With the annual Award for Excellence in Health Promotion established in 2007, the SHCHC is proud to honour individuals whose activities and initiatives have contributed to improving the health and wellness of our community. These unsung heroes deserve our recognition for their contributions to building healthy Sandy Hill and Ottawa East communities through activities such as health education, policy initiatives or increased public awareness around health issues, and who demonstrated leadership and collaborated with others to promote health and wellness in the community.

In 2008, the award was presented at the Annual General Meeting, on June 25th, to Rebecca Aird, on behalf of the Sustainable Living Ottawa East (SLOE) Committee.

SLOE has conceived and implemented a number of initiatives that create and sustain environments supportive of health, such as:

• the Main Farmers' Market, which brings healthy food to the centre of the Ottawa East community and provides effective means for local farmers to sell their produce;
• the community garden on Saint-Paul University grounds;
• the children's garden in Robert Legget Park;
• the creation of the Rideau River Nature Trail, linking Sandy Hill and Ottawa South.