A Prince George man’s outstanding community service has earned him the Province’s Medal of Good Citizenship.
Canadian Tire Owner Selen Alpay is being recognized for his work within the community. In the government’s description of Alpay, he is listed as working with multiple volunteer boards and organizations such as the Simon Fraser Lodge and a new Boys Club Network branch, which is being proposed by the Aboriginal Education Department.
Through it all, though, Alpay is adamant he is not the one to acknowledge.
“This award really should go to all the agencies that we have the privilege of working with in this town because they’re the ones that make things happen,” he said.
“I might support them a little bit but the volunteers and the people that are doing all kinds of social work, those are the heroes of all of this.”
Alpay’s appreciation for generous community members was present last year as well during the wildfires. PG hosted over 10,000 evacuees from the Cariboo and he is listed as a key supporter behind an event that recognized the local volunteers who helped during the crisis.
“It seems to me like everybody in our community does what they can to move our fine city forward and I think that’s amazing. You don’t often see that, you certainly wouldn’t see that in a metropolitan city, but you sure do in Prince George.”
Alpay was named Citizen of the Year by the PG Community Foundation in 2017. His Canadian Tire store also earned the award for Outstanding Corporate Culture at the PG Chamber of Commerce Business Excellence Awards in the same year.