Community Board
36 Local Charities & Thousands Of Individuals In Six Canadian Cities Receive Aid For Their Fight Against Poverty

7,000 care packages filled with food staples and personal hygiene items were offered to families and individuals in need in six major cities across the nation this past week, during Aid For Humanity visits of the Felix Y. Manalo (FYM) Foundation, the charitable institution of the Church Of Christ (Iglesia Ni Cristo or INC). 36 community organisations were also gifted monetary donations to help support the work they do for families in need.
Attendees received free items together with hot meals, prepared and served by volunteers from the INC at venues in Winnipeg, Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto, Edmonton and Vancouver May 19-26.
“Every day in many parts of the world, there are lives to improve and souls to nourish,” said INC General Auditor Glicerio B. Santos, Jr. “Our Executive Minister Brother Eduardo V. Manalo and the Felix Y. Manalo Foundation do their best to make the INC a meaningful and helpful presence where poverty needs to be addressed.”
Each event began with a prayer, followed by a video presentation highlighting the different humanitarian projects of the Church and an introduction to the Iglesia Ni Cristo – a program of events seen similarly during the numerous community events held around the world by the Church Of Christ.
“These events represent the very best of our community, joining together in a common cause … to make sure that we’re making a difference, not just here at home, but around the world … you are teaching the lesson of giving,” honoured guest Michael Levitt, Member of Parliament for York Centre, said during his speech of appreciation at the Toronto event May 23.
WINNIPEG, May 19
Turtle Island Community Centre was the first gathering place for the Aid For Humanity week, where families of Winnipeg’s North End benefited from 3,000 care packages. The FYM Foundation also presented cheques of $2,000 CAD to support programs of the Norquay Community Center, the Ma Mawi Chi Itata Center, the Turtle Island Neighborhood Centre and the Knowles Centre.
Kevin Lamoureux, Member of Parliament (Winnipeg North), and Ted Marcelino, Member of the Legislative Assembly (Tyndall Park) were also on hand to present a Certificate of Recognition on behalf of the Province of Manitoba, honouring the INC for their humanitarian efforts.
“The Church Of Christ has demonstrated such strong leadership in caring for people, helping people that need the help,” Lamoureux mentioned. “I applaud the congregation and in fact the Administration of the Church Of Christ for the fine work they’re doing – (not just) today in Winnipeg North, but to compliment them on the aid for humanity that they do around the world.”
This was the INC’s second Aid For Humanity Event at Turtle Island Community in less than a year.
MONTREAL, May 20
Following this, 1,000 care packages were prepared for Montreal community members who gathered at the DoubleTree by Hilton on May 20. Also receiving a $1,000 CAD cheque from the FYM Foundation were the Montreal Children’s Hospital Foundation, Orphan Sun (Soleil des Orphelins), Société de Développement Social, YMCA Montreal, The Open Door, Old Brewery Mission Hall, The Benedict Labre House (La Maison Benoit Labre) and Mile End Community Mission.
OTTAWA, May 21
At the Horticulture Building in Ottawa, more than 500 care packages were prepared for families of the region. Present to accept $1,000 CAD cheque donations from the FYM Foundation were the Matthew House Ottawa, Ottawa Food Bank, Le Gîte Ami, L’Ami de l’Entraide and Moisson Outaouais.
TORONTO, May 23
Just blocks away from some of Toronto’s poorest neighbourhoods in North York, families and representatives from the Flemingdon Food Bank, East Scarborough Storefront, North York Harvest Food Bank, and The Redwood Shelter came together May 23 at the National Event Venue at 1000 Finch Ave. W, North York, Ontario.
Each organization received a $2,000 CAD cheque from the FYM Foundation to use for their respective communities. Guests in attendance, many of whom are clients of the various shelters, benefitted from 1,000 care packages filled with canned foods and personal care items.
In a city where 1 in 4 children live in low-income families, Michael Levitt Member of Parliament for York Centre expressed his thanks: “I want to recognize Bro. Eduardo V. Manalo, the [INC] Executive Minister, for his inspiring leadership of this great event, along with all of the regional Ministers gathered here.”
EDMONTON, May 25
Nearly 1,000 individuals came together for the next Aid For Humanity even of the nation at the Howard Buffalo Memorial Center. 1,000 bags were prepared for families in the Maskwacis region. Representatives from the Samson Cree Nation, Ermineskin Cree Nation, Louis Bull First Nation, Montana First Nation, Samson Cree Nation Food Bank, Maskwacis Outreach School, Samson Youth and Sports Development, Ermineskin Food Bank, Samson Friendship Centre, Maskwacis Health Foundation, Louis Bull Food Bank and Montana Food Bank were present as beneficiaries of a $2,000 CAD cheque from the FYM Foundation to support their work in the community. Also present to support the Aid For Humanity event were Minister of Indigenous Relations and Member of the Legislative Assembly Hon. Rick Wilson, Montana First Nation’s Chief Leonard Standingontheroad and Samson Cree Nation’s Chief Vern Saddleback.
VANCOUVER, May 26
More than 1,000 guests were welcomed onto the grounds of the INC’s Burnaby house of worship at 5060 SE Marine Drive in British Columbia, the final event of the week’s Aid For Humanity tour and largest INC humanitarian event to date in the region.
Because the poverty rate in B.C. is among the worst in Canada according to the Government of British Columbia, the Aid For Humanity event, like in the others, contributed monetary donations in support of the Progressive Housing Society, Mom2Mom Child Poverty Initiative and the Surrey Food Bank.
“Organizations like the Church of Christ are invaluable,” said Executive Director Feezah Jaffer of the Surrey Food Bank. “Donations of money and food go a long way … partners and communities like the INC do make an impact on our clients and our community. To see the camaraderie and community spirit, to see the love between the congregation members, it’s so wonderful to see events like these.”
B.C. attendee Beluarbo Marx, who received a care package containing personal hygiene essentials and food items said, “I’ve been in Canada since April. Starting off in a new country, it’s so difficult, so it’s really nice to receive this kind of package. I feel so happy and everyone is so friendly.”
INC’s socio-civic programs like this aim to strengthen the bond between the congregations of the Church Of Christ and the communities in which they serve. Global humanitarian projects, most especially in North America, are set to continue and all the more increase – a result of the INC’s growing membership and availability of houses of worship worldwide.
“We’ve heightened our assistance efforts for immigrants, indigenous peoples, female lone-parent families, members of racialized groups, persons with disabilities and other sectors where poverty incidence is higher based on Canadian population statistics,” said Santos Jr. “Our focus, like before, is on the needy and vulnerable.”
In October 2018, the INC’s continued humanitarian work was also recognized in the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba.
For more about the Church and its activities, please visit www.iglesianicristo.net.
Community Board
INDIAN SUMMER FESTIVAL: 11th EDITION LINEUP AND DATES ANNOUNCED

INDIAN SUMMER FESTIVAL: 11th EDITION LINEUP AND DATES ANNOUNCED
Festival to feature five weeks of online and hybrid events from June 17 to July 17, 2021
Vancouver, BC (May 20, 2021) – Indian Summer Festival, Vancouver’s ‘festival for the curious mind,’ marks its 11th anniversary with five weeks of ten carefully curated events. Most events will stream on digital channels with premieres at 7:00 pm PDT every Thursday and Saturday from June 17 to July 17 (except July 1st). This year’s festival includes door-delivered food and special gift boxes, bringing a delicious and delightful tangible element to them. Two special projects allow for Covid-safe hybrid experiences with digital and in-person components. For event details, access and ticketing, please visit indiansummerfest.ca
Early bird pricing for the Limited Edition ISF2021 Premium Pass is $285, which provides access to all ISF2021 digital events, including the Opening Party with amazing performances, exclusive access to the chatroulette afterparty, food from Vij’s, and wine from Volcanic Hills all delivered to Lower Mainland residences, and a special artist-curated Punjabi Market Premium Gift Box. Early bird pricing is valid until May 31; regular price is $325. A Digital Pass to access all online events at the festival (without the tangible elements) is $50. Individual tickets to all ISF2021 events are available on a sliding scale of no fee, $10 or $20, as the festival understands that this is a difficult time for many.
“For this 11th year for the 2021 Indian Summer Festival, we thought that our theme should be “Shapeshifting,” says Sirish Rao, Indian Summer Festival’s Artistic Director. “It’s something that we’ve all had to do in the last year, and shapeshifters have existed in almost every culture.”
“For ISF2021, we have created ten distinct events for all of us to experience music, performing arts and literary discussions so we can experience the true transformative power of the arts. The arts give us levity, solace and help us make sense of our predicament and imagine our futures.”
“As with most of us working in arts and culture, we’ve become very creative this year with ways that our audience can experience Indian Summer Festival,” adds Rao, “From premium passes that include door-delivered dinner and wine, to digital passes to access shows, we’ve become our own Shapeshifters to deliver an innovative digital and hybrid experience.”
This year, the festival offers live digital event premieres (where audiences can interact through chat functionality) with an on-demand digital platform that makes it possible for events to be viewable until the end of the festival. The festival sees a stunning global cast of talent from beatboxers to tabla maestros, novelists and actors.
2021 Indian Summer Festival event schedule includes:
Date: Thursday, June 17, 2021, 7pm PDT
Event: Indian Summer Festival Opening Party – Metamorphosis featuring Laydy Jams, Shamik Bilgi, Her Tribal Roots and Kamal Pandya. Sponsored by Concord Pacific.
Hosted by ISF’s Sirish Rao and CBC’s Anita Bathe, opening night features brilliant, beautiful performances by some of Vancouver’s finest talents.
ISF2021 Premium Pass Holders get exclusive access to an online afterparty where they’ll be paired with other ISF friends and artists for multiple one-on-one conversations and performances, and a special box of goodies, featuring a meal for two by Vikram Vij paired with a bottle of wine from Volcanic Hills.
Date: Saturday, June 19, 2021, 7pm PDT
Event: Anoushka Shankar – The Musical Journey of a Shapeshifter. Sponsored by Nature’s Path.
An evening of music and stories with genre-defying musician and seven-time Grammy Award nominee Anoushka Shankar, who unveils a very special project for Indian Summer Festival.
Date: Wednesday, June 23 – Saturday, July 3, 2021
Event: VOX Infold. Produced in partnership with Vancouver Jazz Festival and LOBE Studios.
Address: Lobe Spatial Sound Studio, 713 East Hastings Street, Vancouver, BC
This special project is a rare chance to experience the music of powerhouse vocal ensemble Vox Infold in the form of an immersive sound experience. Presented at the groundbreaking Lobe Spatial Sound Studio and using Lobe’s 4DSOUND system, this is music not just as sound but as a profound experience of space and dimension. Consider it a healing sound bath. Advance booking required and experienced as an individual or in a ‘household bubble.’ Book your slot online at https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/voxinfold-tickets-150267575363
Date: Thursday, June 24, 2021, 7pm PDT
Flames and Portals – Literary discussion with Kamila Shamsie and Mohsin Hamid, Moderated by Sirish Rao. Presented by SFU Library.
In 2017, two of the most exciting writers of our times – Kamila Shamsie and Mohsin Hamid – published novels that have proved to be uncannily accurate about the direction the world would take. They warned of the future of nationalism, the tightening of political and social borders, and how our realities can become unrecognizable overnight. ISF meets them four years later to talk about their prescient works.
Date: Saturday, June 26, 2021, 7pm PDT
Event: Zakir Hussain – Alone Together – Zakir Hussain, featuring Mickey Hart and Rakesh Chaurasia. Sponsored by Odlum Brown.
An intimate evening with the tabla maestro, this online concert features Zakir Hussain performing solo and joined virtually by special guests collaborating in real-time from different parts of the world – Grateful Dead legend Mickey Hart and bansuri virtuoso Rakesh Chaurasia. The concert is preceded by a special interview with the maestro.
Date: Saturday, July 3, 2021
Event: Walking Tour of Punjabi Market
Presented by RBC.
Guests are invited to take a self-guided walking tour of the Punjabi Market using their own mobile device. The audio tour, narrated by artists, shop owners and community members, will give an insight into the past, present and vibrant future of this significant Vancouver neighbourhood.
Punjabi Market Premium Gift Box
Specially curated by artists Minahil Bukhari and Mustaali Raj for ISF2021, the Punjabi Market Premium Gift Box features gorgeous items hand-picked from Vancouver’s vibrant Punjabi Market. At a cost of $125, including taxes and shipping, the gift box will be delivered to your door via Canada Post to Canadian addresses only. Available for order here:
https://www.goelevent.com/IndianSummer/e/PunjabiMarketBox
Date: Thursday, July 8, 2021, 7pm PDT
Ancient Futures – Musical Inheritances – Ruby Singh, Khari Wendell McClelland and PIQSIQ.
Supported by TELUS.
Documentary premiere on the music project Jhalaak, followed by a conversation with some of Canada’s most innovative musical voices.
Date: Saturday, July 10, 2021, 7pm PDT
Event: Knives and Sugar – Avni Doshi with Souvankham Thammavongsa, moderated by Anna Ling Kaye.
A meeting of two of the most electrifying literary voices of recent times, one joining from Dubai and the other from Toronto – meet for the first time on ISF’s virtual stage.
Date: Thursday, July 15, 2021, 7pm PDT
Event: Transcendence by Anosh Irani feat. Lois Anderson, Munish Sharma and Laara Sadiq.
From the three-time Governor General’s Literary Award finalist and two-time Dora
Award-winning playwright comes a new work that sits in the exciting space between theatre and
film.
Date: Saturday, July 17, 2021, 7pm PDT
Event: Indian Summer Festival Finale – A Night at the Orpheum- musical performance by Naadaleela Ensemble and Mohamed Assani & Friends.
ISF’s 11th edition ends with a grand, one-night-only finale performed at the historic Orpheum Theatre and delivered digitally to your living room. This double-bill features internationally recognized musicians and features the worldwide premiere of two new musical works.
About Indian Summer Festival
Established in 2011, Indian Summer Festival is a multi-disciplinary arts festival produced by Indian Summer Arts Society, a not-for-profit charitable arts organization based in Vancouver, Canada, on the unceded Coast Salish territories of the Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish), Səl̓ílwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh), and xʷməθkwəy̓əm (Musqueam) Nations. This year’s festival runs from June 17th to July 17, 2021. Its mission is to offer daring, multi-arts events that bring together diverse artists, audiences, and artists in a global dialogue and citizenship spirit.
For monthly festival highlights, full event lineup and access to events, please visit indiansummerfest.ca
Follow us on:
Twitter: @IndianSummerCND
Facebook: @IndianSummerCanada
Instagram: @indiansumerfestival
Youtube: Indian Summer Festival Canada
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Community Board
#Liveoffthefloor concerts feature Surrey bands getting back to live

#liveoffthefloor concerts feature Surrey bands with nowhere else to play
The Longest Intermission – Getting musicians back into the swing of performing their new music and fans a chance to experience it.
With the support of the Province of British Columbia and the City of Surrey , Penmar Community Arts Society (Penmar), is launching The Longest Intermission, a virtual concert mini-series featuring local bands recorded live off the floor in Ocean Park Community Hall.
Since covid has shut down live music for over a year, bands have struggled to make a living, but continue to create and put out new material. The Longest Intermission gives bands the chance to rehearse in preparation for a return to touring and share it with fans through livestreaming.
Each band receives a copy of the professionally produced audio and video files that they can use to promote themselves and apply for other performance opportunities, both during and post covid. Each performance will be marketed to fans and potential fans throughout BC and livestreamed as a special event.
The Longest Intermission features two bands – Sleepy Gonzales and Brass Camel – all musicians that originated from Surrey or still live there.
The rehearsal will be produced, marketed and streamed as two virtual special events by Penmar with Partner Tradable Bits , who has sponsored us with use of their state-of-the-art marketing and streaming platform as a way to support emerging musicians.
The project received additional support from Long & McQuade (White Rock) that supplied lights for the production, Face The Music that is sponsoring each band with a video marketing package, and Music Lottery who is also providing financial support.
The goal with these special events is to work with the bands to promote their latest music which they created while unable to perform during covid. We are able to stream into communities that the bands are currently unable to tour to, with an opportunity of reaching new audiences.
Live from the Floor special event broadcasts take place on May 1st and May 8th and will feature a video of the Ocean Park Hall performance and a chance to interact with the bands.
Accessible for everyone. Registration is required and there are free tickets available and paid options to support the musicians in this series and bringing back live!
Event Information and link to register – https://bit.ly/2Q71JHG
Sleepy Gonzales video “aliens exist” – https://bit.ly/32cr8SP
Brass Camel video “Pressure Cooker” – https://bit.ly/3uRhK3r
Contact:
Dione Costanzo
Event and Marketing Specialist
Operations Manager, Penmar Community Arts Society
Office – 604-535-1162
Cell – 604-817-1526
Community Board
Help Canadian Artists Get Played

Canadian musicians have a great opportunity to get radio play right here in Vancouver. Mary Kirk of Durham Radio has applied for a Vancouver license. With a new, local radio station artists will have a greater range of options to be heard, played, and paid for their music.
Durham Radio needs our help to get their application accepted. I’m reaching out to all musicians to send a letter of support for Durham Radio’s application.
Here is a message from Mary and Doug Kirk:
Dear members of our Wave artist family,
We at Durham Radio Inc. have applied for a new FM license to broadcast The Wave on 98.3FM in the heart of Vancouver, Canada’s second-largest English-speaking market and a perfect backdrop for Canada’s Smoothest Groove!
Our application was publicly posted Monday, March 22nd on the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission’s site (CRTC). In order to be successful, we now need huge public support, especially from our wonderful Wave family of artists. We hope you will add your own letter of support, documenting your past experiences with The Wave and with us personally, emphasizing our commitment to our artists, especially our Canadian vocalists and instrumentalists. If you have a personal story that will illustrate the impact the Wave has had on your career in the music industry, we would so appreciate your sharing it with the Commission.
Please begin your letter with a clear statement of support for our application. Then explain why you think that our “Smooth Groove” format would be a welcome addition to the Vancouver market. You may have some thoughts beyond the obvious arguments that we’ll be adding diversity of choice for listeners and a new fresh sound, primarily from artists who do not get played on any other stations in Canada. Our dedication to live music around town and major show production will of course continue, once attending concerts is allowed again!
We thank you from the bottom of our hearts for your efforts to make “Vancouver’s Smoothest Groove” a reality! Our West Coast Wave will play an even balance of instrumental and vocal music and will be 40% Canadian in content. We are eager to get all our artists back on FM radio in Canada and introduced them to so many new fans.
With your help, we hope to be able to report on a favourable CRTC decision by late summer.
To mail your support: CRTC, Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0N2 To fax your support please send to 819-994-0218 for further instructions contact Cat Levan at catlevan.music@gmail.com. www.wave.fm
Many thanks for your support,
Cat Levan
Community Board
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Community Board
2009 successful fight to keep road out of Bear Creek Park breached by present Safe Surrey Councillors

The Mayor and Council, City of Surrey, B.C., at meeting Monday, February 22/21, passed 5-4—an amendment to the 10-year plan and project #7065 (84th Avenue through Bear Creek Park)—to be fast-tracked to give 84th Avenue extension through Bear Creek Park a 2-year priority.
Clrs Pettigrew, Locke, Hundial and Annis questions:
- the successful 2009 community fight to keep 84th Avenue from going through the south end of Bear Creek Park
- community opposition in the past to the environmental impact on the two Class A red-listed salmonid creeks (“Bear Creek” at about 13720 and “King Creek” at about 13800)