Award: In the Community
Service: Hamilton Police Service
Year: 2016
Sharon Williamson, a Special Constable with the Hamilton Police Service, donates her time to bring attention to the homeless in her city. She raises money and provides some of the common necessities of life that people take for granted to ensure that Hamilton’s homeless feel a sense of worth.
What began as acts of kindness (giving away new/lightly used clothing, gift cards and food), funded exclusively out of pocket, has now become, Helping Hamilton's Homeless, a non-profit organization she started to continue taking care of the less fortunate in her community. She uses her lunch breaks, free-time after work and on weekends to visit her homeless friends in the downtown core, using her garage as a home-base for all the donations she accumulates throughout the week. During the holiday season, she hosts a Magical Night of Giving, where she hands out food and blessing bags to low-income families across the city. She has expanded her mission to reward others that are doing good work in their local communities too. Through the Facebook page she started, she collects inspirational stories and rewards people with trips: she has given away a handful of all expenses-paid trips to Niagara Falls to people she feels have made a difference in their communities.
In addition to her growing community work, Sharon is a wife and mother, whose infectious spirit inspires others to get involved and make a difference in the lives of those less fortunate.