A non-profit organization raised over $500 this past Sunday thanks to donors who in return, got to participate in a dodgeball tournament.
”The money raised will go towards creating sustainable after-school programs for youths between the ages of 11 and 14 in the Crescent Town area,” Najeeb Khan, co-founder and CEO of the Chaara Foundation said.
The games were held at St. Dunstan Catholic School and consisted of 10 teams of six corporate professionals each.
Some of the corporations that took part in the games included: TD Canada Trust, Scotiabank, Rogers, TTC and Loblaws.
”The teams that donated the most got bigger incentives within the games, such as game do-overs and team switching,” Fatema Zaman, co-founder and CEO of the Chaara Foundation said. “It’s the first charitable event we’ve held and all teams are made up of young professionals who grew up within the Crescent Town area and are now coming back to support the community.”
The organization, consisting of six young self-addressed millennials, has only been around for a year. Most are still working students who originally looked to create a foundation that stood out from the rest.
”There are so many worthy Canadian charities which made it hard to choose which ones to donate to so we thought it would be great to become a charity that could help fund other charities and make them recognized by their donors,” Zaman said. “What makes our charity so different is that we follow the 100 per cent model where any donation made goes strictly to the cause.”
Chaara also takes one per cent of the donors’ income and collectively distributes it to a specific cause. After taking a small survey, Chaara members found that donors felt a mixture of emotions, but more strongly towards health issues, youths, environment and animal care.
”We are focusing on community right which is broken down into three categories: poverty, health and environment,” Zaman said.
Chaara members also took part in the games themselves, stating that they wanted to get involved with donors and not feel detached from the event just because they put it together.
Mariam Hossain, 26, played on team Dodge Caravan, the team that had the second highest in pledges with $145 in total.
”The last time I played dodgeball was in high school so I wasn’t that prepared,” Hossain said. “Our teams tactic during the games was to mainly use the boys who were good at throwing and aiming while the girls just ran around and literally dodged the oncoming hits.”