Village Media

May brought more industry recognition and standout achievements for our Village! Some highlights: -Village won first place at the Digital Innovation Awards in the Community Engagement Award category 🎊 -We introduced our inaugural Community Partner Specialist Awards winners 🌟 -We celebrated 21 community leaders through our Community Builders Awards program 🏆 -We helped raise over $40,000 for local shelters 🫶 -We donated $5,000 for local animals in need through our latest SPACES community challenge 🐾 -We sponsored 28 events & initiatives in our communities 💛 Read about this and more in our May newsletter ⤵️ https://lnkd.in/eitv4e5f

The Local Media Association announced its winners for this year's Digital Innovation Awards and we are thrilled to share Village Media was named first place for the Community Engagement Award for our Random Acts of Kindness program 🎊 Random Acts of Kindness works to deepen community connections by surprising deserving individuals, families and organizations with meaningful gifts and experiences based on reader nominations. The program, which started as a small project in Sault Ste. Marie in 2013, has grown exponentially over the past 13 years. Our local teams, supported by our Village Cares team, now coordinate multiple surprises a month across 24 communities in Ontario! Congratulations to everyone whose work brightens the lives of others through this initiative. This heartwarming and impactful program wouldn't be possible without your ongoing dedication 💛

ICYMI: Our Village journalists have been recognized across several national awards programs, demonstrating the quality and impact of the work they do each day. 👏 Nominations include: -A Michener Award, Canada’s highest honour in journalism -The Canadian Journalism Foundation Dr. Eric Jackman Award for Excellence in Journalism -Canadian Association of Journalists Awards, in the Scoop, Online Media, Freedom of Information Journalism and Community Written Feature categories -Three nominations for the Digital Publishing Awards in the Best News Coverage (Community Publication) category And a big win, with Jenny Lamothe taking home the National Newspaper Award’s Cora Hind Award for Local Reporting. 🎊 Read about these accomplishments and more in our latest Village newsletter ⤵️ https://lnkd.in/eZV_ZKka

Proud moment for Village Media 👏 The Trillium, our Queen’s Park bureau, has been named a finalist for Canada’s most prestigious honour in journalism. The Michener Award recognizes excellence in public service reporting that drives meaningful impact. The Trillium is one of six finalists, nominated for its investigative work examining the political ties between the Ford government and recipients of the Ministry of Labour’s controversial Skills Development Fund (SDF). Congratulations to The Trillium team on this well-deserved recognition. https://lnkd.in/euZ7cP9z

We are thrilled to have four of our Village journalists named as finalists for this year's National Newspaper Awards! Congratulations to Jessica Smith Cross, Charlie Pinkerton and Jack Hauen with The Trillium and Jenny Lamothe with Sudbury.com for the incredible work that garnered them these nominations. Read about this and more in our March Village update ⤵️ https://lnkd.in/emt3waDd

ICYMI: February may have been a short month, but it delivered plenty to report for Village! We won three national awards, helped spread kindness in honour of Kindness Week, hosted SPACES meet ups and provided GoodWorks grants to 21 community initiatives 🫶 Read about that and more in our latest Village replay ⤵️ https://lnkd.in/gBgejPxY

Introducing a new way to create good in your community 💛 Read about our new GoodMakers program, as well as an update on our annual Teddy Bear Capers, latest must-watch pods and a Guelph tie-in to hockey and a hit show, in our latest Village Bulletin ⤵️ https://lnkd.in/gmUM3U5b

We wrapped up 2025 with Village sites being named finalists in 10 categories for the upcoming Canadian Online Publishing Awards! 🎊 We also mobilized our loyal readers and community partners to raise $52,465 for local food banks, helped to raise $31,700 for the oncology unit at Timmins and District Hospital with a fun fundraiser inspired by the Blue Jays' playoff run and pulled off 13 surprises for deserving community members in SooToday's annual 12 Days of Christmas Random Acts of Kindness program. 🎁 Read about this and more in our December update ⤵️ https://lnkd.in/gVKhr3tT

November was short, but packed with big wins for our Village communities! Our annual Holiday Gift Card Auctions marked their biggest year yet, with over $500,000 in gift cards up for grabs across our network. 🎁 We also officially launched our Community Conversations initiative in Sault Ste. Marie, Sudbury and Flamborough, bringing diverse local leaders together to identify and recommend practical solutions for critical issues like the opioid crisis. And our Barrie team celebrated extraordinary local changemakers at the fourth annual BarrieToday Community Builders Awards. 🏆 Read about these updates and more in this month's Village Bulletin ⬇️ https://lnkd.in/gcaK5UGj

Happy Halloween! We've had a scary busy October here at Village 👻 This month, we launched our first SPACES Community Challenge which rallied communities across Ontario in support of local hospice care, TorontoToday celebrated its first anniversary, SooToday hosted its fifth annual Community Builders Awards and TimminsToday knocked it out of the park with its "He hit it all the way to Timmins" t-shirt collab. Read about all of this and more in this month's Village Bulletin ⤵️ https://lnkd.in/ghZ3_e5r