Toronto, Canada
We are delighted to form a new chapter in Toronto. Our founding member, Uzma Khan, did a great job bringing her close friends together to launch the chapter while Dian was visiting Toronto for her talk at the Parliament of the World Religions. Below are the hightlights as recounted by Muneera Qureshi.
History
Most of us had heard of GiveLight from Uzma and had heard beautiful stories of Dian’s orphans and their many achievements. Dian was visiting Toronto for a conference, this was a chance for all of us to meet her in person and officially kick off the Toronto chapter. Uzma made arrangements for a beautiful venue at Bluffers Park restaurant, for Sunday brunch. It was a beautiful sunny day, the restaurant was located on the top floor with all glass windows and we could see the beautiful harbor and calm lake.
As the 16-20 ladies made their way through the restaurant, they were greeted by Sanaz (Uzma’s daughter) and Uzma. Restaurant staff came to get final orders from the guests and the program got started with Dua and Quran by Sanaz, and then Uzma introduced Dian to everyone and elaborated on why it was important to introduce GiveLight to new people in Toronto. It was a great opportunity for the guests to have Dian in attendance that morning. The Program focus was to raise awareness across GTA and introduce initiatives GiveLight is taking around the world.
Event
Dian started by speaking about what GiveLight stands for. She then spoke about some of the latest events GiveLight has hosted and initiatives they have started in different countries. Dian herself had just returned from Morocco. She expressed gratitude for our community and explained how different initiatives have changed her life and how our efforts are changing children’s lives in so many different places. There were some wet eyes after listening to Dian’s heartwarming stories of children who had lost their parents and how GiveLight is helping them rebuild their lives.
After Dian’s speech, the audience was given the opportunity to ask questions. She announced the start of our next new home in Lahore, Pakistan. A committee is being formed there and a few job openings have been posted for the project. It was an amazing event, we should all be continuing our efforts towards this great cause, whether by physically helping, or giving donations of money or time. It is very inspirational to see women like Dian and Uzma stepping up and being role models for our community and also the next generation. We will be looking forward to upcoming events for this great cause.