Deadline for nominations for Atlohsa Peace Awards is Sunday night
By Sam Laskaris
LONDON – There’s just a few days left to nominate individuals or organizations from across Ontario for this year’s Atlohsa Peace Awards.
This is the third year the awards, organized by the London-based Atlohsa Family Healing Services, will be handed out.
As in previous years, eight awards will be presented. The awards honour trailblazers who are recognized for their accomplishments in culture, arts, education, public service, business or advocacy.
Nominees should be those who have made outstanding contributions, inspiring social change in the spirit of Truth and Reconciliation.
Both Indigenous and non-Indigenous people from across the province can be nominated for the awards.
Nominations will be accepted up until 11:59 pm on Sunday night (Oct. 25). Those looking to submit possible honorees this year must now fill out a nomination form, which is available online.
Besides being current Ontario residents, those who are nominated must have completed the work they are being recognized for within the province.
The only age restriction for nominees is that those in the Rising Star category must be 25 or under.
Because of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, an in-person awards ceremony will not be able to be staged this year. About 450 people attended a sold-out 2019 ceremony, which was held at the London Convention Centre.
As for this year, since there are COVID-19 restrictions in place, a virtual ceremony will take place on Dec. 10 to recognize the award winners.
Senator Murray Sinclair, who served as the chair of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, will take part in the virtual ceremony and be the keynote speaker.
“He is such an accomplished human being,” Alana Lees, who is the director of development for Atlohsa Family Healing Services, said of Sinclair. “We are so honoured he has agreed to join us and speak for us. He is quite accomplished and such an advocate for community rights.”
Lees believes being forced to have a virtual awards ceremony this year could actually be a blessing in disguise.
She is uncertain how many people will tune in for the 90-minute evening event but relishes the fact there will be no capacity for the number of attendees.
“In this day and age, we’ve had to adapt and we are live-streaming the event,” Lees said. “I actually think this opens it up to an untapped viewership. The sky is the limit.”
The Atlohsa Family Healing Services is a non-profitable charitable organization. Its goal is to strengthen the community via Indigenous-led programs and services offering holistic healing and wellness.
As in previous years, the awards ceremony will also be a fundraiser for the Zhaawanong Women’s Shelter, operated by Atlohsa Family Healing Services.
The shelter, which has been run for the past 33 years, is a 24-hour emergency shelter for Indigenous women and their children who are at risk of homelessness and/or violence.
“Our shelter is in need of support now,” Lees said. “I would love to raise $50,000 for our shelter.”
Award organizers are seeking both individual donations (in part to replace the loss of ticket sales from a lack of an in-person event this year) as well as corporate sponsorships.
Lees said organizers have already managed to line up five sponsors.
“We’re really excited and grateful we got those,” Lees said, adding organizers are hoping they can also attract several other sponsors.
Sponsorship deals are available starting at $2,000. Sponsorship packages are also available for $5,000, $10,000 and $20,000.
Donation and sponsorship information is available on the awards website.