The Ghanaian News just hosted a glittering event that recognized and honoured about thirty-four people in our communities across Canada for their excellent achievements in various fields. These ranged from Academic achievements, successes in Business, national honours, professional excellence and sports. Others were in music, young talents and community involvement. We wish to salute all our achievers of excellence this year and urge them not to rest on their oars but keep paddling on to even greater heights.

There are some important personalities and dignitaries from mainstream Canadian society: members of Parliament and Legislatures from the Federal and Provincial levels, Municipal officials, and senior police officers who patronise this event year after year. These people have to be commended for their unflinching support for our community initiatives.

While noting with gratitude and admiration the participation of some other members of our community in these events, we also wish to note with regret, the absence of a large number of our community members from these events year after year. By conservative estimates, our community boasts of over fifty thousand people. The attendance of our community members to these yearly events does not exceed four hundred! This ties in to the general perception and display of apathy towards community events and initiatives by segments of our community. As noted by our Publisher in his welcome address at the Achievements Awards, a number of reasons account for the lack of involvement of some of our community members to community events.

Whatever their reasons may be, we wish to strongly appeal to our community members across Canada to get actively involved in initiatives, projects and programs in the communities in which they live. And as the Keynote Speaker at the event also noted, we cannot always look up to governments to help us. We must first help ourselves before asking for outside support. There are so many initiatives going on in our communities and in the mainstream communities in which we live that need our involvements. There are so many areas that we can volunteer our services and we must. That shows our commitments to our communities and to our new home, Canada.

Volunteer opportunities are open in our community and school libraries, in our hospitals, on community events and projects. You can even help sponsor a child for some events or school programs. You can volunteer to teach children in after-school programs and you can also mentor the youth in our community. Our involvements show our roles and stature as responsible and good citizens. You get to build and develop networks and support systems through these community initiatives and involvements. Let us seize this opportunity to recognize the individual talents that we have and give something back to our communities and to Canada. It is fun and it is rewarding!