The Yemeni American News
In a filled-hall with Yemen American Benevolent Association members and supporters, Bint Jebail Cultural Center witnessed the celebration and 48th anniversary of the association on October 21st, 2017. The Mistress of Ceremonies was Siham Jaafar who began the event by introducing the American Moslem Society Imam Sheikh Hamood Afif who led the invocation of the evening and Mr. Mohsin Alhubashi, President of YABA who welcomed everyone including elected officials and dignitaries to the event. “It is with your support, YABA continues to provide the services to our community.”
Ali Baleed Almaklani, executive director of the association revealed the Association’s next project which is a social services building that will be built next to the association’s existing building. “This building will enable us to service our community even more” he said.
Dr. Bassam Ali had an emotional speech about his late father, Hajj Ali Salem who was a YABA board member and a community activist. Hajj Salem passed away this year and was known for his genuine advocacy for the community and the organization.
There were many awards that were presented that evening including Dr. Ali Nasser, Dearborn Public Schools bilingual district community liaison for special education Lila Amen, Qasem Asoufi, Iman Elgabri, Danene M. Charles, and Mr. Mohamed Alshaibi.
Khansa Alhaidi was the student speaker of the night. “The successes I have been fortunate enough to receive are not successors I can claim as solely my own. They are successes that have been possible by the support those around me, especially my parents” she said in a heartwarming speech. Elected officials spoke at the event including Congresswoman Debbie Dingell and Dearborn’s Mayor Jack O’Reilly.
The last item was the scholarship ceremony in which 17 scholarship recipients received $500 each from the association. All the recipients are college freshmen. The scholarship recipients were Jihad Mashrah, Fekrah Alsoufi, Mariam Alley, Jasmine Alhusaini, and Afnan Al-Wasim from Wayne State University; Osama Altawil, Ali Shami, and Futteh Mashrah from Michigan State University; Kasem Almuraisi from Wayne County Community College; Maha Almaweri, Asalah Saeed, Lina Mawari, Mohamed A Awad, Lamis Alnajjar, and Mezna Abubaker from Henry Ford College;
