For journalist-author Mike Strobel, getting the King Charles III Coronation Medal is really “a team effort” awarded after many years of writing about a cherished subject.
Strobel, who retired as a Toronto Sun columnist in 2017, puts his heart and soul into writing about a dozen stories every Christmas to fundraise for Variety Village – a sports centre in Scarborough for kids, disabled or not.
It’s called the Variety Village Sun Christmas Fund.
“I was actually a member out there before I ever got around to fundraising for them,” Strobel said. “And it always struck me as you’ll never see anything like it.”
“You could walk down the halls and it could be all kinds of different people – kids in wheelchairs, on crutches, adults,” he explained. “They don’t kick you out when you’re no longer a kid, so people have grown up there literally. It’s pretty unique.”
Strobel inherited the Variety Village Sun Christmas Fund stories from the Sun’s former executive sports editor George Gross, who died in 2008.
“I write stories about kids who are there or who use the place and their life stories and what Variety Village means to them,” Strobel said. “And then people hopefully are moved by the stories to donate to Variety Village.”
“It’s actually open to everybody but it’s geared to kids with disabilities and I think there are 6,000 members and about half have disabilities,” he added.
The Coronation Medal was created to mark the Coronation of His Majesty King Charles III, which took place on May 6, 2023, and it is the first Canadian commemorative medal to mark a coronation.
The Office of the Secretary to the Governor General is responsible for administering the medal program and partner organizations nominate and present medals to individuals who meet the medal’s eligibility criteria.
“I’m sort of the writer guy but it’s a real team effort,” Strobel said. “There are people at the Village. There are people at the Sun. It’s a pat on the back for the Sun. The newsroom in particular, but also some of the promo people, they’ve supported the fund. They’ve helped me at various points. They do that every year.”
“They always make space for the columns and they give it profile. It’s really a team award. It’s a real tribute to the work that the Sun has always done on this fund. And the help they’ve given me, which is invaluable and worthy of a medal. If I could pin a medal on all their chests, I would do that.”
Strobel will get his King Charles III Coronation Medal on March 26 during a ceremony at Variety Village.
“It kind of takes up my Christmas every year but if you ever wonder why I do it every year, just walk into the place and you’ll get an idea,” he said.