UNews - ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge Volunteer Award

Ladan Yousef’s dedication to health care outreach to be honoured with ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge Volunteer Award

trevor.kenney — Mon, 28 Apr 2025 15:14:31 +0000

An outstanding and hardworking student, Ladan Yousef has demonstrated how much she cares for her community by contributing more than 300 volunteer hours while pursuing a Bachelor of Health Sciences in Public Health and working full time. Yousef will be honoured with the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge Volunteer Award at Spring 2025 Convocation.

Ladan Yousef advocates for those who don’t have a voice to help create awareness and health equity.

Based in Calgary, Yousef, a licensed practical nurse, has volunteered with BeTheChangeYYC for three years, starting as a street outreach volunteer and rising to a paid team lead position. She and her team provided necessities like food, water and hygiene supplies, as well as harm reduction, wound care, referrals and emergency medical responses such as overdoses, to Calgary’s unhoused population. She continues to freely give her time to organizing fundraisers, creating educational materials and attending meetings. Yousef has also served as the medical team lead at a biannual event called the Pop-Up Care Village. This one-day event provides basic services like health care, clothing, haircuts, food and case management. In addition, she volunteers with other community groups such as the Salvation Army, the Centre for Newcomers, the ULethbridge public health student club and Diabetes Canada during their children’s summer camp.

These volunteer efforts make her an exemplar and allow her to give back while using her knowledge and skills to make a difference in people’s lives. She advocates for those who don’t have a voice to help create awareness and health equity. Ultimately, her goal is to dismantle structural and systemic barriers so marginalized groups can access the care they need.

Above and beyond her volunteer work, Yousef is employed full-time and attends school at night. Being part of a visible minority group, Yousef sees pursuing a post-secondary education as a privilege and is grateful for the opportunity, knowing her parents risked their lives for the rights and freedom she now enjoys.

For her final practicum placement, Yousef was with ARCHES, a not-for-profit organization in Lethbridge that works to reduce the harm associated with HIV/AIDS, Hepatitis C and other chronic health conditions. As part of her practicum, Yousef organized a harm reduction booth as part of a film screening project looking at the impacts of drug poisoning on the Blackfoot Reserve.

Through all these experiences, Yousef has demonstrated a mature attitude in her studies, always seeking to learn more and expand her horizons. During the course of her studies, she’s also become increasingly interested in conducting research. She has shown dedication in reaching her career goals and plans to complete a master’s degree in public health and ultimately pursue a career in medicine.

Yousef will receive the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge Volunteer Award at Spring 2025 Convocation Ceremony 2, Thursday, May 29, 2025, at 2:30 p.m. in the ULethbridge Sport and Wellness Centre gymnasium. For more information on Spring 2025 Convocation, visit ulethbridge.ca/convocation.

Student Talayna Ekelund to be honoured with ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge Volunteer Award

trevor.kenney — Mon, 15 Apr 2024 17:20:43 +0000

It takes a special kind of person to balance coursework, studying, a part-time job and a healthy social life. It takes an exceptional person to recognize they have more to give and are willing to share their time raising the world around them and bettering their community. Talayna Ekelund is that kind of person, and at Spring 2024 Convocation, Ekelund will be honoured with the 2024 ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge Volunteer Award.

An anthropology and pre-education student, Talayna Ekelund grew up learning the benefits of helping others.

The anthropology and pre-education student grew up learning the benefits of helping others and she has embraced that spirit, actively seeking ways in which she could benefit her community. In one year alone, she logged over 600 volunteer hours, lending her time to multiple organizations throughout Lethbridge and southern Alberta. Her experiences were broad and impactful, and her contributions, both big and small, were readily appreciated by all the groups she assisted.

Described as a keener since she first enlisted with Volunteer Lethbridge, Ekelund has worked at casinos, bingos, galas, supers, bottle drives and food banks amongst many other events. She has tutored and mentored children and youth and when called upon, always has found a way to fit a request into her busy schedule.

Invested in her community, Ekelund sees volunteering as a way of connecting with people and learning about the services and organizations that support community growth and well-being. She fits easily into any team setting, goes above and beyond to seek out tasks, and by asking questions and being engaged in her experience, ensures her work is of an exceptional standard.

The groups she has worked with include Interfaith Food Bank, Lethbridge Family Services, Lethbridge Senior Citizens Organization, Inclusion Lethbridge, Stitch It Forward Society, Lethbridge Therapeutic Riding Association, United Way, Lethbridge Dragon Boat Festival, Southern Alberta Art Gallery, the YMCA and YWCA, Opokaa’sin Early Intervention Society, Youth One, Womanspace, Hungarian Society and many more.

For her substantial work, Ekelund has already been recognized with a Leaders of Tomorrow Award by Volunteer Lethbridge.

And while the hours Ekelund spends volunteering are substantial and the diversity of her experiences vast, it’s her continued commitment to being a volunteer that demonstrates the humanity and integrity with which she shares her time. Her ability to connect with people from all walks of life set her apart as a leader amongst her peers and an ambassador for all the positives ULethbridge students bring to the community.

Ekelund will receive the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge Volunteer Award at Spring 2024 Convocation Ceremony 2, Thursday, May 30, 2024, at 2:30 p.m. in the 1st Choice Savings Centre gymnasium. For more information on Spring 2024 Convocation, visit ulethbridge.ca/convocation.

Postdoctoral fellow, Dr. Marta Gerasymchuk, to receive 2023 ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge Volunteer Award

trevor.kenney — Tue, 25 Apr 2023 21:27:45 +0000

Since joining the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge in 2018 as an international PhD student, Dr. Marta Gerasymchuk (PhD '22), a medical doctor with two additional PhDs, has made it a priority to positively influence her community by volunteering her time at local agencies and using her experience to assist incoming international students with their transition to Canadian living. At Spring 2023 Convocation, Gerasymchuk will be honoured with the 2023 ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge Volunteer Award.

Dr. Marta Gerasymchuk is using her early experiences in medicine and biological studies in a positive way by assisting other international students.

Eager for new knowledge and a desire to study the molecular aspects of aging, Dr. Marta Gerasymchuk, a medical doctor and associate professor in the pathophysiology department of Ivano-Frankivsk Medical ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ, left her native Ukraine in 2018 to pursue another PhD in molecular sciences. Her introduction to Canada was difficult and she faced many barriers as she tried to navigate the difficult transition to a new country.

A postdoctoral fellow in Dr. Igor Kovalchuk’s lab, Gerasymchuk is using her early experiences in medicine and biological studies in a positive way by assisting other international students who are beginning their own academic journeys.

She began by volunteering for the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ’s International Centre, offering to be a leader and mentor for incoming international students. She then sought further avenues to assist and volunteered to be the International Student Representative for the Graduate Students’ Association (GSA). The role took on added significance during the COVID-19 pandemic and she advocated strongly for the specific needs of international students who were uniquely affected by the global pandemic.

Her volunteerism extends to the broader southern Alberta community where Gerasymchuk has spent countless hours supporting the Emergency Department at Chinook Regional Hospital, working as a Personal Disaster Assistance Team Responder for the Canadian Red Cross and lending help at Prairie Pets Rescue. Recently, she served as a board director for the Pro-Choice Society of Lethbridge & Southern Alberta.

Gerasymchuk has emerged as a team leader in the lab, supervising master’s and PhD students as well as training and teaching the fundamentals of biomolecular sciences to undergraduate students from diverse backgrounds. She also regularly helps students with disabilities as an exam proctor in the Accommodated Learning Centre on campus.

All the while, she has continued to support The Orphans' Aid Society in Ukraine, and, as her homeland continues to suffer the effects of war, has organized letter writing campaigns and rallies in support of the people of Ukraine. In 2022, she was awarded a Volunteer Lethbridge Community Leader Award.

Gerasymchuk will receive the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge Volunteer Award at Spring 2023 Convocation Ceremony 2, Thursday, June 1, 2022, at 2:30 p.m. in the 1st Choice Savings Centre gymnasium. For more information on Spring 2023 Convocation, visit ulethbridge.ca/convocation.

UNews - ��Ѹ�����Դ���߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge Volunteer Award

Ladan Yousef’s dedication to health care outreach to be honoured with ��Ѹ�����Դ���߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge Volunteer Award

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Student Talayna Ekelund to be honoured with ��Ѹ�����Դ���߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge Volunteer Award

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Postdoctoral fellow, Dr. Marta Gerasymchuk, to receive 2023 ��Ѹ�����Դ���߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge Volunteer Award

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UNews - ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge Volunteer Award

Ladan Yousef’s dedication to health care outreach to be honoured with ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge Volunteer Award

Student Talayna Ekelund to be honoured with ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge Volunteer Award

Postdoctoral fellow, Dr. Marta Gerasymchuk, to receive 2023 ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge Volunteer Award