Charissa Tonnesen’s star continues to rise.
Tonnesen, who recently won the 2021 Collaborative Care Award from the BC Pharmacy Association, is now being awarded a BC Community award.
Tonnesen, who moved to Tumbler Ridge in 2000 after graduating at UBC as a Pharmacist, has chosen to stay in Tumbler Ridge during the booms and the busts the local economy has gone through, choosing to stay in the bad times to help make the community a better place.
“In fact, the leadership roles she has assumed as a volunteer have helped Tumbler Ridge to survive these turbulent times and to thrive,” says Dr Charles Helm, who has worked with Tonessen in a variety of capacities in those years.
The fact that she co-owns and runs the local pharmacy is self evident. However, her volunteer activities may not be so obvious, but are key to her winning the award.
Tonessen has served continuously on the Board of Directors of the Tumbler Ridge Museum
Foundation since 2003. She was President from 2009–2011, 2013–14, and 2017–2019. She was Vice President in 2008, 2012 and 2015, and Treasurer in 2016. She is currently on the Executive as Past President. “She has guided the organization securely through many challenges to the point where it is today regarded as a centre of excellence in British Columbia,” says Helm “The Tumbler Ridge Museum also spawned the Tumbler Ridge UNESCO Global Geopark, and Charissa served on the Geopark Board of Directors for the 2018-2019 term.
Tonessen is an accomplished singer and guitarist, and has been a member of the Tumbler Ridge Community Choir for many years in the alto section (or, under duress, as a tenor when this section required boosting, says Helm). “She helps out and sings or plays guitar at many community events such as memorial services, Remembrance Day, Christmas concerts, etc. She has also taken part in numerous community drama productions and plays, including a memorable performance as Meatloaf in the Rocky Horror Picture Show.”
She served on the Board of Directors of the Tumbler Ridge Community Arts Council from 2007–2014.
She also spent a number of years as a member of the Board of the Tumbler Ridge Youth Services Society, and was Secretary from 2009–2012.
If there is one club she is most associated with, it is the Northern Rockies Karate-Do, where she has been on the board since 2010, and Treasurer since 2011. She has competed in numerous events at an international level, and her success and skill are epitomized by her being crowned World Masters Champion in 2017, and being part of the team that won gold in 2019. “She supports and encourages many youth and children to take up karate, drives them long distances to tournaments, and cleans up highway litter with them every year as a means to raise funds for karate programs,” says Helm.
“In 2019 she took over the running of Flatbed Loops for the Wolverine Nordic and Mountain Society. This involves a weekly ‘time-trial’ for residents walking or running a 2 km course through the forest. It proved so popular under her leadership that it was extended by popular demand. She has three Emperor’s Challenge Mountain Run medals to her credit, and helps out as a volunteer at this event.”
Helm says it is her time doing volunteer community activities that is the reason she is being awarded this honour, but he points out her work as a Pharmacist also blurs the lines between work and volunteerism. “Her commitment to teaching is evident through her voluntarily acting as preceptor for UBC Pharmacy students,” he says. “Many such students have passed through her pharmacy in Tumbler Ridge, and thus been exposed to the challenges and rewards of being a rural pharmacist. Furthermore, she volunteers to speak at Health Fairs on ways to reduce ‘polypharmacy’, in other words encouraging people to get off medications that they don’t really need.”
In summarizing these activities, there are two themes, he says. “One is of service to community and to others. The second is striving for excellence and setting an example to others. These themes blend in an inspiring way, which have made Charissa not just a dedicated and passionate volunteer who leads by example and brings out the best in others., but also an icon of what is good and true about our community. Charissa is an invaluable asset to Tumbler Ridge.”
The awards were announced on May 2 by Premier John Horgan and Anne Giardini, Chair of the BC Achievement Foundation, an independent foundation that honours excellence and inspires achievement throughout the province and recognizes extraordinary British Columbians who build better, stronger and more resilient communities. Tonessen is one of twenty British Columbians who were awarded the honour this year.
“We are incredibly proud to celebrate the work of these 20 individuals, who shine as examples of dedication and service,” says Anne Giardini, OC, OBC, QC, Chair of the BC Achievement Foundation. “The past two years have been challenging for all of us. It’s heartening to see these community leaders, visionaries, innovators and volunteers continuing to work to make the world a better place while lighting a path of achievement for other British Columbians to follow.”
The Community Award recipients are selected by an independent committee, whose 2022 members include Mayor Maja Tait of Sooke, Mayor Clara Reinhardt of Radium Hot Springs, and past recipients Aisha Amijee and Kal Dosanjh. In addition to Tonessen, this year’s recipients include: Carol Camille from Lillooet, Jim Good from Prince George, David He from Burnaby, Herman Ho, MB, AdeC and Dr. Faisal Khosa both from Vancouver, Chin uook Kim from New Westminster, Suresh Kurl from Richmond, David Amrik Lau from Saanichton, Lawrie Mack from Invermere, Baylie McKnight from Victoria, Anders I. Ourom and Carmen Rosen from Vancouver, Kamal Sharma from Surrey, Robert Tanaka from Coquitlam, Dr. Tracey Thorne from Gabriola Island, Dr. Vivian W. L. Tsang from Vancouver, Wayne White from Courtenay, Sqwulutsultun William Yoachim from Nanaimo and Anthony and Nancy Yurkovich of Richmond.
“This year’s Community Award recipients have supported their communities during exceptionally difficult times and are an inspiration to us all,” says Premier John Horgan. “They have dedicated their time and energy to helping their friends and neighbours, and British Columbia is a better province because of them.”
The 2022 Community Award recipients were recognized in a formal presentation ceremony held in Victoria, BC, on May 10 (the day after the paper went to press). Each awardee will receive a certificate and medallion designed by BC artist Robert Davidson, CM, OBC. They will also be celebrated through an online campaign #shinethelightbc to commemorate their excellence and inspirational achievements positively impacting British Columbians.
Trent is the publisher of Tumbler RidgeLines.
