Honouring the heroes among us

Amidst the COVID-19 chaos, heroes deserve to be celebrated more than ever before. Only a week remains before the close of nominations for the 2020 Absa Jewish Achiever Awards. Now is the time to recognise the heroes among us.

Hundreds of nominations have already been received as the SA Jewish Reportgears up to acknowledge those who made it their mission to make a difference. COVID-19 has pushed countless individuals to make extraordinary contributions within and beyond the Jewish community, setting the bar especially high this year.

“Under any circumstances, you’ll always find people who give back to the community and stand out for their contributions,” says Dina Diamond, a director of the SA Jewish Report. “This year, however, people have gone beyond the standard and made an impact in the lives of others under completely new circumstances. We want to recognise them.

“The Absa Jewish Achiever Awards seeks to acknowledge heroes who have contributed to our society, going above and beyond what’s expected of them. Individuals among us have left their mark in areas like medicine and social welfare, keeping people healthy and fed. They’ve gone beyond their comfort zones, and enhanced our community.”

Nominations have been received from across the spectrum of categories over the past few weeks. Business boffins, medical mavericks, professionals, and humanitarians from all walks of life are among those being nominated for various awards, all submitted by a community eager to pay tribute to those who are making a difference.

South Africans from across the country and even living beyond our borders will be recognised for their tremendous impact, joining an illustrious honour roll of previous winners.

“Throughout the years, household names such as Sol Kerzner, William Kentridge, Johnny Clegg, Stephen Koseff, Marc Lubner, Thuli Madonsela, George Bizos, Pravin Gordhan, and others have been among those recognised for the indelible marks they have made on our community and country,” says Diamond.

“Our winners this year will be those individuals who have truly epitomised the word ‘hero’. The nominations we’ve received so far illustrate that our community wants to recognise people who are committed to other people. The calibre is extremely high under normal circumstances, and we’ve been astonished to see how it has risen in our new reality.”

The new reality has also changed the way nominations are being made.

“More people are now making use of our online platform to submit their nominations,” Diamond says. “Our link is being used daily by people uploading nominations, and we’re eager to see many more come in over the next few days.”

For this reason, the nomination deadline has been extended until 21 August.

The awards play an additional role of inspiring hope in dark times, says Diamond. “People are in lockdown and lacking inspiration. We need light and motivation. We need to lift spirits and engage people. The Absa Jewish Achiever Awards always uplifts and inspires, but this year its impact will be far greater than before.”