigid Winnipeg winters.
To date, she’s donated almost 1,000 pairs to feet in need.
Mayor Scott Gillingham congratulated Brown and 29 other recipients at an awards ceremony in Assiniboine Park Saturday afternoon. Trees for each of the 30 were planted in the Mayor’s Grove to further commemorate the occasion.
Winnipeggers David Northcott, Scott Oake, Desiree Scott and Shahina Siddiqui, who founded the Islamic Social Services Association, were also among the mayor’s recipients.
The first Winnipeg 150 Medals were handed out Thursday and the final ones will be handed out on Oct. 31. All recipients will also receive a certificate, and a tree will be planted in their name in a city park.
The honours align with the theme of the city’s anniversary, which is “our shared stories and our shared future,” the mayor said.
“Every one of us as family members, community members, has a story about how Winnipeg has impacted us and how we are impacting Winnipeg and building our future together,” Gillingham said Saturday. “We look forward together as people committed to continue to make great contributions to make our city even better than it was in the past.”
Nearly 600 nominations were received. Anyone who was then working for the City of Winnipeg or already received awards for community service or volunteerism from the city was ineligible.
NICOLE BUFFIE / FREE PRESS
Mayor Scott Gillingham at the Winnipeg 150 Medal ceremony.
Medal recipient Daniel Hidalgo, who runs grassroots organization CommUNITY.204, said the recognition is indicative of his group’s growth and value to the city.
CommUNITY.204 supports impoverished and marginalized youth in Winnipeg through community engagement.
“We all do this for the right reasons and it’s always nice to get the acknowledgement,” said Hidalgo. “It means that the hard work that we’re committed to means something and it’s a change maker … the future looks good.”
Brown hopes the recognition will shed more light on groups and charities like Warm Boots, Warm Hearts to help them grow and continue to give back to the city.
“We’re just hoping that we can get more folks in the community what they need, and sort of get the word out as we grow,” she said.
nicole.buffie@freepress.mb.ca
Nicole Buffie
Multimedia producer
Nicole Buffie is a multimedia producer who reports for the Free Press city desk. Born and bred in Winnipeg, Nicole graduated from Red River College’s Creative Communications program in 2020 and worked as a reporter throughout Manitoba before joining the Free Press newsroom in 2023. Read more about Nicole.
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