Award recipients received $1,000 each, presented to them by the Honourable James K. Bartleman, Lieutenant Governor of Ontario. Ralph has decided to donate this award to the Ross Memorial Hospital Auxiliary.

Nominations for the Honours Awards for Community Service were open to members of the Quarter Century Club, both active and retired, who had made significant volunteer contributions to their local communities.

Ralph Griffin is a long-term resident of the City of Kawartha Lakes whose life has been touched in so many ways by Ross Memorial Hospital. He is a long-time volunteer, has had personal experience with the Hospital when his late wife Louise became ill, and recently shared this experience when he offered to be a spokesperson for the telemarketing program of the Caring for Tomorrow campaign, which resulted in more than 1,500 donations totaling more than $250,000.

"Louise received exceptional care from every nurse, doctor and staff member we encountered. And not only was Louise given the finest care possible at Ross Memorial, but me, my children and grandchildren have all received excellent care at the Hospital. Ross Memorial has had a tremendous impact on my life and this is why I decided to support the telemarketing program. I believe that Ross Memorial is worthy of everyone's support and consideration. The Caring for Tomorrow campaign was a huge undertaking for the entire community and the Hospital's expansion has relied and will continue to rely on the generosity of thousands to make it happen. Everyone can make a difference."

Ralph was born and raised in Belleville, Ontario. At the age of 20, he moved to Toronto and settled in for the next 27 years. On May 15, 1943, Ralph Griffin, an accountant by trade, married his girlfriend of two years, Louise Banting. The two were wed in Toronto, a union that lasted 55 years.

Upon accepting a teaching position with the Ontario Training School for Girls, later called the Kawartha Lakes School, he and Louise moved to Lindsay. Twelve years later, he was transferred to Cobourg to work with Young Offenders. In his spare time, Ralph was the President, a Director, a Coach and a Test Chairman for the Lindsay Figure Skating Club. He was also involved with the Scouts for 25 years as a Leader and a Commissioner and received the Medal for Good Service to Scouting from the Boy Scouts of Canada, presented to him by the Governor General.

As a founding member of the Victoria County Craft Guild and an active member of the guild for more than eight yeas, Ralph received a lifetime membership in 1994. Today, Ralph handcrafts dollhouses. As well, he served on the Board for and was a Sunday school teacher at the Cambridge Street United Church, he volunteered with the Red Cross, and he and Louise delivered Meals on Wheels in Lindsay.