WINNIPEG -- The Vimy Foundation announced Thursday, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, they have suspended their educational programs that would involve students traveling aboard to Europe.
The cancelation impacts two Manitobans who won the prestigious national Vimy Pilgrimage Award.
Spencer Bubis, 17, and Alexina Nault, 16, were chosen out of hundred of applicants across the country. The fully-funded educational program brings students to Belgium and France in the week leading up to the historical Vimy Ridge Day on April 9.
Each year the Vimy Foundation program recognizes 20 youth between the ages of 14-17 who have gone above and beyond for their community.
Nault, collected toiletry items for the West Central Women’s Resource Centre, volunteers as an assistant water polo instructor, and is involved with both Girl Guides and Cadets.
She has served as a member of her student council, curling, and rugby teams at Collège Sturgeon Heights Collegiate. For the past three years, Nault has also been a member of the Justice Action Committee for the Department of Justice Canada.
Bubis has served as the president of the Youth Advisory Committee at Experiences Canada. To raise awareness about residential schools, he initiated Orange Shirt day at St. John’s Ravencourt School. He is the chair of the Youth in Philanthropy Club and has organized ‘Koats for Kids. Bubis also volunteers at Siloam Mission homeless shelter. This Vimy Pilgrimage Award recipient was also prized with the Canada’s History Society Winnipeg General Strike Essay Contest win in 2019.
In a press release to CTV News Winnipeg, the foundation said the trip has been postponed to a later date, which they have yet to confirm.
