Co-op Community Champion: Nancy Lawson

FORT ST. JOHN, B.C. — From spending countless hours crafting items to be donated to helping out at the United Church with whatever they need, Nancy Lawson says helping others gives her all the satisfaction she needs.

January’s Co-op Community Champion has a knack for crafting items to be donated.

In 2023, Lawson took three boxes of misprinted hoodies from SJA Promo and created 15 handmade blankets that were donated to the Salvation Army.

One of the 74-year-old’s favourite experiences from donating or volunteering came when SJA Promo and Lawson delivered the blankets.

“As we were talking, one went out the door with a very pregnant lady… That’s what it was meant for,” said Lawson.

“And that’s the satisfaction that you get knowing that at least one where it was supposed to go, but I believe they all did.”

She also created laundry bags for nurses during the COVID-19 pandemic made from misprinted SJA Promo t-shirts.

Lawson seems undeterred when it comes to helping out others and using her talents to do so, no matter the situation.

She has also created items, such as hats, for those battling cancer, a situation she is familiar with. Lawson is a breast cancer survivor of 15 years and is once again battling the disease.

“So far, with the treatments they have me on, nothing’s progressing. So I am just thankful for every day.”

Lawson has also knitted slippers, toques, and mittens for the Women’s Resource Society.

She highlighted the importance of volunteering and donating, saying, “If you don’t help others, they’re not going to help you.”

“I saw both sides of it. There were times when my family needed help too, and there were always people there.”

Recently, she and a friend also started volunteering for the Salvation Army’s Kettle Campaign, and every other Wednesday, Lawson helps out at the Fort St John Hospital Auxiliary’s gift shop.

Born and raised on a farm in Doe Lake, Ontario, Lawson says she and her siblings were raised on the principle of doing for others in the community.

“We kind of made it community.”

“We were one of the first people in the community to have a phone, for instance. And so the neighbours would come and borrow the phone to make calls. While they were doing that, my mom always put a meal on the table no matter what time of day it was.”

January’s Community Champion moved to Fort St. John 30 years ago for her husband’s work and has called the city home ever since.

She worked mainly in banking before retiring 20 years ago.

Congratulations to Nancy Lawson for being named January’s Co-op Community Champion. Anyone looking to nominate a community-minded person needing recognition can head to Energeticcity’s website.