By LINCOLN DEPRADINE
Just ahead of the second anniversary of the death of Rasheed Sultan-Khan—founding-president of the Trinidad & Tobago 50Plus and Seniors’ Association of Canada—the organization presented a number of awards in his memory.
The “Founders Awards” were presented at a recent 50Plus Ontario Chapter event in Scarborough that also combined as a fundraiser for the organization.
Master of Ceremony, Shane Suepaul, the association’s president, described the Trinidad & Tobago 50Plus and Seniors’ Association as a “great example of unity in diversity”, and said an examination was being taken of the group’s constitution to allow for even wider membership.
The non-profit Trinidad & Tobago 50Plus and Seniors’ Association was established in February 1996.
“Pulling Together”, a publication of the 50Plus group, has documented the history and biographies of association members, including Sultan-Khan, who arrived in Canada in 1973 from Trinidad, where he had won an island-wide singing competition and was well-known as a tenor on a local radio station.
Sultan-Khan died on April 15, 2023, only one day before his 95th birthday.
Among his surviving relatives is his wife Feroza, a founding member of the 50Plus and Seniors’ Association and also a former president of the organization.
She presented the newly launched Founders Awards to recipients at the association’s fundraiser in Scarborough, whose patrons included Trinidad & Tobago’s Consul General in Toronto Tracy Ramsubagh-Mannette, Liberal MP for Scarborough North Shaun Chen and Toronto City Councillor Michael Thompson.
An award was presented in three categories which, according to Sultan-Khan, “continue to fulfill the values, ethics and spirit of the association” and which cover areas such as the vision and promotion of the group, as well as social activities, information-sharing and the provision of assistance.
The Founder Award, encompassing vision, was presented to association member Yolanda Russell.
For “promoting and sharing”, the award recipient was June Straker.
Kenny Dayal, a former president who, at the launch of the 62-page “Pulling Together” in 2023, pledged that the association “all the time” will pay tribute to the late Sultan-Khan, was the recipient of the third award for “encouraging tolerance, training, education and understanding through active participation to bring the association forward in programs and projects”.
The 50Plus and Seniors’ Association, Dayal said at the tune while serving as president, “brings T&T citizens together to socialize and to provide resources to help seniors cope with aspects of old age”.
The association, he added, “plays a vital role in building community among our members”.
