Port Moody, British Columbia
Jason Theodore Syverson is a Veteran of the Canadian Armed Forces. He is nominated for his important role in starting the Veterans Portrait Project and his excellence in managing the Royal Westminster Regiment Kit Shop.
The Veterans Portrait Project was started in 2010 by Jason Syverson and two other individuals. Its focus was to create professional portraits of Veterans with a goal of capturing the story and journey of the Veterans within the photos. It was a resounding success, capturing over 100 British Columbian Veterans from the Second World War, Korea, Peacekeeping missions and Afghanistan.
Together he and his colleagues spent over 1,200 hours organizing, photographing, printing, mounting and displaying the large format photos. They organized six separate shows over a three year period, after which the large portraits were donated back to the Veterans and families of those photographed. The majority of the project was self-funded.
He has also spent seven years managing the Royal Westminster Regiment Kit Shop. He has transformed the shop from a disorganized storage room into an online store that sees approximately 2000 visitors and executes over 1000 transactions annually. Financially, the shop moved from a money losing entity into an organization that provides everything requested by both Veterans and those still in service. With his “leadership and innovation” the shop makes enough money to offset the cost of products needed by the regimental family. In cases where Veterans cannot afford an item, he ensures they received what they need at no cost.
“Jason’s dedication to the regiment and its Veterans is a model to every former soldier.”