MI rewarded for supporting reservists

The Marine Institute has been honoured for supporting reservists who wish to make a difference close to home and abroad

Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Earlier this month, MI was selected as a provincial winner of a Canadian Forces Liaison Council (CFLC) award, a prize handed out bi-annually to employers who demonstrate outstanding support to reservists. Trevor Pike, manager of Information and Communications Technologies at MI, accepted the award from Lieutenant-Governor John Crosbie on behalf of the Marine Institute during a ceremony at Government House.

Nominations for the award are accepted from primary reservists and commanding officers, with MI’s nomination coming from Spencer Barnes, a long-time reservist and computer support specialist at the Marine Institute. Barnes approached Pike about securing time off to help with the Hurricane Igor relief efforts in September, 2010. Pike did not hesitate to grant Barnes a leave of absence, allowing him to lend a hand with the immense cleanup that followed the hurricane.

“I know Spencer feels very strongly about these things, so I wanted to support him as much as I could,” said Pike. “The university has always supported me, so I felt there was no reason not to grant him a leave during that time. Hurricane Igor was a significant event in our history in this province, so I thought we should do whatever we could to help, especially when you consider Memorial University is named in honour of military veterans.”

Barnes has dedicated himself to the Canadian Forces Reserves for many years, and has served tours of duties in Afghanistan, as well as in Quebec during a devastating ice storm in the late 1990’s. Pike said it was obvious Barnes was passionate about aiding the Hurricane Igor cleanup, just as he has other Canadian military efforts.

“It’s a big commitment to his time; I know he spends a lot of weekends and evenings involved with it,” said Pike. “I think it’s something for the Marine Institute to be proud of. It’s great that we have somebody of that calibre working here.” Pike says he was humbled to accept the award on behalf of MI, adding it was a special experience to be recognized in such fashion alongside 12 other award recipients.

“Just finding out we had been nominated and knowing Spencer had gone to the trouble of nominating us, was enough for me,” said Pike. “I thanked Spencer for doing that and whether or not I heard anymore about it didn’t really matter at that point. Several weeks later I got a phone call telling me we would be presented with the award by Lieutenant Governor John Crosbie during a ceremony at Government House.”