Canada’s Muslims will celebrate the achievements of community members at the Annual Muslim Awards for Excellence (MAX) Gala, on Saturday, October 5th at Toronto’s Ritz-Carlton Hotel.
“This year’s Muslim Awards for Excellence Gala will explore, celebrate, and reflect on the impact words have had on communities throughout history,” Muriam Fancy, Communication Officer at the Muslim Awards for Excellence told AboutIslam.net.
“The event’s theme is ‘Words Matter’, due to the increase in discrimination and Islamophobia in our society.”
“This gala will acknowledge the impacts of words and actions of individuals in our community who are seeking to create a positive change in the world. Words have an opportunity to inspire and change the future, and that is why that is the theme of the MAX Gala.”
MAX launched in 2015 to recognize the excellent professional, educational and charitable achievements of Muslims in Canada.
The gala dinner will include the presentation of awards to community leaders and scholarships for high achieving students, as well as a three-course dinner from acclaimed Ritz-Carlton chefs.
“Inspired by my late father, who cared deeply about Muslims and believed that we should positively contribute to society by being leaders in the sciences, technology, business, law, social sciences, and ethics,” said Aazar Zafar, MAX Co-Founder.
Recognizing Excellence
There are four main components to MAX: Scholarships, that recognize academic excellence, Awards, that recognize professional and community excellence, Mentorships, that pair an established professional with an early career professional to accelerate career growth and MAX Gala, an incredible night of celebration that weaves together the incredible journeys of a people that are committed to excellence, service and charity, many overcoming major challenges to achieve their dreams
“In 2015, we started with the goal of recognizing and supporting Muslim professionals,” added Muriam Fancy.
“With this goal, we first started with launching a scholarship which, since 2015, has awarded over 40 high achieving university and high school students.”
“This year, the scholarships will amount to $131,000 for 34 students in multiple disciplines across Canada.”
In addition, individuals and organizations will get MAX Awards for exceptional service and contributions to the Muslim community. Awards will include Artist of the Year Award, Charity of the Year Award, Life Achievement Award, Community Excellence Award, Business Leader Award and Entrepreneur of the Year Award.
Muslims are the fastest-growing religious community in Canada, according to the country’s statistical agency, Statistics Canada.
Canada’s Muslim population increased by 82 percent over the past decade – from about 579,000 in 2001 to more than 1 million in 2011.
Muslims represent 3.2 percent of Canada’s total population.