15th Annual Cultural Diversity Awards Honors Local Organizations & Individuals

The 15th annual Fraser Valley Cultural Diversity Awards were held Friday night at the Quality Hotel and Conference Centre in Abbotsford. Since 2003, community members have nominated businesses, programs, initiatives, schools and leaders that work towards building an inclusive community within Abbotsford, Mission, Langley and Chilliwack.

“Every year it gets harder and harder to pick one winner in each category,” said Manpreet Grewal, director of Multicultural & Immigrant Integration Services at Abbotsford Community Services. “It’s great to see how many local organizations are dedicated to consciously working to promote diversity and inclusion.”

A local Mission non-profit, Sara for Women, won one of the seven awards. SARA is a feminist organization working with diverse women for the advancement of women. They recognize the systemic nature of oppression and power imbalances in all their forms including class, white-privilege, language, culture, sexual orientation, age, ability, geography, position and others. Their policy-governance structure incorporates opportunities to share power through democratic practices of shared leadership, decision-making, authority and responsibility.
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On a practical level, SARA provides housing for vulnerable women who are in crisis, escaping violence, or who are at great risk of being homeless. Their Warm Zone drop-in centre in Abbotsford provides food, shower facilities, support workers and other services to women on the street. They also provide counselling and support groups for women and children.

Sonia Beeksma, the traffic anchor for CTV Morning Live, was the master of ceremonies, and the sold-out crowd heard from inspirational speaker Talli Osborne. Singer and songwriter Jada Klein and dancer Nadine Langman also performed at the event.

The event is organized by Abbotsford Community Services in partnership with the Mission Community Services, Chilliwack Community Services and New Direction English Language School.

​2018 RECIPIENTS:
• Inclusive Environment (small-medium organizations) – Chilliwack Crown Counsel Office, Domestic Violence Team (Chilliwack)
• Inclusive Environment (large organizations) – SARA for Women (Mission)
• Marketing – Ten Thousand Villages (Langley)
• Innovative Initiative – Little Heroes Hockey Academy (Chilliwack) & Robert Bateman Secondary – Art Activism Class (Abbotsford)
• Effective Human Resources Strategies – Shoppers Drug Mart #2290, Abbotsford
• Champion of Diversity – Michael Adkins (Abbotsford)