Red Deer College honours 2017 Community Award recipients

Red Deer College celebrated its annual Community Award recipients Wednesday night.

The G.H. Dawe Memorial Award was bestowed upon Alfio Truant for his commitment to community and leadership.
 
Truant, a native of Nordegg, is the Owner of Red Deer Bottling Co., which he took over along with his brother in 1977 after their father passed away. Among his many accomplishments, Truant has served as president of the Alberta Lung Association and sat on the Alberta Doft Drink Association.
 
He is also a longstanding member of the Red Deer Kinsmen and K40 Club, Rotary Club, the Knights of Columbus, the Elks, and the Royal Canadian Legion.
 
Recipient of this year’s Distinguished Alumnus Award is Rod Kennedy, an investment advisor with RBC.
 
More importantly, Kennedy is involved in many ways within the community, currently serving on a second term with the STARS Foundation and the STARS Society Board. He is also an elected member of the University of Alberta senate and is a part of the 2019 Canada Winter Games Governance Committee and Risk Committee.
 
Kennedy attended RDC when it was still known as Red Deer Junior College and completed his Bachelor of Commerce degree in Finance at the University of Calgary.
 
He says the Donald School of Business, which cale along long after he left RDC, is making a substantial difference in the community.
 
“Having a footprint downtown as an employee in business downtown, I don’t think you can actually measure the quantifiable value it has to the business community downtown,” he says. “It has a great effect, both from a practical point of view, but also from an image point of view. It’s a very important step for the college for sure.”
 
Finally, the Community Partner Award was given to the seven partner school divisions who, just Wednesday, re-signed the Learning Pathways agreement.
 
RDC President and CEO Joel Ward says, “The connections that we’re making are going to ensure students have great access to success, and the connection between finishing high school and coming to post-secondary, well raise those rates and more students will have more opportunities.”