DEARBORN — One local student says he’s now obligated to support the education of future generations through the Lebanese American Heritage Club’s Arab American Scholarship Foundation Program. 

Ali Nasrallah, was one of 55 people to receive a scholarship in the amount of $1,000 at the 25th anniversary of the LAHC’s scholarship awards gala, Thursday, May 16 at the Henry Hotel here. Nasrallah said the award is a “loan that must be paid back.” 

Left, Arab American Scholarship Foundation Chairmen Allie Berry; Rabih Dow, Director of Rehabilitation, Carroll Center for the Blind; LAHC Founder, Ali Jawad; LAHC Executive Director, Wassim Mahfouz and Suehaila Amen, LAHC president.

Speaking at the gala, Nasrallah said, “As the future of our community, we take a vow to support fellow students when we complete our education and take prominent positions in society. We take a vow to support, as future doctors, lawyers, politicians and professionals to work hard so money is never a barrier for any of the members of our community.” LAHC members say close to 1000 people attended this year’s gala.  Since the LAHC’s inception in 1982, it has continued to show support to the youth in the community not only monetarily, but by challenging them to lead. To date, the scholarship program which is the largest of its kind in the region has provided over 1250 students with more than $1.5 million in scholarship funds to support educational endeavors. The scholarships are distributed to high school graduates, undergraduate students and graduate and doctorate students. 

The LAHC has grown immensely over the decades, creating valuable programs, and notable initiatives that have assisted different communities across Michigan. 

“Thirty years ago, we, the board members of the LAHC, were gas station owners or employees of gas stations, as were most of the businessmen in our community. That was our main field of work, along with one lawyer and just a few doctors. Today as we look around the community, we can’t even count the many accomplishments of all the professionals of Arab descent in this great metro area,” said LAHC Founder, Ali Jawad. 

About 1000 people attended this year’s LAHC scholarship gala. PHOTO: Bill Chapman

He says it’s the task of future leaders not only to contribute to the path of higher education, but also to help protect the country that’s given them so much opportunity. “You have to be the eyes and ears of the community, watching out for those who hijack your religion, and your identity every time they commit a terror act.  We get hurt twice. First the tragedy affects us the same as all other Americans; and, to add insult to injury, they question our patriotism, a second assault. But, we have to use that pain to grow from it, use it to strengthen our resolve to be the best Americans that we can be,” Jawad said. This year’s gala was dedicated in memory of Mahmoud Adnan Shirazi who passed away in 2003 at the age of 23. The ceremony was led by WXYZ anchor and reporter Glenda Lewis, who served as the mistress of ceremonies.  

The LAHC Award for Excellence and Great Achievements was given to Rabih Dow, who’s the director of rehabilitation at the Carroll Center for the Blind. 

Dow was born in Lebanon, and lost his 15 year old brother, eyesight, and left hand at age sixteen in an explosion in 1982 during the Lebanese war. 

The search for medical treatment sent him to Europe and later the United States, where he has resided since. He’s a graduate of Boston College, having studied 20th century political and intellectual history. For the last 16 years, he’s worked as a fencing coach, and as the rehabilitation services and international training center director at the Center in Newton, Massachusetts. 

Though he lost his eyesight, his memory remained vivid, and he delved into the world of the arts. His preferred art medium is painting on glass, a concept he delivered in the 1990s. 

Through his personal and professional experience he’s worked closely with and influenced newly blinded adults. 

He’s been given the privilege to observe the many men and women trying to comprehend, learn and cope with traumatic losses through blindness, and made speeches at universities across the country about rehabilitation and disability. 

Dow says one blind man who eventually had the opportunity to visit the center after seven years of trying, ended up becoming the first blind person in his country to use the computer. “It’s nice to see how much they have progressed once they return to their countries,” Dow said. 

A computer training center was established in the man’s country, and now he’s spreading the knowledge he used from the center to help others in his country. 

 “That’s access to education and life in so many ways,” Dow said.