Local business owner Eric Vriend is honoured to be named advocate of the year by the Canadian Down Syndrome Society (CDSS).
“It’s awesome,” Vriend said March 21, adding if he can continue to influence younger people to have a positive attitude and to come to the gym, he is always happy to do so.
His father, Mark Vriend, said he could not agree more.
“I think it is really neat because when your kid is born with a disability, there is a lot of worrying concerns and you figure out pretty quick that it [Down Syndrome] isn’t as big a deal as the world makes it out to be,” he said, adding the award, which comes with a $1,000 prize will be put to good use in the form of an Eric’s Army Scholarship through Barrhead Composite High School (BCHS).
“At BCHS, we feel fortunate to have the opportunity to work with the wide range of students we do and helping them realize their potential,” BCHS principal Steven Kaplan said, adding it is very generous of Eric to donate his prize money towards a bursary or scholarship.
“Eric was quite successful at BCHS and has gone on to realize much of his potential as seen in his recent recognition of advocate of the year with the Canadian Down Syndrome Society. In his ultimate blessing to BCHS, he is looking for a way to see that this kind of work continues and the work put forward by students is recognized through his donation for a deserving student. It is very generous on his part and we are very pleased to work with Eric in this regard,” Kaplan said.
“It was something I had been thinking about doing before and when this came up, I thought it was incredibly appropriate,” Mark said.
“The schools, both Neerlandia Public Christian School, as well as BCHS, have been outstanding to, and for, Eric and even King’s College and MacEwan, where my son Max is enrolled, have been as well.”
Mark said the criteria for eligibility still have to be ironed out but he believes it will be inline with the philosophy behind Eric’s Army.
“If you know about Eric’s Army, you know what the vision is behind that and we feel like this is the direction for the scholarship,” he said, adding believing in one’s abilities is important.
Eric’s Army is a group of like-minded individuals committed to making a positive impact in the lives of those around them.
CDSS communications manager Kaitlyn Pecson said the award has been part of the organization for the past 30 years and aims to celebrate every-day Canadians with Down Syndrome.
“To the best of my knowledge however, this is the first time someone from beyond the Edmonton area has been so honoured and I’m really hoping to meet Eric at our conference in May,” Pecson said, adding she is glad Eric was brought to the CDSS’ attention.
“To be nominated, people in your community can come together and write letters of support for self-advocates and Eric was nominated by three people. We were looking for people who really embody our slogan ‘See The Ability’ and Eric was chosen because he is fairly unique in that he is a business owner contributing to his community and he’s always finding ways to give back. That’s a huge thing.”
Pecson said she could not think of anybody else who goes out of their way like Eric does in encouraging people to be positive forces for their community.
“That really impressed the judges and I think it’s safe to say we, all of us on the committee, want him to be our personal coach,” she added.
