Commmendations Corner - June 2016

Birchmount: Elizabeth Briscoe, Joseph Carlucci, James Davis, Donald Delay: “Just want to say thank you to the kind man driving this bus. I was so exhausted from work and did not feel like smiling as I got on the bus at Kennedy Station, but he still greeted me and smiled. By the end of the ride I could help but feel happy because this driver’s aura rubbed off on me.” … Timothy Elliott, John Foster, Neil Hermes, Antonio Hernandez, Monique Klobucar, Zhiwei Li, Michael Machado, Karen Macklin, Richard Nemeth, Gary Novachko, Donald Oake, Rady Osman, Charles Providence, Ivan Salomon, Christopher Shaw, Naresh Sivadasan, Michael Vasquez

Customer Service Centre: T’Rone Buchanan, Scott Greenwood, Catinca Lazar, Gail Smith

Danforth: Sean Cummings, Dilshad Jaffer, Michael Sage

Eglinton: Tameka Bailey, Gergo Biro, Romani Bolis, Lee Michael Carty, Andrew Castillo, Henry Charles, Peter De Sousa, Bradley De Zilva, Peter Diakoloukas, Jason Dove, Theresa Festo, Luigi Gabriele, Kevin Galgay, Rayford Glasgow, John Hunter, Michael Hutchinson, Daniel Jackman, Donald Jones, Chingkong Lee, Trevor Lyons, Suresh Mailwaganam, Domenic Mandarello, Mike Marges, Sean McKnight, Jordi McLaughlin, Jamaar McLeggon, John Morgan, Rakurakavan Pathmanathan, Tetyana Ratushnyy, Thomas Rode, Deborah Shannon, Rodrick Shaw, Brain Stanworth, Denise Stogianou, Steven Stronge, Junior Sutton, David Woolridge: “He greeted absolutely every single passenger on the way in or out of the bus in a friendly, pleasant and warm manner. He was in a very good mood that was spreading around.” … Steven Wrigley, Tyrone Yorke, Jeff Zeng, Kevin Zenglein

Malvern: Kumarakesar Arumugaraj, Shahzad Awan, Tanya Bartley, Jason Beaumont, Scott Bellingham, Jerry Cabral, Cheryl Chiasson, Lisa Crawford, Derick Diaz, Albert Fernandes, Jonathan Fitzpatrick, Sukhvir Gosal, Robert Greenhalgh, Kertis John, Zabeehullah Kobari, Laurence March, Ellington McLeggon, Randy Nabert, Samer Raffi, Abdul Shaikh, Bradley Sharp, Raymond Totaram, Michael Williams, Syed Zaidi

Mount Dennis: Daniel Annibale, Andre Baker, Christopher Baker: “The kind act only took a few seconds, but the impact it had on the blind passenger and on me made my day. I hope you can figure out who the driver was and put a note in his file about what wonderful customer service and humanity he displayed this morning.” … Teshome Belhu, Kevin Borges, Kurt Bowman, Patrick Bygrave, Nelson Carreiro, Nadim Chowdhury, David Elrick, Angelo Flabiano, Afework Gebreselassie, Amandeep Grover, Leda Halle, Errol Hoilett, Craig Hylton, Pasqualino La Verghetta, Damany Luke, Kamran Mahmood, Roger McLaughlin, Laurince Manbodh, Meghann McDonough, Stephen Moore, Danish Naveed, Carl Nelson, Glenford Nembhard, John Oziegbe, Parveen Pathak, Shawn Riviere, Giuseppe Rizza, Herculano Rodrigues, Pardeep Sachdeva, Lee Schwalb, Rapinder Shahi, Damjan Stanic, Dana Wing, Stuart Yalowsky

Plant Maintenance: Georgina Anokye, Andrea Commodari, Vittorio Fragola, Nicola Gallo, Preston HoSue

Queensway: Thomas Alcantara: “The Operator was very professional when dealing with a female who looked like she was intoxicated by trying to convince her to sit as she was not holding on to anything and he was concerned for her safety.” … Jacqueline Baker, Vida Baksa, Ryan Boyce, Janice Bushay, Bonny Cayen, Stephen Curtis, Dave Foster, Patricia Gale, Roberto Giraldi, Graeme Gourley, Drew Hannigan, Ayanna Hazle, Sonia Higgins, Gianluca Iacobellis, Steven Lachapelle, Lyubomir Morgala, Vincenzo Meffe, Carlo Naccarato, Isidoro Pizzo, Jennifer Saunders, Kenny Tang, Yamah Tiraei, Emanuel Tsimenidis, Harjit Uppal

Roncesvalles: John Amorim, Malik Ataul, Andy Cameirao: “The Operator remembered us, asked how we were, encouraged us and wished us well since he was aware of the heart attack. It was nice the Operator added a personal touch to their ride.” … Roman Dzerowicz, Paddi Ervin, Anika Lattibeaudere, Natasha Le Cointe, Jaspreet Madaharh, Nelson Marcos, Wajahat Mir, Abdirahman Mohamoud, Sheldon Morant, Linda Randall, Lindsay Richardson, Virgil Rita, Harminder Singh, Mitchell Soares

Russell: Christopher Bourgeau, Mitchener Chapman, Paddi Ervin, Benjamin Escultor, Leonardo Ferreira, Jeff Fleming, Thomas Gill, Allan Hrynkiw, Judi Irvine, Joe Perruccio, George Plaitis, Morgan McGee, Matthew McLeod, Everton Morris, Alvin Ramzan, Luis Steiger, Tony Wahab

Wheel-Trans: Muhammad Azam, Dushan Barudzija: “I wanted to thank the Supervisor for his assistance at Eglinton Square. There was construction going on and it would have been confusing for the driver to meet up with me since I was worried I wouldn’t get picked up.” … Heather Baskie, Denise Bowes, Matthew Burns, Keith Carvery, Sandra Cassells, Anthony Cerqua, Lori Compton, Keith Conway, John Da Silva, Gil Dicion, Kevin Dill, Margaret Dickinson, Roy Fleming, Teresa Gale, Girma Gesese, Eric Gottlieb, Mike Grasso, Corrado Guido, Mark Hollidge, Craig Hughes, Benjamin Hunter, Marion John, Celia Joseph, George Joseph, Marcia Kerr, Barbara Kurelek, Matt Lombardi, Cecil London, Christina Martinez, Marcello Martinez, Doran Maxwell, Omar McFarlane, Tony McEwan, Michael McParland, Lise Mentor, Sean Mooney, Kasi Morgan, Thomas Morrissey, Gerrard Pacey, Michael Parris, Gary Pattison, Arvin Pinlac, Ken Pollard, Brent Prosper, Anthony Reid, Greg Rhodes, Charles Robinson, Jeff Rock, Marcel Salvador, Michael Schryer, Andrew Scott, Bonnie Semkin, Samuel Shamlian, Brian Shin, Surjeet Singh, Mike Slade, Mitra Stergios, Kin Tong, Bill Traynor, Tony Tucci, Kurt Walker, Terrence Webber, Brad Zuber

Letter

McKnight in shining armour

I have come to realize that people are very quick to jump on the TTC and its staff when negative incidents occur, but I have very rarely heard any positive feedback. I wanted to share an experience my parents had with one of your drivers (Eglinton’s Sean McKnight) in February on the 86 Scarborough bus at the Dean Park Rd. stop.

My parents are a very youthful 85 and 82 years old. On the morning of Feb. 23, 2016 my parents were heading down to Sunnybrook Hospital for my mom’s doctor’s appointment. When they saw the bus they started rushing so they would not miss it. My dad unfortunately caught his foot and tripped while making his way to the bus. The driver saw was had happened and immediately came to assist my parents. He very kindly went to my dad, helped him up, commenting not to worry everyone trips, and escorted him onto the bus and into a seat. He asked several times if he could call an ambulance or if he needed any help. Not only did he help him physically, he was so respectful and caring towards not only my dad, but both my parents. His kindness was so appreciated by my parents because in a world where seniors are often treated as a burden, he treated them with respect and dignity. Luckily, my dad was not seriously injured, but he did have some bad bruising and pain related to the fall.

Another passenger on the bus also commented to my parents what a kind man the driver was. Please pass this letter on to the TTC administration because I feel (as do my parents) that this driver should be accommodated for his actions that went far beyond what is expected of a TTC employee.

Wendy R.,
Toronto

M&P’s Flynn honoured by Veterans Affairs

“Words cannot explain the joy I have when I’m with them,” says Storeperson Valorie Flynn. She’s referring to Canadian veterans and serving them has earned her the Minister of Veterans Affairs Commendation. Flynn was one of handful of Ontario residents who were honoured for their care and dedication to Canada’s veterans on June 16.

At a special ceremony in Mississauga, General (retired) Walt Natynczyk, Deputy Minister of Veterans Affairs Canada, presented the award on behalf of The Honourable Kent Hehr, Minister of Veterans Affairs and Associate Minister of National Defence.

“I was really surprised to be nominated and then receive the Commendation. There is nothing that makes me happier than to see the beautiful smiles on the veterans’ faces when I take them out for a day or overnight,” Flynn says.

The Veterans Affairs’ citation is a glowing tribute to the care, compassion and respect Flynn demonstrates for veterans through an extraordinary amount of volunteer time. She is a Life Member of the Royal Regiment of Canada Association since 2009, where she is a cadet liaison with the 2736 Cadet Corps. As a Director, Flynn has been involved with the Veterans Concerns Committee, which was recently developed and organized to serve veterans.

At Sunnybrook Hospital, Flynn promotes quality of life by ensuring veterans are involved in hobbies. She also assists with day trips to various events, such as the regimental ceremonial parades and the CNE’s Warriors’ Day. Flynn volunteers at Sunnybrook’s Blythwood Social Club by serving food and refreshments to veterans.

She’s very active with the Royal Canadian Legion, serving as Service Officer of Branch 266/46, where she ensures veterans are receiving the benefits they’re entitled to during home visits or visits at the branch. She also helps veterans determine and apply for eligible medals. Flynn also assists at many legion events, including poppy drives.

“I have been getting our cadets involved with the older veterans serving them their Christmas and Easter lunches at the legion. I will always take pride in whatever I’m doing with any veteran both young and old,” she says. It’s in tribute to my mother, and all her brothers, who were in the military serving in WWII during their young lives. Some made it back and some didn’t.”

The Minister of Veterans Affairs Commendation was established in 2001 by warrant of the Governor General and with the approval of Queen Elizabeth II.