Fondation Amal, a non-profit organization founded by Concordia University graduates, is helping the Children’s Wish Foundation’s Quebec West Chapter make the dreams of two kids affected by a life-threatening disease come true. Jade, a 6-year-old battling against a rare cancer called Ewing’s Sarcoma, dreams of going to Disneyland and Miguel, 7, is fighting acute lymphoblastic leukaemia and wishes to swim with dolphins. To help make these dreams a reality, Fondation Amal will be hosting an event entitled “Délices au Pays des Merveilles” at New City Gas on Oct. 23, where five Montreal chefs will face off in a cooking competition.
The chefs will each create their own original dish which will be tasted and compared by guests who will ultimately select a winner. Restaurant owners and chefs Adam Aspelund of Ludger Buvette Gourmand, Fisun Ercan of Restaurant Su, Sergio Mattoscio of Macaroni Bar, Antonio Park of Park Restaurant, and Alexandre Gosselin of Chez Victoire will be the highly-skilled professionals competing at the event. All based in Montreal they are also covering the cost of the ingredients for the event.
The goal for the night is $20,000, or $10,000 for each child’s wish. This is twice the amount of their June 2012 fundraising event, Sorbet et Pétales, which surpassed its $10,000 goal for the Leucan-CSN Summer Camp charity that provides holidays for families of children suffering from cancer.
Fondation Amal has given itself a mandate to raise money each year for a different charity focusing on children with illness or disabilities. The foundation was originally the brain-child of Sherin Al-Safadi, a former MBA student at Concordia’s John Molson School of Business and current PhD candidate in the university’s neuroscience department. After writing up the business plan for the foundation while on a plane to Dubai in early 2012, she pitched the idea to three of her former classmates in the MBA program who became her co-founders.
Most board members and volunteers range in age from 21 to 32 years old, many of whom have studied at the John Molson School of Business, and each bring their own expertise to the foundation. For many on the board, their involvement allows them to put a different, less capitalist spin on their business skills.
“Not-for-profits, charities and very small entrepreneurial startups are not things I see often at work, in which I occupy a spot within the capitalist mechanism,” said treasurer June Svetlovsky, who works as an accountant at KPMG. “I wanted to use my accounting knowledge for a positive reason.”
Tickets for their fundraiser, “Délices au Pays des Merveilles” at New City Gas on Wednesday, Oct. 23 at 6 p.m., can be found online at www.fondationamal.ca. Tickets cost $90 of which $75 is tax deductible.
