Memorial alumna wins Canadian Red Cross award

By Heidi Wicks | Dec. 28, 2012

Faculty of Education and School of Music alumnus Jillian Peddle has been awarded the Canadian Red Cross Young Humanitarian Award.

Ms. Peddle completed a conjoint bachelor in music and music education from Memorial and is currently on an internship with the Salvation Army’s International Social Justice Commission in New York City. She is also pursuing another conjoint program in law and international affairs, from the University of Ottawa and Carleton University.

“I feel very honoured to have been part of the work of the Red Cross,” said Ms. Peddle. “This honour represents a shared celebration for all the people in my life who have supported me throughout my endeavours and who have made the opportunities possible for me. I wouldn’t have been able to do it without them. The award also presents an opportunity to encourage others to get involved in the fight against poverty, and to show how small acts of love can really make a big impact on the lives of those around us, both at home and abroad.”

Ms. Peddle’s passion for music embodies the spirit of a humanitarian, bringing people together in her various communities. In the Memorial community, she was involved with the MUN Oxfam Society as an assistant leader of the Fair Trade Task Force and also acted as member of the Salvation Army’s Student Fellowship group.

In the St. John’s community, she has been an active member of the Salvation Army’s Student Fellowship group and has served in an international capacity representing Newfoundland and Labrador in the Salvation Army Rose Bowl parade in California. In her 10-plus years with the Salvation Army and other community organizations in St. John’s, Ms. Peddle has assumed numerous leadership roles, including junior band instructor, junior soldier instructor and divisional youth band deputy bandmaster.

Internationally, she traveled to the Dominican Republic in 2007 to volunteer with Absolute Hero Holiday. While there, she spent time with children in orphanages, taught music, assisted Haitian refugees and local hospital clinics and helped construct a community centre.

Profoundly affected by these experiences, she was determined to do more. The following year, she returned to the Dominican Republic to continue her work and took on similar volunteer roles in Malawi, Haiti, Mexico, Brazil, India, and Cambodia.


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