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Mississauga’s Citizen Of The Year Is King

By Neil Armstrong
PRIDE Contributing Writer

MISSISSAUGA, Ontario — When Linden King ran in the Mississauga Municipal Election in 2014 for public school board trustee – his second time after doing so in 2010 – he did so under the slogan, “Make King the Difference.”

That philosophy has guided his life and has resulted in the longtime Mississauga resident and volunteer being named the 2015 Mississauga Citizen of the Year.
Last Thursday, he received the prestigious Gordon S. Shipp Memorial Award at Mississauga City Hall. Nominated by his former neighbor, Barbara Lobo, King won the award, which since 1980, has been presented to a resident who has voluntarily dedicated their time and energy to the betterment of the community.

The award is named for Shipp, a developer and philanthropist who helped build Mississauga.

“I can honestly say that I have made a difference within the city just working with the Ontario Trillium Foundation, per se, and the various different grants that I looked at, let’s say for example, to one for the Riverwood Community Group. Basically, we looked at areas in which we can help people with disability, visually impaired, like I’ve implemented that kind of stuff for that organization,” he said as a member of the Ontario Trillium Foundation, Halton-Peel Grant Review Team.

The 50-year-old husband and father of four children has been very active in his local community and beyond. He is an information technology professional employed as an associate director at Bell Canada.

King credits his mother and father, Lynette and Leslie King, for instilling in him the importance of serving his community and his wife, Diane Pounall-King, and their four children for allowing him to be active in the community.

Linden King, Mississauga’s Citizen of the Year.

Linden King, Mississauga’s Citizen of the Year.

He was over at his parents’ home for Mother’s Day and considered his nomination as citizen of the year the “best gift any mother could ask for” on that weekend to celebrate mothers.

The advocate for change said he has always had a great relationship with his dad whom he described as his best friend.

“I have to credit them in many ways for me being the man I am today. For my wife and kids, they are overwhelmed, they can’t believe that this is happening but again I love them. They’ll encouraged me, they supported me throughout the years and a lot of the stuff that we’ve done in Mississauga and in the community we’ve done with the kids.”

Growing up, King played football and was one of the original members of the team of the football club which eventually became known as the Mississauga Warriors.

His kids are involved in sports and so as a parent he was involved in encouraging them and instead of “sitting on the sidelines doing nothing, I got involved,” he said.

He has been involved with the Mississauga Youth Games (MY Games), Mississauga Cycling Advisory Committee, Mississauga Olympians Track and Field Club, Mississauga Warriors Football Club, and the Mississauga North Baseball Association.

As part of the Cycling Committee of Mississauga, he would go bike riding with his kids and as a result they were included as he went about building trails around the city.

“We are part of doing it as a family. We are doing things that we enjoy, that we love doing,” said King, who has also been selected as a torchbearer for the 2015 Pan Am Games.

Speaking about what it means to him to be the recipient of the award, King said it is a dream come true. “I would encourage everyone to find a cause and volunteer because its an opportunity, a way of giving back to our great city, Mississauga, and you can help make a difference to all of the people who live there that are proud to live there.”

Born in Georgetown, Guyana, King was raised in Mississauga and has lived there for over forty years.

He has also been involved with the Safe City Mississauga, Congress of Black Women Non-Profit Housing Inc. (Mississauga Chapter), Peel Multicultural Council, Toronto Electrical Utilities Credit Union, and Portico Community Church.

As a member of the board of directors of the Mississauga Arts Council, he was instrumental in working with Darrell McCalla to help bring Jamaican art to the Art Gallery of Mississauga for the Jamaica 50th celebrations in 2012.

His volunteerism has reached beyond Mississauga to several carnival bands in a variety of roles over the past 25 years and more.

He has been involved with the following bands: Arnold Hughes & Associates, Kathleen Hughes and Nataki Christmas – Renaissance Mas Productions, Jamaal Magloire – The Toronto Revellers Cultural Association, Narissa Ali – Blues Carnival Fusion and Dexter Seusahai – Tribal Carnival.

He was instrumental in bringing Toronto Hydro on board as a sponsor for Arnold Hughes & Associates in 1990.

“A lot of my mas making and involvement with Caribana was through Arnold Hughes & Associates,” he said, noting that his kids have been involved in carnival since they were in strollers.

The enthusiastic volunteer has organized barbecues for the community and annual food drives in which donations are made to the Eden Community Food Bank.

“I want to be a role model to other individuals within the City of Mississauga. I think we need a reflection of diversity within the city and to show that we are out there and that there are individuals, like myself, that are making a difference. And, you too, as a young male individual growing up can strive towards excellence,” he said.

“Anything in life is possible. Once you put your mind to something you can achieve it,” he said would be his advice to a young people aspiring to achieve.

The award is presented annually by The Mississauga News and the Mississauga Real Estate Board, in conjunction with the City of Mississauga.

Helene Burrowes, co-founder and former chair of the Malton Community Festival, received the award in 2014 and past winners include Rogers Communications senior operations manager Jake Dheer, City of Mississauga Ward 1 councillor Jim Tovey, anti-poverty activist Edna Toth and anti-obesity advocate Elvenia Gray-Sandiford.

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