SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - The Champagne Room was packed on Friday as the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs honoured 2011's most outstanding volunteers.

Two Yellowknifers received awards at the ceremony, with Cappy Elkin - known for her work co-ordinating the NWT Special Olympics - honoured with the Outstanding Elder Award and Donald Finnamore honoured for his work with the Lions Foundation of Canada.

"I'm very pleased. I think it's really good that MACA recognizes volunteers, but I don't feel like I'm really outstanding," said Elkin. "There are so many people who are wonderful volunteers in the NWT."

For Elkin, volunteering is just a way of life.

"I've been in the North for almost 50 years and I came from the Prairies in a small community, and if you wanted something, people volunteered to do it," said Elkin. "When I was young, my parents would be like, 'After supper, go over and visit Mr. Jones. He's housebound and help him out.'"

"I volunteer with a lot of things. I love volunteering for the Special Olympics. The athletes are wonderful and the coaches we have are amazing. Talk about exceptional, outstanding people," said Elkin.

Finnamore said his reason for volunteering is simple: "I just love doing it."

"I do it so I don't sit at home watching TV doing nothing," said Finnamore. "The best part is that you get to meet all kinds of different people."

He said that, like Elkin, volunteering has become a way of life.

Finnamore began volunteering in 1985, helping his son Matthew's Scouts troop. "So I helped him out with Scouts, and then he went into Army Cadets and I volunteered to help them out a little bit and it just snowballed from there. I saw the Lions Club people out there doing stuff, so I decided to join them and I never looked back," said Finnamore.

The Lions Club of Canada is a volunteer organization that helps empower volunteers to serve their communities.

MACA Minister Robert C. McLeod was on hand to offer his gratitude to all people who improve the NWT through volunteering.

"All the volunteers, those folks who give so freely of their time - the firefighters that protect our communities, the coaches and chaperones that give our kids an opportunity to travel - they are folks who when tragedy happens in our communities, they are the first people at your door," said McLeod. "All the recipients are very deserving, all the nominees are very deserving ... We would like to be able to give out 10,000 volunteer awards."

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