For more than 20 years, Crystal Dunahee has never let her missing son’s name slip from the headlines.
Turning her tragedy into her personal mission, she holds an annual fund and awareness-raising event for Michael and missing children throughout the province.
Dunahee’s advocacy led her to preside over Child Find B.C. and to serve on the board of Child Find Canada.
She also supported the launch of the provincial AMBER Alert system in 2002, which distributes up-to-date information about child abduction to the public through widespread media broadcasts. The system has been adopted by every province in Canada.
Dunahee is among 14 people to receive the 2011 Order of British Columbians.
“The Order of British Columbia recognizes the excellence and achievements of our citizens. It is the highest honour we can bestow on individuals in our province,” said Lieutenant Governor Steven Point.
Other recipients of the Order of B.C., to be presented Oct. 4 in Victoria, are:
• Luigi Aquilini, developer and owner of the Vancouver Canucks
• Peter Norman Baird, for his work uniting aboriginal and non-aboriginal people
• Gordon Campbell, former premier of B.C.
• Yuri Fulmer, described as a “dynamic entrepreneur and dedicated volunteer”
• Tim Jones, long-time leader of North Shore search and rescue
• Dr. Phil Muir, long-serving physician in Hazelton
• Jim O’Rourke, West Vancouver, mining engineer
• Karen O’Shannacery, Vancouver advocate for homeless people
• Baljit Sethi of Prince George, advocate for immigrants
• Ellen White of Nanaimo, native educator and activist