The Power of Community Fundraising: Coming Together to Support Afghan Women
Raising funds to support Afghan women is a community wide effort! We are grateful to Old Crow Coffee and Elm Ave, who have partnered with other local businesses to put together a basket of prizes sourced from local businesses and organizations. The raffle was a tremendous success, raising over $1135 for the Afghan Women Fund. Pacific Sport Fraser Valley also committed to donating a portion of the registration fees for their #WomenLeadingWomen ‘Lunch & Learn’ event on September 23, where women gathered online to connect and develop leadership skills, in a “safe and inclusive environment for learning and discussion.” For each #WomenLeadingWomen event, Pacific Sport donates a portion of the registration fees to a local organization supporting women in the community. We are honoured that our friends at Elm Ave, Old Crow Coffee, and Pacific Sport were willing to share some of their thoughts with us about the power of community fundraising and the importance of this cause.
Why did you choose PIRS? Why do you believe the work PIRS is doing is valuable?
“We chose PIRS, because PIRS’ mission and approach is really in alignment with our own personal values. We care that PIRS is incredibly community-oriented with regards to their programming, and they also take a trauma-informed approach. We also love that PIRS cares about accessibility and low barriers for migrant communities.” – Old Crow Coffee
Community fundraising efforts like Elm Ave and Old Crow Coffee’s raffle don’t just raise funds tangibly, they do a lot to keep important issues on peoples’ minds. “We often see pressing issues lose steam…people stop circulating on social media or discussing amongst friends, and we wanted to keep in circulation while raising money that will directly help Afghan women seeking asylum here.” – Elm Ave
Why did you want to fundraise for the Afghan Women Fund?
“We know there will be thousands of people seeking safety here, and each of those individuals will need support. We are two queer women-owned companies, one BIPOC owned. We demand equal rights and understand the importance of women helping women. We harbour these spaces within our companies and want to extend that into the community in any way we can.” – Elm Ave
“We really care about marginalized communities. We care about the folx that are oppressed, left behind, or not considered. Being children of immigrant refugees ourselves, the stories from these Afghan migrants really struck a deep and resonating chord with us.” – Old Crow Coffee
Any thoughts, reflections, and/or highlights since fundraising?
“We were elated to see we surpassed our fundraising goal! Staff, organizers, and people purchasing tickets all worked hard to raise these funds and are happy to see it made an impact! It’s special to see people getting so excited over fundraising and helping people. On the PIRS website it says that $50,000 will be able to help out 50 new families. Since we raised over $1000, that means we’ll be able to help out a whole family and that feels really, really special! Seeing those numbers makes it feel like we’ll be making an impact!” – Elm Ave
“We are always thrilled & humbled to take part in such important causes. We are very lucky to be in a space/community where many people care about the social causes we care about” – Old Crow Coffee
“I believe that PIRS is doing extremely valuable work as they are getting these funds, food, safety, and support directly to these women!” – Elm Ave
“Our organization wants all those who identify as girls and women to feel empowered…It’s our hope that we can give back, even in a small way, to work towards gender equity across the country and around the world.” – Pacific Sport Fraser Valley
To join these efforts and contribute to supporting Afghan women in finding a supportive community in Canada, please click this link to donate and select Afghan Women Fund. To learn more about initiatives like this, sign up for our email newsletter!