Ottawa Media Group’s Amazing People Partners with the Michaëlle Jean Foundation to Support Disadvantaged Youth
Ottawa Media Group’s (OMG) philanthropic arm, Amazing People, is pleased to announce that to mark Canada 150, it is joining with the foundation co-founded by former Governor General Michaëlle Jean and her husband Jean-Daniel Lafond to raise money to empower Canadian youth to use arts to improve their lives and revitalize their communities. A series of Canada 150 celebratory events will be organized over the course of the year, culminating in this year’s Amazing People Gala, which the couple will attend on October 21st in Ottawa.
To kick-off their collaboration, the Rt. Hon. Michaëlle Jean and Jean-Daniel Lafond will be featured contributors in the new commemorative book “OH CANADA! A Celebration of 150 Years,” to which OMG is contributing, in partnership with Joan Weinman and Great River Media (Ottawa Business Journal). It will include feature essays and photographs from the mayors of Canada’s provincial and territorial capitals, among other Canadian luminaries.
“I am delighted that Canada’s 150th is providing us with this wonderful opportunity to unite the Michaëlle Jean Foundation and OMG (Amazing People) around a common cause: giving a boost to the great creativity and ingenuity of Canadian youth defying tremendous odds to make a difference in their communities”, says Madame Jean.
“Our OH CANADA! contribution will allow us to share an intimate glimpse into the lives of Canadians, as we shared it over the course of the last ten years, crisscrossing the country, to discover its rich diversity and to participate in numerous forums organized alongside our fellow citizens in cities, small towns and Arctic territories, in our immense nation,” added Jean-Daniel Lafond.
Amazing People (AP) started as a TV series on CTV Ottawa and grew to become a fundraising movement, co-founded by Kimothy Walker and OMG Managing Partner Eric Collard. AP now is known for producing quality,
unique and entertaining events that focus on amazing community members.
Kimothy Walker says, “When we met, Michaëlle Jean and Jean-Daniel Lafond immediately understood our desire to grow our fundraising to a national level after 5 years of local success, and with their support I am confident that we can do that.”
This year, the Amazing People Gala, sponsored by Accora Village, will take place October 21st at the Westin Hotel. Ottawa Life Magazine is featuring the nominees in each of its publications between now and October. The theme of this year’s gala is “Disco Inferno”.
Forty people will be honoured that evening at a black tie affair. Other fundraisers will be announced at a later date.
Amazing People also raises money for SchoolBOX, Hera Mission, Project North and the Ottawa Aboriginal Coalition. To date, Amazing People has contributed more than $250,000 dollars to help educate children in Canada, Nicaragua and Kenya.
The Michaëlle Jean Foundation is a national charitable organization that uses its unique arts for collective impact model to enable underserved youth to use creativity to change their lives and their communities. To that end, they work with arts organizations, the business sector, local organizations, government and other sectors of society to make a lasting difference in the lives of Canadians across the country. Through their programs, thousands of young people have been empowered to use the arts to build new solutions to pressing issues affecting them.
For more information:
Kimothy Walker OMG Managing Partner and Amazing People Chair, 613.859.3753
Peter Flegel, Director of Programs, Development and Communications, Michaëlle Jean Foundation, 613.562.5468