Press Release July 23, 2013
BC Lieutenant Governors Attendance at the 2013 World Peace and Harmony Ceremony
Vancouver, BC – The 12th Annual World Peace and Harmony Ceremony, a free community caring event, was jointly held on July 20th afternoon at the Croatian Cultural Centre by the Lotus Light Charity Society (Vancouver), Lotus Light Temple, True Buddha Publication Society, PTT Buddhist Society and Tantric Buddhist Society.
The Opening Ceremony began with a parade of distinguished guests and pipes, in true formal fashion, to welcome the event’s special guest and keynote speaker, the Honourable Judith Guichon, the 29th Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia. Distinguished guests included Vancouver City Councillor Mr. Tony Tang, Dr. Jack Huang, Director of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office, Mr. John Hughes, Special Events and Food Drive Coordinator of the Greater Vancouver Food Bank Society, Sgt. Jeff Harris of the Vancouver Police Department (Homeless Outreach Unit), and Mr. Todd Ye, Director of News and Current Affairs, Fairchild TV.
In her keynote address, the Honourable Judith Guichon emphasized that we, as Canadians, in British Columbia in particular, are fortunate to live in a land with a long history of peace and good government. But around the world there are many who are not as fortunate, and within our local communities, many struggle just to meet the daily requirements of food and shelter. Her Honour praised Lotus Light’s ongoing charitable work to provide warm blankets, sleeping bags and food to the impoverished in its annual Winter Charity Drive for the past 17 years. She commended the Vancouver Food Bank Society, the homeless outreach unit of the Vancouver Police Department and the BC Ambulance Service paramedics for their strong community partnership support of Lotus Light’s Vancouver chapter, based in Chinatown in Canada’s poorest neighborhood. The combined efforts of these community partnerships have made it possible to distribute over 2,500 sleeping bags to the Lower Mainland’s homeless and low income residents during extreme cold weather in the winter months over the past 3 years.
“We are very honoured that the Lieutenant Governor of B.C. has taken time out of her busy schedule to be a part of this important annual community event, as we join together as a strong community to celebrate world peace and harmony,” said Master Lian Tzi, President of LLCS (Vancouver).
The Lotus Light Charity presented its 2013 annual community donations comprising of 5,000 lbs of rice to the Vancouver Food Bank, and annual scholarship awards. The Lieutenant Governor personally congratulated the scholarship recipients who demonstrated both academic excellence and community service. The Lotus Light Mu-Shu Lee Memorial Scholarship was formally introduced and presented to the University of British Columbia, a sponsorship commitment of five $1,000 scholarships to support studies in Buddhism, Education, Social Services, Pharmaceutical and/or Medical Science at UBC.
A sacred Buddhist blessing ceremony followed to pray for world peace and harmony for all.
The Lotus Light Charity Society is an international charitable organization founded in Vancouver in 1993 by Buddhist Grandmaster Sheng-Yen Lu, with over 90 chapters throughout the world. Each chapter supports local causes and contributes to global causes such as earthquake and famine relief. Public donations to charity’s programs are welcome. For more information, please contact the Lotus Light Charity Society (Vancouver) at Tel: 604-685-5548, Email: llcsvancouver@gmail.com.