A Lifetime of Service: Marilyn McLean Recognized with Kamloops Exemplary Service Award

Photo credit: Peter Olsen Photography

The story of Marilyn McLean (Hogg) is, at its core, a story about commitment, not to a single cause, but to an entire community. Her recognition with the City of Kamloops Exemplary Service Award is less a milestone and more a reflection of decades spent quietly shaping the social fabric of Kamloops.

From the very beginning, her path was clear. Volunteering since high school, Marilyn did not simply participate, she helped build. As a founding contributor to Special Olympics British Columbia, she played a role in its incorporation in 1980, ensuring that Kamloops became one of the province’s earliest communities to offer programming. What began as a single soccer team has since evolved into a robust network of sport opportunities, and her involvement has never waned. Today, she continues to coach, mentor, and support athletes, demonstrating a rare consistency of purpose across generations.

Her influence extends well beyond sport. Through her work with restorative justice initiatives in partnership with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, she helped create pathways for accountability and healing outside the traditional court system. Facilitating meaningful dialogue between those harmed and those responsible, she contributed to a more compassionate and effective model of community safety.

Leadership has also defined her contributions. As President of Day One Society, Board of Directors, Marilyn has guided an organization that delivers critical detox and recovery services, ensuring strong governance while supporting frontline staff and vulnerable individuals. Her tenure reflects a deep understanding of both systems and people, an ability to balance oversight with empathy.

Her impact on education is equally significant. A former Assistant Superintendent and later Chair of the Board of Governors at Thompson Rivers University, she has influenced policy, governance, and the broader educational landscape. These roles, often complex and demanding, were undertaken with the same volunteer spirit that defines her work elsewhere.

What distinguishes Marilyn, however, is not simply the scale of her contributions, but their breadth. From tutoring adult learners and coordinating volunteers at the Kamloops Film Festival, to ringing the bell for The Salvation Army, she has consistently shown up where she is needed most. Each effort, large or small, reflects a belief that community is built through participation.

There is a quiet clarity in how she defines her own impact. While her work has improved access to sport, strengthened governance, supported recovery, and fostered inclusion, she often frames volunteering as something she receives more from than she gives. It is a perspective that speaks not to modesty alone, but to a genuine understanding of connection.

The Exemplary Service Award recognizes what Kamloops has long known: that communities are sustained not by singular acts, but by sustained effort. In honouring Marilyn McLean, the city celebrates a lifetime of service that continues to evolve; still active, still engaged, and still making a difference.