Years of hard work have earned Sherry Kineshanko her community’s admiration.
Kineshanko, 44, has been named the Lumby Lions Good Citizen of the Year.
Kineshanko said she was very humbled and honoured when she found out people from the community took the time to write letters to nominate her, including her daughter Payton.
“What she wrote was just so heart-felt,” said Kineshanko.
Kineshanko helps the Charles Bloom Secondary athletic teams as a coach when needed. Last year alone, she coached three different volleyball teams in the same season because of the lack of coaches available.
“I will never let there not be a Charles Bloom sports team,” said Kineshanko.
When Lumby Minor Hockey was struggling, she started a community drive to get the money needed by working effortlessly to win the Delissio WHL Hockey Challenge.
With the help of residents, more than 9,000 codes from pizza boxes were collected and they ended up winning the big $50,000 prize for hockey teams in Lumby.
“Local stores put the pizzas on sale for two-months straight,” said Kineshanko.
She’s an educational assistant at Charles Bloom but she puts in a lot of non-paid work by tutoring and helping the students academically.
All three of her children are part of their school’s leadership program and have worked with their mother to make the school environment a safe and happy one, including a anti-bullying T-shirt project that raised more than $300 to put towards a speaker for the cause.
Kineshanko is grateful to have a family that understands and supports the person she is, because often times she can’t be around for dinner or other family activities due to her busy volunteer schedule.
“My husband Jon makes sacrifices so I can be the person I want to be,” said Kineshanko.
Her family has always been very active volunteers, starting with her parents Ted and Marg Luszcz raising her to never give up on her efforts to make a difference.
Her father was given the same award nine years ago for his efforts in the community, including a playground in 2005 and a water park that took 20 years to complete.
“He would say, ‘never give up on a dream,’” said Kineshanko.
She was always very aware of the Lumby Lions’ efforts in the community, after having watched it while her father was involved for 30 years, such as when he got special needs children the proper transportation to and from school.
Ted Luszcz died in October 2014, and his family is dedicated to living a life he would fully support.
“My dad left a legacy we are proud to continue,” said Kineshanko.