Canada News
Balmoral launches pro-bono campaign to rally Asian-Canadian communities in support of the Indigenous Spirit Fund
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President, Sharifa Khan says this work honours the historic, symbiotic relationship of Chinese and Indigenous communities, and gives back to the Native Child and Family Services of Toronto
Toronto, ON (June 7, 2022) – Sharifa Khan, founder and president of Balmoral Multicultural Marketing, Canada’s largest and longest-running ethnic marketing agency launched a pro-bono campaign with her team today to support the Native Child and Family Services of Toronto’s Indigenous Spirit Fund.
This fund, established in 2018, gives Canadians an opportunity to work together with Toronto’s Indigenous communities for the preservation, revitalization, and strengthening of Indigenous children and families.
“This may not be widely known across the country, but Chinese-Canadians and First Nations have had a deeply-rooted and meaningful shared history – they supported each other, reciprocally sharing foods, building community, and surviving together against colonial oppression,” said Khan. “Today, we have an opportunity to honour this ancestral lineage and tangibly practice Reconciliation by donating to this Indigenous Spirit Fund.”
The Native Child and Family Services of Toronto, which administers the Indigenous Spirit Fund is a multi-service ubran Aboriginal non-profit agency that provides holistic, culture-based programs and services for Aboriginal children and families. Its mission is to provide a life of quality, wellbeing, caring and healing for the children and families it serves.
Balmoral’s pro-bono campaign is focused on building awareness and raising money for The Indigenous Spirit Fund with its multicultural audiences. Khan has been personally supporting The Native Child and Family Services of Toronto for many years too. Prior to the pandemic, Khan organized golf tournaments two-years running that brought leaders together from the Chinese community to raise over $70,000 for the Indigenous Spirit Fund. This year, the golf tournament will be back again, and there will be more information in the coming months.
“It has been an honour to work with Sharifa, the Balmoral team and the Asian community over the years, and I can tell you from first-hand experience, your donations have an incredible direct and positive impact on our Indigenous children and youth in our city,” said Kenn Richard, Executive Director, Native Child and Family Services of Toronto. “We are grateful for our longstanding relationship with this community.”
The Indigenous Spirit Fund offers several programs to Indigenous People, including: On the Land – Culture Camps for Indigenous children and youth, designed to give this next generation a stronger cultural identify and sense of belonging. It offers Culture Programs to help maintain and strengthen Indigenous languages and cultures, engaging with Elders and Knowledge Carriers. It helps those who may have grown up feeling disconnected from or unaware of their rich Indigenous cultural backgrounds to re-connect and access their culture, and strengthen their identities.
Another program in the fund for Indigenous children and youth in Toronto, is called: Honouring The Indigenous Spirit Awards. Individual applicants can receive funding to support their “Indigenous Spirit” and their contribution to community. This initiative aims to change the way success is measured, celebrating the everyday victories that Indigenous children achieve, when they are already so systemically disadvantaged.
If you or your organization would like to put efforts on this fund, donations can be made via Canada Helps at:
More information on The Indigenous Spirit Fund can be found at: https://indigenousspiritfund.org/.
About Balmoral Multicultural Marketing
For more than three decades, Balmoral Multicultural Marketing has been helping Canada’s leading brands, companies and government organizations generate growth and connections in new markets by cultivating relationships with this country’s ever-growing multicultural communities. From research and strategic planning to creative advertising, digital and community outreach, events and PR, Balmoral offers a full suite of multicultural marketing services. Balmoral also has affiliated offices in Mumbai, Shanghai and Dubai. For more information, please visit: www.balmoralmkt.com.
