Awardee 3rd Circuit Court Judge Charlene Elder speaks as LAHC founder Ali Jawad and Wayne County CEO Robert Ficano look on.

DEARBORN — Guests packed the Hyatt Regency Hotel on Friday,
May 6 to celebrate future leaders at the 23rd Annual Lebanese American Heritage
Club Scholarship Foundation Dinner.

While public educational funding continues to lag,
organizations such as the LAHC have remained strong in their support of the
Arab American community’s commitment to higher learning and investing in the
youth.

“When we started we had no illusions as to the
challenge we were about to undertake and the responsibility we were about to
shoulder,” said LAHC President Sam Salamey.

“But it was a challenge we accepted, we accepted with
dedication, devotion and responsibility…we will succeed to help their pursuit
of the American dream and their high objectives.”

Artist, director and comedian Najee Mondalek receives his award from the LAHC.

LAHC Executive Director Wassim Mahfouz spoke about the
importance of unity as well in light of recent news.

“We are an extraordinary nation of many races, faiths
and ethnicities, let us remain united; true beauty is in diversity,” he
said.

“The Torah, Bible and Qur’an are our holy books and no
fire can burn or destroy their beautiful divine message.”

Among the dignitaries in attendance on the night were U.S.
Congressman John Dingell, Acting Consul General of Lebanon in Detroit Houssam
Diab, Consul Bachir Tawk, Wayne County Executive Robert Ficano, State Senator
Morris Hood, Henry Ford Community College President Gail Mee, Wayne Mayor Al
Haidous, Hamtramck Mayor Karen Majewski, Wayne County Sheriff Benny Napoleon,
Dearborn Schools Superintendent Brian Whiston, State Rep. George Darany and
more. Achor/reporter Ron Savage of Fox 2 News in Detroit served as emcee.

The LAHC gave out scholarship awards of $1,000 each to 60
deserving students, including its inaugural Helen Thomas Scholarship in
Communications awards to Noor Hani Salem for journalism at the University of
Michigan-Dearborn and Zahra Sabbar Al-Mugoter for English and journalism at the
same school, in the name of the pioneering former White House correspondent.

Salamey also thanked the families of the students for
putting them in position to succeed and called on them to remain engaged and
supportive of their community and country in the future.

Ali Hashem, a recipient in Political Science at UM-Dearborn,
sophomore and member of the Arab Student Union, said he planned to do just
that.

“I want to be one of the sponsors of the event in the
future and to give back and help the students,” he said. “One day I’d
like to be an immigrant attorney so I can help people get citizenships as
well.”

Also honored on the night were a group of high-achieving
community award winners. Judge Charlene Elder of Wayne County’s 3rd Circuit
Court received the Award for Excellence and Great Achievements in the
Judiciary. She is the first Arab Muslim woman in the nation appointed to the
bench.

“I can’t tell you how nice it is when your own
recognizes you, thank you so much to the LAHC,” she said.

Tallal Turfe, president and CEO of Premier Health Group, won
the Award for Excellence and Great Achievements in Community Service and
Interfaith. He is a professor, and author and has also served as a board member
for the Michigan Roundtable for Diversity and Inclusion and participated in the
2000 Millennium World Peace Summit of spiritual and political leaders at the UN
in New York.

Artist, director and comedian Najee Mondalek, who plays the
Middle Eastern matriarch ‘Im Hussein’ in live shows, received the Award for
Excellence and Great Achievement in the Arts. He also recalled LAHC Founder Ali
Jawad  funding his first show 22
years ago in 1989, thanking him for the support.

High-achieving HFCC Amnesty International school group
founder, newspaper columnist, LAHC volunteer and USA Today All-USA Community
College Academic Team Award winner, Batool Ali Saad also received a scholarship
and gave the students’ remarks on the evening.

“With the stress on the economy, funds for education
have been cut back significantly, but thankfully extraordinary individuals have
continued their commitment to education and the youth, which is an investment
in our future,” she said.

Other scholarship winners included high school students:
Aisha Mohamed, Amanda Hussein Areej Fares, Batoul Aoun, Batoul Harissa, Batoul
Baidoun, Christina Hamzey, Dina Ayache, Genan Saghir, Ikram Shaker, Iman
Abdelaltif, Jaleel Salhi, Joanne Sabra, Linda Chalaan, Magda Haj, Mariam
Abdulghani, Noora Hussein, Nour Mourad, Seena Shohatee, Shadia Shirri, Zainab Harissa,
Zainab Hammoud, and Zeinab Bazzi.

Undergraduate winners included: Abraham Marashi, Adam Kadri,
Ahlam Elsayed, Ali Hashem, Gabriel Elghoul, Hasan Naserdean, Heba Sobh, Maha
Fakherddine, Maha Mustapha, Marcena Gorgaes, Mariam Mohamed, Marwa Hachem, Mohamed
Ghandour, Muhamad Chbib, Neam Alazawi, Sahar Habhab, Sarah Jaber, Wedad
Ibrahim, Wessam Makki, Zainab Sabbagh, Zein El-Zein, Zeinab Abdallah, and
Zeinab M. Rizk.

Graduate student winners were: Fadi Alkhatib Khadije Bazzi,
Mona Bazzi, and Wasfi Almeshagbeh.

In addition, winners of the Mahmoud Shirazi Scholarship
included Amanda Bazzi, Batool Ali Saad, Diala Ali, Hussein Hachem, Jehan Jawad,
Laila Marashi, and Rami Ashkar.