The Dionne Award. This award is in honour of the Dionne Quintuplets – 5 little girls born in the middle of the great depression to a couple in northern Ontario not far from where we are today. This is a picture of the two surviving sisters, Annette and Cecile. Their story is one of heartbreak and hope – bittersweet for sure. Their birth was a bright glimmer in an otherwise gloomy world for so many people. But the exploitation of these multiple birth children by our government and by their parents is a shameful part of our history and one that inspires us to insure never happens again. Never again will multiple birth children be treated as animals in a zoo to be gawked at for the price of admission. Never again will we allow our government to exploit our community.

The Dionne Award is given to a person, organization, or group that helps to create a deeper awareness of the challenges faced by Canada’s multiple-birth children and their families and/or has made a significant impact on the multiple-birth community through their own personal efforts.

The winner of this year’s Dionne Award is Rachele Henry.

Rachele volunteered with Multiple Births Canada (MBC) as a Facilitator for the Lost and Found Workshop. 

As a volunteer, Rachele volunteered her time and made herself available to understand the initiative, to prepare, she has asked key questions so that she could undertake the tasking to facilitate the session appropriately. 

During her time with preparing for the workshop and delivering the workshop she managed to conduct research and provide key recommendations that resulted in an improved workshop. 

She brought her knowledge and experience to the role and did a phenomenal job. 

She specifically delivered the workshop online, and worked very hard to maintain the attention of children of various ages under 12. 

She kept their attention using creative methods by asking questions, listening to their participation and adapting as the workshop went along.  She encouraged participation through drawings, expressions, singing and rap!
 
Rachele was a delight to work with, a team player with a positive, can-do attitude all the way. 

In recognition of her efforts which led to the successful completion of this project, we present to Rachele the Dionne Award.