A dedicated volunteer and businesswoman has been recognized for outstanding contributions.
Long-time High River resident Michelle Ball was awarded the 2021 Clifford and Louise Lougheed Award for volunteer work with the High River District Health Care Foundation on March 23.
The award is in recognition of outstanding contributions, by an individual or organization, in support of the Foundation and health care in the community.
“We are blessed to have a generous community,” Ball said. “I have been a resident of High River for over 50 years and am dedicated to supporting my Foothills community in any way I can.
“Thank you kindly for the acknowledgement.”
Kelly Malmberg, foundation board chairperson, presented Ball with the award at a scaled-back ceremony, when it normally would be presented at the Foundation’s annual dinner and auction.
“It is because of her quiet, steady and longstanding commitment to the Foundation that I am thrilled to welcome Michelle Ball to the distinguished list of Clifford and Louise Lougheed Award recipients,” Malmberg said.
Born and raised in High River, Ball has given time, money and expertise in support of numerous initiatives that support health and wellness.
At the Health Care Foundation, she has been involved with the Cattle and Grain Roundup, the cancer centre and the maternity ward at the hospital and she spent six years on the Foundation’s board.
“Being healthy is important, and then the hospital also is a is a key part of our community. We need our health care system. We need our hospital. There're so many things that happen in the High River Hospital,” Ball said.
Having healthcare resources available locally was a main motivation for Ball to get involved with the Foundation.
“Just for people to be able to take have treatment in their own town, without that travel (to Calgary), is enough motivation for me to want to be involved,” she said.
Another reason she likes to support local causes, is that she knows where the money is going and that it will stay in the community.
“That was another reason I really focus on these local causes, because I know the funds are going directly to the cause itself,” she added.
Ball is involved in the beef industry through her company, Brant Lake Wagyu, and said the entire agricultural industry is a big supporter of health and wellness in the Foothills.
“The whole entire ag community really cares about its local town, we depend on it. I mean, we've got people that work there, and they get injured, and they have to come to the hospital for care,” she said.
“So, making sure that we have, you know, a top-of-the-line facility, and it's modern, and it offers everything it can to all aspects of health and wellness, whether it's cancer care or eye surgeries or day surgeries.”
Ball has also been a board member at Rowan House and the Twilight Long Table Dinner, which was a special event aimed at promoting downtown High River.
“(The Long Table Dinners) were a lot of fun. It brought community together. It took us, you know, a full year for a large group of volunteers to organize that. It was just an event for the foothills community to come together and celebrate,” Ball said.
She continues to volunteer and recently took a board position with Alberta Cattle Feeders.
“The enjoyment and the satisfaction of knowing that you've helped other people and knowing that you're connecting with other people that are like minded, it's uplifting, it's motivating,” she said.
“It makes you feel good.”
During a Facebook Live video the day after the award was given, Wendy Kennelly, executive director of the Foundation, said Ball not only donates on a regular basis, but she also shows up and provides leadership.
Having community leaders at the table, sharing wisdom and experience, is critical to long term success for a charitable foundation, Kennelly said.
Ball said High River is a generous community with all kinds of causes ranging from Heaven Can Wait, to the hospital, or to Rowan House and others.
“All these facilities require money to keep in business. So, I guess if you can, there's always a need for volunteering,” Ball said.
Ball married into the farming way of life, which introduced her to the world of cattle.
Learning about Wagyu beef was a perfect fit with her previous experience in the restaurant industry, she said.
“I know lots about the restaurant world, and I can market to the restaurant world because I'm a foodie. I know about food, and now we have this exceptional meat that is easy for me to sell because it's excellent quality,” she said.
In 2012, after she had been in the cattle industry for 30 years, Ball and her partner formally launched Brant Lake Wagyu.
“I kind of took on more of the role of marketing the wagyu, selling the wagyu, and got away from the custom feeding part of it, the farming part of it,” she said.
“That was my mission, to sell and market, and we started really small in Okotoks with a restaurant that took it.”
Wagyu is a breed of cattle from Japan, and the Brant Lake Wagyu is crossed with Angus. Kobe beef is Wagyu from the Kobe region of Japan.
“Certified Angus is known out there, Sterling Silver is a brand that we know, there's organic beef, there's grass fed beef,” she said. “So, this was all coming to the marketplace, all at the same time. And we thought what perfect time to introduce a local product grown right here in Alberta with a bit of a different spectrum of quality.
“We said why not offer it to consumers here in Alberta? Let's offer it to consumers in Canada, and it took off from there.
“There's so many choices for people and people like the choice.”
