AAI Foundation
Foundation
Abbott Award Recipients
Posted on Monday May 11, 2009
The Helen Abbott Community Service Awards honor students and student organizations whose devotion to community service, selfless acts of care, and interest in improving the quality of life for others reflect the life of the Awards’ namesake. Three awards are presented annually: one $1,000 prize to a student and two $500 grants to student organizations with impressive community service records. Organizational community service projects include, but are not limited to: community improvement and service projects such as park clean-ups, recycling programs, volunteering in shelters, tutoring programs, food/toy drives, and ethnic/cultural outreach.
Background and Application Form (PDF)
2009 Awards Recipients
Alaa Itani
Alaa Itani is a senior at Portage Central High School and the Kalamazoo Area Mathematics and Science Center. Throughout high school, community service has played an integral role in her education. Whether through the National Honor Society or at the Portage Community Center, volunteering has allowed her to serve the community and learn about its people. Alaa also enjoyed being part of various environmental efforts, both locally through her school’s environmental club, and nationally with the Keystone Youth Energy Board.
She says that her mindset is, of course, greatly influenced by her parents, who moved to the United States from the Middle East in hopes of pursuing a better education. “As a result,” she explains, “they have always emphasized the importance of not only a solid academic foundation, but also serving others.”
Sarah Jaward
Sarah Jaward is currently a junior, Pre-law, at the University of Michigan-Dearborn. Sarah is an activist, promoting civic engagement at the grassroots level, and she volunteers in humanitarian efforts, as well.
She worked on numerous campaigns, lobbying for candidates who promote Arab American issues, and was elected a Precinct Delegate for the state of Michigan. In addition, she interned at the Arab American Institute’s Midwest Regional Office during the 2008 elections, rallying Arab Americans to get out and vote.
Sarah has also volunteered for various causes, including the Arab Student Union Toy Drive for the Children’s Hospital, Rouge River Clean Up Day, Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service and Gleaners Food Bank.
Banafsheh Sharif-Askary
Banafsheh Sharif-Askary, more familiarly known as “Bean”, lives in the beach-front town of Melbourne, Florida. She serves as her high school’s Senior Class President and is also the yearbook editor-in-chief. Banafsheh loves working on the yearbook because it gives her an opportunity to delve into photography, design, and writing, all things she thoroughly enjoys.
In Fall of 2009, she plans to attend Duke University in North Carolina—pre-med, with an eye towards becoming a plastic surgeon. Her ultimate goal, she says, is to become a physician in Doctors Without Borders, the international humanitarian organization committed to providing medical aid in countries with insubstantial health care.
Joseph Wahhab
Joseph Wahhab is the first in his family to graduate high school and attend college. This young leader helped found the Middle Eastern Club at his high school, where he serves as Junior Class Secretary.
The Honor Roll student finds time to work as a shift manager at Dairy Queen; he organized and ran a charity event that benefited terminally ill children of his community with the support of his employer. This event, established as an annual charity fund at his local Dairy Queen in 2006, donates to Children’s Hospital to help leukemia patients.
Joseph’s interest in the medical field inspired him to pioneer a medical mentorship program through his school. He strives to one day travel the world as a general physician and help the poor and sick as a part of a non-profit organization like Doctors Without Borders. The fact that he already speaks three languages will stand him in good stead.
