Some of the people whose name appears on the list have worked unremittingly and voluntarily in the field of education, language teaching, organizing cultural events, and dedicating themselves to to this work of maintaining their cultural heritage and handing it on to the next generation,  for as long as 30 years.

My connection to Slovenia was a tenuous one (only my estranged father is Slovenian) and it existed in my mind in post-card form as that beautiful yet strange eastern-European country where some of my cousins lived. Through Slovenian class I was introduced to many exciting and new concepts that give flavour and uniqueness to a culture, from poems and proverbs (pregovori) to contemporary short stories by Andrej Blatnik