Entertainment industry veteran Howard Blank among honourees at Variety BC Red Heart Awards Celebration

Some recognizable faces were on hand on December 5th, as Variety – the Children’s Charity hosted their 48th annual Red Heart Awards Celebration, recognizing individuals and organizations who have gone above and beyond in supporting the charity and children with special needs in BC.

In total, fifteen recipients were honoured in eleven award categories, including the Barbara Stewart Heart Award for an outstanding individual who over the years has devoted his or her time to making a truly exceptional impact. This year’s Barbara Stewart honouree was Howard Blank, a prominent figure in the entertainment, gaming, and philanthropic sectors, whose extensive involvement in Variety BC goes back to when he was just thirteen years old. Other recognizable award recipients included singer and TV personality Mary Zilba; Victory Square Technologies founder and CEO Shafin Diamond Tejani; and the City of Prince George, which won “Community with a Heart.”

The event, held at the Delta Burnaby Hotel and Conference Centre, was emceed by Global BC on-air personality Jennifer Palma.

In addition to the award presentations, other highlights of the night included musical performances by twelve year old singing sensation Ty Waters, and local country artist Todd Richard, whose single “Follow Your Heart” is available on iTunes with all proceeds going to support Variety BC. The song, which has become a sort of unofficial anthem for the charity, earned Richard the Colleen Wood Fundraising Award.

“Once again our community of supporters, donors, volunteers and friends has made us exceptionally proud over the past year,” said Variety BC Chief Executive Officer, Cally Wesson. “The Red Heart Awards are always a big night on our event calendar, and the single greatest opportunity for us to really acknowledge and celebrate the wonderful people who work so hard to make sure families all across BC know that we’re there standing with them. As always, this year we had an almost impossibly strong field of truly deserving recipients in each award category, not to mention everyone who came out tonight just to support their peers.”

Full list of 2017 Red Heart Award recipients: