Grapevine Newsletter - February 2016

Welcome to the Calgary Immigrant Women's Association's bi-monthly Grapevine Newsletter!

Youth Forum 2016 

CIWA's Youth Forum 2016 was held at the Marlborough Community Association on February 6th. The theme of this year's event was 'Recognizing Daughters - Celebrating Diversity.' The event promoted cross-cultural awareness and understanding between immigrant and mainstream youth, as well as their families. It also celebrated the achievements of the Youth Mentorship Program at CIWA, a program that enhances intercultural understanding and provides youth with opportunities for personal growth through one-on-one support and group sessions. Youth and their families participated in interactive booths and there were also speeches and performances throughout the day.

CIWA honors three young community builders with Daughters' Day Awards

From left to right: Vice Chair of CIWA's Board of Directors, Shairoze Damji,  Award Winner Desiree Fonderson, Award Sponsor Gerda R. Bloemraad, Award Winner Iman Bukhari, Award Winner Monica Buencamino and CIWA Board Director Alice Lam

At Youth Forum, on February 6th, three young and exceptional daughters were awarded Daughters' Day Awards. These awards celebrate the lives, contributions, and achievements of daughters based on an appreciation of gender equity in our society.

The annual event was created in Edmonton and raises awareness about gender discrimination as well as recognizes daughters who are making a significant contribution to their communities.

Nominations for CIWA’s Daughters’ Day Awards were open in November. Once the nominations were received, a jury met and carefully reviewed the submission. The jury evaluated each nominee and selected three young daughters as award recipients. The jury consisted of: Alice Lam, Board member of CIWA and Chair of the Daughters' Day Awards Jury, Dr. David Swann, MLA, Calgary Mountain View and interim leader of the Alberta Liberals; Laura Manickaraj, a Daughters’ Day Award recipient in 2014 in Edmonton;  and Jenna Shummoogum, CIWA’s Communications and Marketing Lead.

The awards were generously sponsored by Gerda R. Bloemraad, a long-time supporter of CIWA and our clients. 

Nominations will open Daughters' Day 2017! More information will come available on our website.

CIWA’s United Way campaign receives United Way’s Divisional Recognition Award

On February 10^th, CIWA’s workplace campaign was honoured to receive United Way’s Divisional Recognition Award for Agencies.

Introduced in 2011, the Divisional Recognition Award celebrates noteworthy workplace campaigns within each division. The winning organization has exhibited strong management support, a significant increase in total donations, a surge in employee engagement, or has taken a fresh and innovative approach to their United Way campaign.

Come Celebrate International Women's Day on March 8th!

Come out to celebrate women on March 8th with CIWA and 5 other community partners at the Jack Singer Concert Hall Foyer from 12:00 pm - 1:00 pm to hear speakers, and see performances from Cowtown Opera, Bhriomahr Irish Dance and more!

There will also be a community fair featuring various organizations who support and celebrate women, running at the Jack Singer Concert Hall Foyer from 10:00 am - 2:00 pm.

International Women's Day is partnering with the Marda Loop Justice Film Festival to screen a film entitled 'I am a girl.' The screening will take place at River Park Church at 7:00 pm on March 8th.

Thank You, RBC!

We would like to thank Royal Bank of Canada for their generous donation to support the Pebbles in the Sand Program at CIWA. Lori McLaren, Non-Profit Commercial Account Manager presented us with a cheque that supports our efforts to offer English language enhancement, one-on-one language support and mentoring, family literacy skills, parenting information, life skills, health education, community resources information and field trips to immigrant women who need it.

Thank you, TELUS Calgary Community Board!

A big thank you goes out to Telus Calgary Community Board. Their representative Tracey Scarlett presented us with their generous donation that will allow us to continue to help immigrant families through our Healthy Relationships project. 

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