Ottawa’s philanthropic community is buzzing following a near record turnout at its annual gala, with its chief organizer calling it “definitely the best Philanthropy Awards to date”.
The 22nd Annual AFP Ottawa Philanthropy Awards, otherwise known as The Phils, filled the Shaw Centre to the brim last month with many of the nation’s capital’s movers and shakers in philanthropy and charitable giving.
Paula Street, the chair of the marquee event, credited outstanding team work as the reason it came together so well.
“Everyone in attendance was there to celebrate the heartfelt generosity of our recipients,” she added.
“We all had one thing in common – an obvious passion for giving back and paying it forward.”
The WCPD Foundation was honoured to serve as Presenting Sponsor for the Philanthropy Awards. It was joined by Ferguslea Properties Limited, BrazeauSeller, Costco, TD Canada Trust, BMR Group, Good Works, Shaw Centre, Bradda Printing, Virtual Works Inc. and Lola Ortega as other valued sponsors.
Veteran journalist and filmmaker Anna-Karina Tabuñar performed as MC for the evening, while Lucy van Oldenbarneveld, host of CBC Ottawa News, offered the keynote address, made all the more poignant by her recent battle with breast cancer.
Peter Nicholson, the Founder and President of WCPD Inc and the WCPD Foundation, also offered remarks to a crowd of around 400 people.
“While I have attend the gala for many years, this is the first year I had the privilege to get involved as a major sponsor. I say privilege because I truly believe this night is very important to Ottawa and our philanthropy community,” Nicholson said. “We are so pleased to take part and we look forward to serving as Presenting Sponsor again in 2017. Congratulations to all of this year’s worthy nominees and recipients.”
The biggest award of the night went to Gary Zed, tax market leader and Office Managing Partner for EY, who was given the Outstanding Volunteer Fundraiser Award. Partners Investing in Parkinson’s Research received the Outstanding Philanthropic Group award, while Scotiabank was honoured as the Outstanding Corporate Philanthropist.
Other recipients included Patrick Morris, for Outstanding Small Business Philanthropist; David Sweanor, for Outstanding Individual Philanthropist and Jonathan and Alyssa Chow shared the Outstanding Youth Award.
“The common theme that evening seemed to be the importance of teaching our children the magic of philanthropy,” Street said. “The evening had a wonderful energy and it was one of the best attended in our history.”