The Louis Volks Humanitarian Award, which is the most prestigious community award issued by Lions Clubs International, was awarded to Lavender Hill stalwart, Pastor Stanford Hill, by the Tokai Lions Club, on Saturday June 29.
The awards event coincided with the induction of the Tokai Lions president Charles Flanagan for the 2019/2020 Lions year.
The award was bestowed on Mr Hill, for the sterling work he has been doing in Lavender Hill with the youth, to show them that there are alternatives to becoming a gangster.
Mr Hill had collaborated with the Lions in a Lions District project known as “Boys to Men”.
The project’s key focus is to target the youth from communities such as Lavender Hill, Parkwood, Hanover Park and other marginalised areas where gangsterism was rife.
Mark Rossouw, member of Tokai Lions, said: “These young men are then given an opportunity to change their lives and become mentors through the intervention of people such as Lions president Charles Flanagan and community activists such as Pastor Stanford Hill.
“One of the biggest success stories is the story of Yaseen Ismail, from Lavender Hill, who was introduced to the project by Pastor Hill in an effort to change his life. Yaseen has not only turned around his own life, but he is now a mentor to other boys in the project.”
