The loss of two of this city's most treasured musicians and the ongoing tragedy unfolding in Haiti were poignant notes at the 14th annual John C. Holland Awards.

Nearly 500 people are estimated to have turned out for the glamorous celebration, which was held Saturday night at Michelangelo Banquet Centre.

This year's event honoured musical icon Jackie Washington with a special video presentation and performance by his nephew Brian Griffiths and singer Harrison Kennedy. Washington died in June.

The Holland arts award will now bear Washington's name.

Jacksoul singer and Hamilton native Haydain Neale, 39, lost his battle to lung cancer in November. He received an award of merit posthumously which was accepted by his mother Geneva Neale.

"Obviously there's a lot of publicity, both negative and positive in the community, so it's important for us to take time out and really just reflect on the year that's passed and celebrate our achievements as people," said co-chair Matthew Green.

The Holland awards started in 1996 and are named after Reverend John C. Holland.

Holland was the son of a runaway slave who worked as a railway porter for 33 years before becoming a minister at Stewart Memorial Church.

Holland was named Hamilton's Distinguished Citizen of the Year in 1953, a year before he died.

The event is hosted by the Hamilton Black History Committee at the beginning of Black History Month.

"We've come such a long way but we still have so much further to go," said event co-chair Norma Rookwood.

Rookwood said it's wonderful to highlight the achievements of those in the black community.

She said youth often receive a bad rap and when younger kids see what the young award winners are accomplishing, it gives them something to aspire to.

Evelyn Myrie, chairperson of Hamilton's Black History Committee and a Holland committee member, said this year's attendance was the highest ever and the number of people and sponsors willing to support the event is growing.

"I'm really excited because it tells me that it has taken root," she said of the long and successful history of the event.

A portion of the proceeds from the event and its silent auction will go toward Haiti relief efforts.

THE AWARD WINNERS

Haydain Neale,

Award of Merit (posthumously)

Neale made his mark as the talented and charismatic lead singer of the Juno-award winning R & B group, Jacksoul.

He was born and raised in Hamilton and was a graduate of Westmount Secondary School, where he returned in 2007 as guest speaker for Martin Luther King Day.

In 2007, Neale suffered serious head injuries after being struck while riding his Vespa scooter in Toronto. He fought back and returned to the studio to record the group's fifth album, only to be diagnosed with lung cancer not far into the process.

Neale, whose sound was compared to crooners Al Green and Marvin Gaye, died 10 days before the Dec. 1, 2009 release of the album SOULmate. He was 39.

Tanaka Chirara,

Youth Achievement Award

A champion debater, Chirara is known for both the power of her words and her mind.

The Grade 12 student at Bishop Ryan Secondary School has taken home the top debating prize in the region and was chosen to help Grade 7 and 8 students as a coach.

She offers her time to community causes, which has included canvassing for the Heart and Stroke Foundation, working with seniors in a nursing home and providing support to dialysis patients.

Chirara , who was born in Zimbabwe, also excels at math and science and routinely takes part in contests to flex her skills, all while maintaining her position on the honour roll. She hopes to become a dermatologist.

Vanessa Sarjeant,

Youth Achievement Award

Sarjeant shows off her skills on the sports field and in the classroom.

A star athlete, Sarjeant has been named Most Valuable Player for each year she's been on the track and field team, in addition to wining several city and regional championships.

The honours student at Orchard Park Secondary School is also active with Stoney Creek Athletics, an organization for kids of visible and ethnic minorities. Sarjeant, who has earned the club's Outstanding Female Athlete Award four times, also uses her skills to coach others.

She's also a dancer who instructs young kids in hip hop, jazz and ballet.

Sarjeant plans to head to university and pursue sports marketing.

Baredu Abraham,

Youth Achievement Award

Her volunteer efforts reach far and wide and showcase a diverse mix of community involvement.

The Grade 12 St. Thomas More Catholic Secondary School student has been involved with efforts to raise funds for Haiti and the Dominican Republic, organized fair trade coffee houses and has helped collect supplies for a local food bank.

A native of Ethiopia, Abraham is also a member of the Cultural Diversity Committee at her school and of the Utopia Group, which looks to foster sustainable social justice projects.

The teen has also been involved with fashion show fundraising activities at The Globe, a youth centre operated by the Settlement and Integration Services Organization (SISO), and has been an art camp assistant at the Art Gallery of Hamilton.

Abraham is planning a career in law and/or health care.

Izuba Musafiri,

Youth Achievement Award

In just six short years in Canada, Musafiri has made quite a mark on his community.

The Congo native is extensive in his volunteer work, offering his time and skills to help patients at Hamilton General Hospital and being an active member of Congolese Youth in Action.

The Grade 12 student at Sir John A. Macdonald Secondary School is vice-president of SISO's Youth Advisory Council at The Globe youth centre.

He acts as a bilingual youth mentor at SISO and will soon be the first member of his family to graduate high school.

Musafiri plans to study practical nursing at McMaster University in the fall, before pursuing a career in neurology.

Patricia Suleiman,

Youth Achievement Award

Her areas of excellence include skill in sport, a passion for social justice and human rights, and a stellar academic record.

Suleiman, an honours sociology major at McMaster University, has held leadership roles in several community organizations, including the McMaster Somali Student Union and the McMaster Sociology Society.

She is a first generation Canadian whose parents were refugees from Somalia.

Suleiman has also spent time as a Global Youth Assembly member and a youth mentor with SISO. She also volunteers for McQuesten Legal and Community Services and has won a host of awards for various sports.

Suleiman hopes to become a lawyer.

Dr. Alezandre Dauphin, Business/Professional Achievement

Dauphin's work in the medical field is saving lives across the globe.

The St. Joseph's Healthcare anesthesiologist serves as the program co-ordinator for the health system's international outreach projects in Haiti and has helped bring medical residents from the country where he was born to Hamilton for training.

Upon returning to Haiti, the trainees are able to offer improved medical care. Dauphin has also trained health care workers in Uganda on safe anesthetic care and makes several trips to each country every year.

He has served as chief of the Department of Anesthesia at St. Joe's and as a president of the Medical Staff Association. He is also a clinical professor at McMaster University.

Three years ago, Dauphin, who has been trying to help the poor and marginalized in Haiti for more than 20 years, helped found the Hamilton Haitian Association.

He had returned from Haiti just days before accepting his award and plans to head back.

Ancilla (Anne) Miller, Arts Award

Miller puts both her creative and charitable skills to use.

As proprietor of Oops Bags, a one-of-a-kind handbag company, Miller creates custom-designed pieces using hard-to-find fabrics.

She left a successful career in telecommunications in Barbados when she and her family moved to Hamilton in 2001 and it was following her passion that led her to start Oops.

Miller enrolled in entrepreneurial and technical training course, researched her market and made her path to success along the juried trade and craft show route.

Eventually, she would like to teach creative skills to other women, as well as promote arts and crafts as a home-based business.

Miller also finds time to to be an active member of the Barbados Canadian and Friends Hamilton Association by teaching arts and crafts to others, chairing events and serving as master of ceremonies for the annual Barbados Independence Ball.

Aileen Duncan, Community Service Award

Duncan is a well-known labour activist who began her fight for rights more than 35 years ago.

As a typist in a federal government steno pool in 1972, she rallied against planned cutbacks to eliminate the job and helped force the Conservative government of the day to back down on its plan.

Much of her activism has been spent fighting for rights for the disabled and after a 1996 car crash, Duncan herself became physically disabled.

She was a member of the steering committee that formed the first Members with Disabilities Ad-Hoc Committee, part of the Public Service Alliance of Canada.

As part of her work with the committee, she brought her message about preventing workplace disabilities to union members across Ontario.

She is an active member of Stewart Memorial Church.