by Maggie Westhaver

Seva Canada Society and Goldie Hawn’s Bright Light Foundation are pleased to announce that students of Richmond Education Crossroads have been awarded the 2005 Seva Compassion in Action Award. Crossroads is an alternative school with students considered to be emotionally or socially vulnerable. Some of the students themselves have been homeless in the past, which enhanced the compassion and dedication that went into the project.
With the support of their teacher, Carolyn Zacharias, six students – Ellie McIvor, Ashley Blais, Stephanie Cowan, Danielle Morgan, Nick Wells, Cody Gabrielli and Tara Melanson – initiated Project Hope, a community project that demonstrated careful and imaginative thought and genuine concern for well being of others.
Out of true compassion for others, the students embarked on Project Hope, a mission to clothe those in need. Items such as scarves, mittens, and toques were either collected – or knitted – and handed out to people on the street, or donated to agencies that help the homeless. Not only did the students donate clothing, but they also attached tags to the items, expressing their empathy with words such as, “Along with the warmth in our hearts, we want you to have a little something to help keep you warm on the cold nights through the winter.”
With the help of Roland Case of the Critical Thinking Consortium, Seva Canada Society developed the award as an incentive for students to engage in social action projects. The award harmonizes well with Seva’s principles. The goal of Seva’s sight programs is to prevent and reduce unnecessary blindness. Seva believes in the right to sight for all human beings equally regardless of race, religion, colour, caste, gender, economic status, or education. Seva’s objective is to increase the utilization, affordability, and availability of quality eye care for underserved populations. Those largely affected are women, children, marginalized populations, and those living in abject poverty. Seva’s overarching theme is to promote local ownership and financial and social sustainability. Every five seconds one person goes blind. A child goes blind every minute. Seva believes this can easily be prevented.
There were many impressive submissions this year and the adjudication committee had an arduous task in deciding among the three excellent finalists. After a two-hour debate, Richmond Education Crossroads was chosen as the winner and will receive a $500 award. Britannia Secondary School received Honorable Mention for their Give Back Day, another impressive effort involving the entire school.
The adjudication committee was especially impressed with Project Hope’s heartfelt concern for the wellbeing of the homeless in the community, the detailed and imaginative planning of the initiative, the personalized support given the homeless, and the spirit of cooperation evident in carrying out the project.
Last year’s award was given to students from Victoria High for a project on non-violent communication and was kindly sponsored by Tides Canada Foundation. It is awarded annually and is open to all Canadian students.

Maggie Westhaver is executive director of the Seva Canada Society. www.seva.ca/compassion
Seva raises money worldwide for sight-saving surgery and provides eyeglasses. They also manufacture implantable lenses. Most of their work is done in Asia.