Humbled by the honour, Mr Jafari said it was a nice surprise, but he just wants to continue to help keep the city clean and make everyone feel welcome and proud.
The Citizen of the Year and Community Pride Awards were held in conjunction with a special Australia Day Citizenship Ceremony, as part of Council’s Australia Day celebrations, at Granville Park.
Mayor Lisa Lake said that these awards allow us to recognise the achievements of remarkable individuals and groups in our local community.
“It’s such a pleasure to see members of our community selflessly devoting their time and energy to making Cumberland a great place to live,” the mayor said.
“Ismail has been a dedicated volunteer for years, and has dedicated his time and efforts into supporting his community.
“He also often attends the Australian Afghan Hassanian Youth Association centre in order to help clean and cook for groups of newly arrived migrants and refugees.”
The Young Citizen of the Year was won by Nargis Karimi who has helped provide relief for people impacted by Covid-19 through the food package delivery program, supporting people who had been impacted by the virus directly or had lost work.
The Community Pride award winner was Good360, a small team of 25 full time staff, that work tirelessly to support almost 3000 charities and disadvantaged schools across Australia, many of whom say they would not have been able to continue operating during the Covid-19 pandemic without the free PPE, cleaning supplies and other essentials their small Smithfield based team have provided in this time of intense need.
