Governor General of Canada Mary Simon has added 78 new names to the Order of Canada, which is one of the highest honours a Canadian can receive. One name on that list was Oakville resident Victor Hetmanczuk of the Canada-Ukraine Foundation (CUF) who is thrilled to be carrying on his parents' legacy of a commitment to public service.
"My dad was very active in the community," Hetmanczuk said. "He was always the president of the church council, my mother was the head of the Ladies' Auxiliary so it was natural to me, you were there to serve the people, society needs help and I was born to accept that kind of challenge."
Hetmanczuk is president and CEO of the Canada-Ukraine Foundation. He was appointed as a Member of the Order of Canada because of his contributions to the Ukrainian-Canadian community and broader Canadian society.
CUF is actively involved in several recent initiatives, including the Ukraine Humanitarian Appeal, which provides support to civilians affected by the war.
The Displaced Ukrainians Appeal offers direct assistance to Ukrainian families across Canada, and the Canada Ukraine Surgical Aid Program delivers medical care to those impacted by the conflict.
Additionally, the foundation monitors and promotes various programs in humanitarian aid, medical assistance, education, social welfare, and good governance in Ukraine.
But Victor Hetmanczuk's community involvement has extended far beyond CUF over the last 50 years. Hetmanczuk has been involved with Toronto's Daily Bread Food Bank, Petro Canada, the Ukrainian Care Centre, the Ukrainian World Foundation, the SO-USE Credit Union and he's also held many roles within the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Canada.
"I still can't seem to come off of cloud nine," said Hetmanczuk. After spending 27 years as an engineer in the oil industry, Hetmanczuk decided he wanted to apply his business knowledge to the charitable sector.
One contribution that stood out to him upon being accepted to the Order of Canada was the five years he spent with the Daily Bread Food Bank in Toronto. He recalled when the food bank started underneath the Gardiner Expressway at Bathurst and Front St, and eventually got to a point where they were able to move to a big warehouse in Etobicoke.
The food bank was looking for a Director of Operations and Hetmanczuk, who had just come out of the corporate world, showed up with the simple question; "How can I help?"
"That to me is one of my happiest moments just to actually say I did something for food security."
In announcing the new additions to the Order of Canada on Dec. 28, Simon said "I greatly value the opportunity to celebrate individuals whose perseverance, ingenuity and community spirit have benefited Canadians throughout the country."
"As governor general, I have seen first-hand that our communities are rich in both excellence and diversity, which we need to do our utmost to recognize."
A full list of people receiving the honour can be found here.