Langley resident and philanthropist Peter Ash was honoured Wednesday, April 20 at the B.C. Achievement awards in Victoria.
The eighth annual B.C. achievement awards honoured 36 British Columbians for their contributions to society.
Recipients were chosen for their commitments to people and a strong passion for helping their community.
Ash is known for his work with the homeless, working with the Canuck Place hospice in Abbotsford, the Gateway of Hope in Langley and for his work with women’s shelters in the Downtown Eastside of Vancouver.
Langley City Mayor Peter Fassbender sat on the selection committee with five others.
“He’s done a lot, given a lot through his company,” he said.
Ash not only gives to the community himself, but he inspires his employees to do the same.
Ash and the other 35 winners were selected out of 128 other nominees, but his actions and achievements were what made him stand out.
“He sets a really good example,” Fassbender said.
In 2008, Ash founded Under the Same Sun, a non-governmental organization that works to advocate albino rights in Tanzania. Ash, who is albino, focuses on aiding people with albinism to end the prejudice against them in Tanzania, and to educate the community there about the realities of albinism.
Under his NGO the first convictions for crimes against albinos have been achieved.
He is now attempting to gain access to the United Nations to raise awareness about his work in Tanzania.
In his fight against poverty in Canada and a different type of racism in Tanzania, Ash continues his work in the global community. He is currently on a trip to Tanzania, where he continues to focus on and work towards ending the crises against albinism.
