The Victoria Foundation is honoured, thanks to a collaboration with Community Foundations of sa国际传媒 and the Government of sa国际传媒, to be showcasing projects supported by sa国际传媒鈥檚 150th grants, awarded to local organizations marking this momentous milestone.
Projects include those directly celebrating sa国际传媒鈥檚 150th birthday, along with those that inspire a deeper understanding of our nation and its people, and those that work toward building vibrant and healthy communities, inclusive of all Canadians.
In total, more than $350,000 is going to 35 organizations for an impressively varied collection of projects. Victorians can expect to see these projects unfold over the year, many of which will be open to the public. I would like to share with you a few that I鈥檓 particularly excited about.
The Victoria Brain Injury Society will celebrate the history and future of sa国际传媒 with Survivors鈥� Songs to Celebrate, an outdoor performance of five songs embracing sa国际传媒鈥檚 heritage, sung by brain-injury survivors. Learn more at vbis.ca.
Vancouver Island鈥檚 veterans will be honoured with the Broadmead Care Society鈥檚 Celebrating our Nation鈥檚 Heroes video project. The society will be working with a professional videographer to produce a piece focused on the courage and contributions of sa国际传媒鈥檚 Second World War and Korean War veterans. The final video will be presented at a special screening around Remembrance Day 2017.
The Inter-Cultural Association of Greater Victoria鈥檚 I鈥檝e Not Always Been Canadian project will produce a refugee and immigrant photo essay centred on the question: 鈥淲hat makes you feel Canadian or, alternatively, un-Canadian?鈥� Four community talks in the spring will encourage refugees and immigrants to share stories of their experiences arriving in sa国际传媒 and ask them to articulate what it means to 鈥渂elong.鈥� For more information, visit icavictoria.org.
In November, Pacific Opera Victoria will present five shows of a new opera entitled Missing Women, by M茅tis playwright Marie Clements and composer Brian Current. Set in Vancouver鈥檚 Downtown Eastside and along the Highway of Tears, this opera will give voice, in English and Gitxsan, to the story of sa国际传媒鈥檚 missing and murdered indigenous women. The sa国际传媒 150 grant will support a series of community conversations and exhibits around the new opera. Learn more at pov.bc.ca/missing.html.
These are just a sampling of the many projects supported by the sa国际传媒 150th grants. I hope you can find time to mark sa国际传媒鈥檚 150th with us through some of these important and engaging initiatives. We also encourage residents to take part in the 3 Things for sa国际传媒 campaign, for which more information will follow soon. Please find more details and ongoing updates at victoriafoundation.bc.ca.
Sandra Richardson is CEO of the Victoria Foundation.
