On February 28, a virtual ceremony was held to celebrate the outstanding contributions of volunteers by the Ontario government. Fo Guang Shan Temple of Toronto (FGS Toronto) volunteers, Chin-Yu Yu, Rachel Fan, May Ho, Amy Kwong, Annie Leung, Louisa Wong, and Buddha’s Light International Association Youth Adult Division (BLIA YAD) members, Karen Hu and Jaycie Linh were recognized for receiving the Ontario Volunteer Service Awards.
Joel Gauthier, the host of the awards ceremony and Regional Development Advisor to the Ontario Ministry of Heritage, Sports, Tourism and Cultural Industries, said that in 2021, more than 6,200 volunteers have been recognized and nominated by service organizations, which means that their dedication of time and hard work are being recognized.

Parm Gill, Ontario Minister of Citizenship and Multiculturalism, on behalf of the provincial government and Legislative Assembly of Ontario, thanked the volunteers for keeping to their posts over the past year, selfless dedication to meaningful service and for making Ontario a better place.

Two volunteers, Rachel Fan and Chin-Yu Yu, have been supporting the FGS Toronto since its establishment. They are the first of the Buddha’s Light International Association (BLIA) of Toronto members.
They have witnessed the growth of the temple and the BLIA Toronto Chapter for 28 years.  Rachel is currently the Vice-president of the BLIA Toronto Chapter. Chin-Yu is one of the Executive Directors of the BLIA Toronto Chapter.

May Ho, Amy Kwong, and Annie Leung are all the Supervisors of the BLIA Toronto Chapter.  Their volunteer experience is 21 years, 20 years and 17 years respectively. Apart from the chapter affairs, May is a senior receptionist at FGS Toronto; Amy is a senior receptionist at Markham Buddha's Light Center; Annie is a volunteer in the FGS Toronto Chef Group and Gardening Group.  Louisa, who keeps to her post as an FGS Toronto receptionist, has been working hard for 14 years while undertaking this task despite criticism.

To encourage young people to devote themselves to community volunteering work from an early age, the nomination requirement for the youth group of the Ontario Volunteer Service Awards is that they must serve in the same organization (position) for more than two years; Jaycie Linh and Karen Hu were nominated by FGS Toronto in 2021, but they have 7 years and 5 years of service respectively. They have been in contact with FGS Toronto since childhood and joined the 6th Meadowvale Scouts and BLIA YAD.  They are multi-talented, devoted to volunteering, and able to broadly develop good affinities.

By Ben Fung