Airdronian Brent Davis has been honoured with a Queen Elizabeth II Platinum Jubilee Medal for his work helping disaster victims across Canada.

Davis, who has lived in Airdrie for 14 years, is the director of Canadian Ministry Projects with Calgary-based Samaritan’s Purse (which he joined in 2007) and chairperson of the Alberta NGO (Non-Governmental Agency) Council.

Davis has taken part in numerous Samaritan's Purse natural and medical disaster response operations, including those in response to the 2013 Southern Alberta floods, the 2016 Fort McMurray wildfire, the serious COVID-19 outbreak in Thunder Bay in 2021, and the Hurricane Fiona response in Prince Edward Island last year.

"It was a surprise to me. You don't get into the work that I'm doing for the recognition. It was obviously a high honour to be considered for this award, even beyond that on the mind of the nominators, but also quite humbling."

Davis said so much of what motivates him is his faith. 

"My faith motivates me to help people recognize that they're not forgotten in times of disaster. In fact, our entire organization, my team, have a similar motivation that when people are hurting, we feel an intrinsic need to be able to help, and we recognize that a lot of people want to help, and we have the privilege and resources to be able to assist others."

Even though Davis was the one that received the medal, it's not all about him, he explained.

"It's shared by many people, but I think most acutely by my family, who have gone many days, weeks, or even months without having a husband or a father at home."

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