McTaggart honoured for outstanding volunteerism

Local businessman John McTaggart will be honoured in Atikokan on Tuesday night with a special provincial award for outstanding volunteerism.
“When I got the phone call that I had won this award, I said ‘Oh my . . .,” McTaggart noted Friday. “It is very humbling to be honoured but it is hard for me to accept it because all the work I have done has been done as a team.
“There are so many people involved in each of the events I have been a part of that I feel self-conscience accepting this honour,” he added.
McTaggart is being presented with the special Outstanding Achievement Award (OAA) for Volunteerism in Ontario for leading a major fundraising campaign for two district health care facilities (“Care Close to Home”).
Bill Beyer of Atikokan also is an OAA recipient as a passionate champion of conservation and founder of the Little Falls Walleye Hatchery and Education Centre.
They are among 175 volunteers from Atikokan and the surrounding area who will be presented with Ontario Volunteer Service Awards by Scarborough Centre MPP Marilyn Mushinski on behalf of Citizenship minister Cam Jackson.
The Ontario Volunteer Service Awards are an annual opportunity for the provincial government to recognize and thank the province’s volunteers.
“I love doing this kind of work,” said McTaggart. “I have been very fortunate because I have had the chance to work with some wonderful people.”