100 heroes were honoured and received awards for their contributions to the community. Picture: Supplied
The community of Lenasia honoured its community members over the weekend for their sterling work for their humanitarian aid.
About 100 heroes were honoured and received awards for their contributions to the community.
The awards were attended by community members, who raved about the achievements and the importance of the event.
The event took place during campaign season where some of the community members who were invited to political rallies opted for the prestigious event.
Founder of the awards and chairperson of the #ImStaying Foundation, Shireen Ebrahim, said she was overly pleased with the event turnout.
“We surpassed our cap on guests, some still requesting tickets after a sold-out event. The teamwork, camaraderie and community spirit was exhilarating. We have good-spirited and kind-hearted people in our community who went all out to partake and participate in the event,” said Ebrahim.
The event kick-started with the singing of the national anthem, followed by the debate segment on how the upcoming elections would impact service delivery issues for communities like Lenasia.
The event was graced by representatives from the DA, Al Jama-ah, ActionSA, and RISE Mzansi political parties.
All the represented organisations emphasised the importance of citizens exercising their voting rights and using it effectively in order to bring about change at local, provincial and national level.
According to the #ImStaying Foundation, the Humanitarian Awards foster and promote social cohesion and inspires people to want to do more by creating a positive rebound effect.
“Recognition through awards is intended to create positive energy and motivate individuals to continue and carry inspiring others to do more for their communities.
“We must acknowledge and thank people while they are alive so that they know they are valued and important.
“We must also use these celebrations as a platform to inspire our youth to continue the legacy of the great work done by current leaders, veterans, and patriots of this country. Events like these are an imperative and much needed given the tough economic times and challenges our country is facing,” the organisation said.
Ebrahim said they needed to narrow the list of beneficiaries down to the Top 100+ awardees due to the high number of entries they received from community members.
He said the highlight of the day was when the foundation awarded four individuals who stood out from all the nominations in the community.
“We are launching a book of our awardees, sponsors, work teams and supporters, which I want to be a blueprint and inspire every community in our country to follow suit in uniting our people of South Africa. Sponsors are welcome to contact me to support and feature in this book.
“The #ImStaying Foundation with over a million members celebrates and promotes everything good in this country. We help and support hundreds of organisations in their projects countrywide and that figure is growing rapidly. It’s imperative that we applaud and celebrate our heroes in the great work they do in building this country,” she added.
Ebrahim said the good work that the foundation has done cannot be attributed to her alone as she had an incredible team who put more effort and dedication into making sure that the event was a success.
“We must recruit good leaders to lead, guide recognise and motivate us. Organisations like #ImStaying have a national footprint in millions, locally and internationally and in supporting causes like the Community Heroes Humanitarian Awards, we further motivate talent which attracts interest and reinvestment for communities like Lenasia, which is a blueprint that we want for every other community to also adopt.
“South Africa is a great country, we just need to just weed out crime, corrupt and ineffective leaders who fail in service delivery. Where leaders in government fails us, ordinary citizens take their place of being our heroes who rescue us in our daily struggles.
“When you vote on the 29th of May, make sure you vote for your heroes who have the interests of you, your loved ones and future generations at heart,” emphasised Ebrahim.
The Star
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