Giving Tree Arts Collective
Community Outreach
The Giving Tree Arts Collective is built upon the foundation of human connection and building and fostering community through the arts. As such, our team uses our creative resources to raise funds and awareness around different causes that we believe will help those in need.
215 & Counting (Oh Canada)
Giving Tree's co-founder Jordan Hart's viral TikToks of his song, 215 & Counting (Oh Canada), are a commentary as a confused and devastated Canadian, sparked by the horrific news of the 215 graves of Indigenous children uncovered on the grounds of the Kamloops Indian Residential School in 2021. As the number of graves have grown and after years of careful consideration, Jordan has teamed up with Indigenous creatives, residential school survivors and Canadians across the country to create a powerful recording of this song that spreads awareness, tells Indigenous truths and sparks conversation around reconciliation.
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All streaming proceeds of 215 & Counting (Oh Canada) are going to Powwow Times, an Indigenous non-for-profit based out of Sylvan Lake, Alberta. Powwow Times helps to promote, preserve, and teach Indigenous culture, language, and history to Indigenous youth and to those who need it in their lives.
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215 & Counting (Oh Canada) is available everywhere now.
It takes a whole team.
215 & Counting (Oh Canada) has been a product of many different communities across this nation coming together around this cause. Here is a list of some members of Indigenous communities involved in this project:
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• Cover Artwork - John 'J-Cat' Cardinal Cree, Goodfish Lake
• Throat Singing - Okpik Tiffany Kingmeatok Rankin Inlet, Nunavut
• Featured Storytellers -
Tammy Babineau Red River Metis, Manitoba Metis Federation
Jennifer Donato Cree, Treaty Four Territory
Janice Keuster Nlaka'pamux, Spuzzum First Nation
Skylar Perrier Alquinon/Anishinaabe, Hunter's Point
Carol & Wilfred Sylvan Lake, Alberta
• Powwow Audio - Walking Buffalo Singers Big River First Nation
• Indigenous-Created Audio Sample Pack
Warmth for the People
Founded in 2021, Warmth for the People is an annual event intended to gather warm clothing donations to give to those in need in anticipation of Canada's dangerously cold winters. Giving Tree partnered with 1 Hotel Toronto to host a volunteer-led and -performed benefit concert, gathering truckloads of clothing donations and raising thousands of dollars towards more winter clothing donation purchases. In the last couple of months of the year, our team of volunteers sets up all the clothing donations in Christie Pits Park and gives everything away to people in need.
Songs for Hope
Teaming up with Shari Leavitt and her monumental efforts for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society of Canada's Man & Woman of the Year campaign, Giving Tree produced a benefit concert with all proceeds going towards blood cancer research. Hosted by JOEY Restaurant Group at Toronto's JOEY Eaton Centre, it was a powerful night of artists volunteering their creativity and expression, accompanied by the delicious fanfare and hospitality of JOEY. Together we collectively raised thousands of dollars towards Leukemia and Lymphoma research that is changing lives to this day.
L'Arche Canada
Giving Tree's longest-standing philanthropic relationship lies with L'Arche Canada: a branch of an international organization that fosters safe and loving environments for people with intellectual disabilities. In 2020, Giving Tree co-founder Jordan Hart teamed up with L'Arche Canda and animation company Tonic DNA to create a music video for his song Freedom, and is the world's first animated short starring a character with Down Syndrome, entitled Freebird. Freebird is now a multi-award winning short, breaking the stigma for what people with intellectual disabilities are capable of and the intrinsic value of their lives. Jordan also created a series called L'Arche Sundays, where all proceeds he made from his live performances each Sunday over several months was put directly into a trust we created for L'Arche, to which we still contribute to annually.