For more than 30 years, Mike Janicki has been giving his personal time to save lives on the water and lead a team of dedicated marine search and rescue volunteers.
Janicki was recently recognized by Royal Canadian Marine Search and Rescue (RCMSAR) for the hours and the work he has put in over the past three decades.
Over this time, Janicki has clocked more than 2,500 volunteer hours with RCMSAR Station 10 in Richmond and has attended 225 life-saving missions, according to Ron Pultr, deputy station leader at Station 10.
Pultr described Janicki as a professional and reliable individual, adding his commitment to volunteer work is an inspiration to others.
“He puts in the time, he’s very level-headed and an even-keeled person,” said Pultr.
His dedication is “inspirational and has left a positive impact on our community.”
“You have a guy with a lot of experience and it helps us feel safe and confident that we can kind of handle any mission that is thrown in our direction,” Pultr added.
Early in his professional career, Janicki was a mariner who worked with radars and in the navigation area on large shipping containers and commercial ships.
Janicki brought those mariner skills with him when he began volunteering with RCMSAR Station 10.
He was then trained in first response and emergency management before he became a coxswain where he led a crew of four to six other volunteers on Wednesdays and one weekend a month.
As a non-profit, volunteers are the core and foundation of all RCMSAR on-water rescues, Pultr said.
“It is comforting to know there are volunteers such as Janicki who are dedicated to helping save lives while on the waters,” he added.
