Amey Hickey

Recipient of the 2016 Burgess Volunteerism Award

Congratulations Amey on your award! Here is the speech honouring your work in the community:

Amey Hickey, this year’s recipient of our annual volunteerism award is known for her quiet friendly, smiling presence which draws people in. She is one of those persons whom other volunteers feel comfortable approaching for donations or help.

Amey has been a long time supporter of TCA functions. For many years she was one of the first to sign up for a table at the Annual TCA Yard Sale, to raise money for Juvenile Diabetes Research. She has volunteered at market by working at the ticket table and has spent many mornings helping out in the TCA Yard Sale room. Those of us who coordinate the Taymouth Community Market have always noted and appreciated the loyalty and support from Amey, and her family, as patrons, and through her husband Craig as a seasonal vendor.

Amey coordinated the annual Book and Bake sale fundraiser for a couple of years, as well as being a book sale vendor. She and her husband and family are strong and steady supporters of the entertainment events at the centre, such as the concerts and the fund raiser suppers. Her son Darcy has taken part in the TCA Summer Day Camp Program.

Amey is a team player and a leader.  Underneath that almost shy demeanour is an organized, clear thinking, level headed, strong and independent woman who knows how to get things done. Amey’s leadership at the TCA blossomed when she saw an opportunity to take over the gym facility after Sarah Belanger closed her Stages Fitness gym business at the Taymouth Community Centre. Amey approached other former Taymouth Stages Fitness gym members to create a TCA cooperative gym facility, and sTAYfit was born.  Within a year sTAYfit had paid for all the gym equipment purchased from Sarah Bélanger and sTAYfit membership has been steadily growing over the last couple of years. In fact sTAYfit is the TCA program and facility which is most successful in reaching youth, young adults and new residents in our community. 

One gym member has described her experience as follows: I would go to the sTAYfit gym and all would be in order.  Everything was taken care of. Getting into the gym with a fob, the cleaning of the gym, the heating of the gym, and in the summer, the air conditioner.  I loved the bulletin board with tips and guidelines for an exercise regime. The chalkboard had quotes and other important information including a very essential calendar.  A little gem of a gym. Even though everything felt so relaxed and pleasant I knew that behind the scenes there was someone taking care of all the little details and all the big details so that my gym experience was pleasant.  I thank Amey for making this such a great little gym and for giving people of the community an opportunity to stay fit right here - in Taymouth. 

A co-founder of the original Taymouth Community Centre Gym, Barb Flinn, adds the following. Amey is a lovely girl, whom I have got to know, along with her family, over the years, through market. Family comes first with her. She is the proud Mum of Darcy, whom I have watched grow over the years from a shy toddler to a very outgoing young man and a proud cadet. Supporting Darcy in his cadet activity takes much of Amey and Craig’s time.  Along with her job, Amey has found time for her community – as she has done a wonderful job looking after the gym. This has grown to a very high class operation from its humble beginnings when Vida Webber and I started the exercise program, with our little wooden boxes built by David Stewart for our circuit system. Today you don’t have to go to the big city; we have it all right here in Taymouth. sTAYfit not only benefits the health of our community, it is a social place and it generates revenue for the community centre. It takes a lot of dedication and hard work. Job well done, Amey.

While most of us are aware that Amey has played an important role in the thriving success of sTAYfit, those who are most close to her can talk about the qualities she brings to her volunteer work at the TCA and elsewhere. Amey showed her creative side from when she was quite young. As a teenager she was by far the youngest person to participate in a Taymouth community photography workshop offered by Mr. Bubar of Covered Bridge. A quilt Amey made for her son was part of a TCA quilt show one year. Still waters run deep is an adage that fits for Amey. When she speaks, it is with a thoughtfulness that makes others perk up and pay attention. Amey has a big heart. Her deep caring for others is shown in the breadth of her volunteerism, including in parents’ associations and at work where she is part of the annual diabetes fundraiser walk team, and where she sits on a staff fundraiser committee.  Amey has generously made charitable organizations in the Nashwaak Valley aware of grant monies available from her place of work and has thus contributed to recent grants of $1,000 each being awarded to the Nashwaak Valley Fire Department and The Villa’s Helping Hands Association. At family and sister gatherings Amey always volunteers to organize games for fun, including ones seen on the survivor shows! (Perhaps these games help her even the playing field from when she was the well loved and well tormented youngest child in her family).

Amey cares deeply about the health of her family, and community, and about what can enhance our health - a passion which underlies the extensive hours she volunteers for sTAYfit. Here we can see the influence of the example set by Amey’s mother, who has been walking for exercise, in Taymouth, for 33 years. Amey is teasingly referred to as the CEO of the gym, and her responsibilities are many.  She is the primary contact for sTAYfit and is usually the one to meet with potential members. Amey manages the access system which includes using the TCA computer to program key fobs. She collects the gym fees, creates a monthly financial report and submits it to the TCA treasurer, along with any cash and cheques for deposit. The collecting and reporting of fees is made more challenging by the fact that there are different fees for students, for seniors, for families, for those who pay in quarterly increments and for those who sign up during promotions. The quality of Amey’s reports has been highly appreciated by our TCA treasurers. Amey creates a gym cleaning schedule for those who agree to do cleaning shifts in exchange for a reduced monthly gym fee. If someone forgets their shift, or it is a bad week for flies, Amey fills in by sweeping. Amey has, up until recently, had the significant responsibility of purchasing gym equipment. Amey sends out reminders and promotion information to members and to Connie Campbell for posting on the sTAYfit Facebook page and to the TCA email list serve. And then there are those residual responsibilities, like noticing a safety hazard and taking care of it. Of course Amey would be the first to acknowledge the collaborative volunteer efforts of her fellow sTAYfit committee members. Her close knit family of siblings, and her husband Craig, are all strong and active fellow supporters of the gym.

While Amey is very focused and productive in her volunteer efforts she is also well balanced.  For instance our former treasurer Sandra said, After Amy and I would review her clear and accurate sTAYfit financial reports I was happy that we then had a chance to catch up on family news and share a good natured laugh. Amey is a very grounded and positive person, a real asset to our community.

Amey, we appreciate you and we applaud you. Thank you for all you have shared with the TCA and with us as individuals. We are very happy to name you this year’s recipient of our annual volunteerism award.