The Business and Professional Women’s Club of Abbotsford hosts its annual Myrtle Evertt Woman of the Year Award dinner on Thursday, May 14.
This year’s nominees are Kelly Chahal, Brenda Falk, Deb Lowell, Kristal Barrett-Stuart and Dorothy Van der Ree.
Chahal is an Abbotsford city councillor who has volunteered with the Fraser Valley Indo Canadian Business Association and is a probation officer specializing in the supervision of sex offenders and high-risk cases.
She is also a director with the advisory committee for the Centre for Indo-Canadian Studies.
Falk, also a city councillor, is the owner of Tanglebank Gardens, through which she consults on and designs landscapes. She teaches and lectures at churches, garden clubs and various organizations.
Falk has also been involved with the Communities in Bloom committee, the BC Landscape and Nursery Association, and the mayor’s task force for economic development, among other groups.
Lowell has served as an officer or pastor with the Salvation Army for more than 30 years and is currently the media spokesperson.
She has been involved with numerous committees and conferences, speaking on issues such as poverty, affordable housing, social justice and homelessness.
Lowell is an active Rotary Club member and previously received the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Medal for outstanding community service.
Barrett-Stuart is a country singer/songwriter, entrepreneur, public speaker and founder of the Sparkle Project.
The project holds workshops that teach girls aged eight to 17 the importance of setting goals. Barrett-Stuart recently created “Sparkle: An Inspirational Handbook for Young Girls.”
Van der Ree is the executive director of the MSA Museum Society and the chair of the Fraser Valley committee of the Institute for Canadian Citizenship, the president of the Rotary Club of Abbotsford and the director of Literacy Matters Abbotsford.
The awards dinner takes place at the Phoenix Lounge (33780 King Rd.). Tickets are available online at bpwabbotsford.ca or by emailing bpwabbotsford@gmail.com.