HSC Students finalists in the Hamilton Chamber of Commerce's Youth Volunteer Awards for 2008

On Monday, January 26, 2009, The Hamilton Chamber of Commerce will select its Youth Volunteer for 2008 presented by the Hamilton Spectator. Three HSC students, Emmaline Houston, Mina Kazemi and  Alison Ower are among the finalists for this prestigious award. The award recognizes dedicated and extensive volunteerism in local communities and beyond.

It is no surprise that HSC students embrace and embody one of the College’s core values “to better the world” through community service. What may surprise you is the depth and commitment these three young women have demonstrated in their altruistic activities. They serve as role models for us all and remind us what can be achieved when we work in the service of others.

Emmaline Houston has been involved with the Youth Advisory Council (YAC) for the Hamilton Community Foundation since 2006.  She has participated in the organization and management of the YAC, acting as its Co-Chair since June 2008.

She has been an Honour Pin recipient since 2006, and has received the Student Council Leadership pin for 2006, 2007 and 2008.  She won a Bronze merit award, a Safety Management Systems Software award, and a Mohawk College/Sheridan College Entrance Scholarship at the Bay Area Science & Engineering Fair (BASEF) in 2006.

In addition, Emmaline has been a 9-year member of Girl Guides of Canada, completing Pathfinders in 2006.  She has achieved both a Bronze and Silver Award in the International Duke of Edinburgh Awards Program.

In March 2008 Emmaline accompanied the HSC global outreach expedition to Arusha, Tanzania where the team worked on a community project in a village school for several weeks.  This life-changing experience culminated with her successfully climbing Mount Kilimanjaro to 4700 metres.

Despite Mina Kazemi 's young age, she is an extremely experienced altruist.  She is the successful product of an upbringing where preserving the environment, supporting local produce, lobbying for legal fair trade and travelling to impoverished Mexican rural areas to implement programs to create self-sustainable livelihoods are of utmost importance.

Being a member of Hillfield Strathallan College’s Social Action Committee, Mina was instrumental in organizing the May '08 Education Awareness Week through World Vision. To develop and prepare herself for better understanding of the needs of people of various parts of the world, she has attended several leadership camps from Leaders Today (Academy Power of One Camp) to Free the Children (Me to We Day) and Red Pine Camp (Leaders in Training 1-3).

She is currently working on her silver medal for the Duke of Edinburgh leadership program.  Mina has already accumulated over 340 service hours, which do not include the camp she founded and directed this past summer.  Called Camp Stella Puella, it had been a long-held dream of Mina’s.  It was implemented to raise the self-esteem of girls aged 4-13 in the town of Dunnville, Ontario. The camp ran from August 4–8 from
9 a.m. - 4 p.m. at the Kazemi home.  The goal was to empower young girls to feel confident in their own skin, to teach them to make a difference through social action and to encourage and inspire them to support disadvantaged girls around the world. The camp was offered to 19 girls. 

Alison Ower is a determined, co-operative and highly motivated person, who exudes a strong work ethic, which is coupled with an outstanding ability to lead. She has been involved in the Social Action Committee for some time; this year she assumed its leadership as Chairperson. The Committee is one of our largest student-led clubs, often including between forty and fifty students all involved in outreach projects to our community. It is now centrally involved in working with one of the College’s key community partners, City Kidz, a local charity which offers support and programming to some of Hamilton’s most impoverished children.
This year, our partnership is centred around two key events: The Road2Hope Marathon (a qualifying event for the Boston Marathon), which will raise funds for City Kidz and the Rise and Shine Leadership Breakfast, organized and hosted by HSC, to take place on March 6, 2009. Alison has been central in putting together and leading not only the Social Action Committee members, but also other key graduates who are responsible for areas such as finance, outreach, programming and food services, as well as working closely with the College’s Senior Administrative team, key leaders from City Kidz, local businesses and community leaders.

In July of this past year Alison was part of a global outreach program to Arusha, Tanzania, as part of the View Foundation.  There she volunteered at Moshono Primary School, assisting in the construction and refurbishing of classrooms, as well as coordinating games with the local children of the two indigenous tribes of the region, the Hadza and Masai.

Congratulations to our finalists and good luck on January 26th.