What we do
We support small community organizations!
Founded in 2018 by BrokerTeam Insurance, Project SPOTLIGHT aims to shine a light on our community's hidden needs by supporting small, local community organizations in their effort to raise awareness.
Our events
2022
This year we supported our beneficiary, CWA-Hamilton & Burlington, to make its second Trishaw bike serviceable in Burlington to provide free rides for seniors. We also invited a team of filmmakers to help the Chapter produce an online video series to spread its story and vision. The series will become a powerful tool for the Chapter to engage new partners, volunteers, donors and service users in the years to come. To inspire our local community of the York Region, Project SPOTLIGHT also invited the Hamilton & Burlington Chapter to visit Markham-Richmond Hill to offer free rides for local older adults.
This year, in lieu of a physical screening and event, we are doing something new. With the support of our partners, including CAA Insurance, Aviva, Borlak Law Office, Baker Tilly, BrokerBooks and SGI, Project SPOTLIGHT will invite a team of young filmmakers to produce a mini documentary series on 3 small local community organizations to spotlight the humble but important roles they play in our community.
The series will be screened and promoted across media platforms, with the goal of spreading the word on the needs of these groups and to connect them with a wider audience through the power of storytelling.
2021
2020
With the lockdown and social distancing brought on by COVID-19, we were unable to do an inclusive screening as we had done in the past. In response, we decided to create a Chinese DVD library with descriptive audio for JBVC to start its lending service for their visually impaired members across Canada. With the permission granted by film companies including: Filmko Film, Fortune Star Media, Golden Scene, Media Asia and One Cool Film, 13 titles became available for JBVC’s members to enjoy at home through free delivery and return postal services. All DVDs come with QR code labels to assist the users to identify the films with the help of smartphones.
In 2019, Project SPOTLIGHT joined forces with Across U-hub, to provide an inclusive screening experience to our audiences. We presented two inclusive screenings of Oscar winner, Ruby Yang’s documentary, My Voice, My Life. Inspired by the film, we took this opportunity to introduce the work of Across U-hub, a local community organization focused on the well-being of young people.
With the co-presentation by both JBVC and Across U-hub, this movie screening and awareness campaign drew our community’s attention to the struggles commonly shared by East Asian-Canadian families and individuals with physical disabilities. This event not only gave our friends from JBVC and Across U-hub a platform to present their insights on the similarities between the documentary and our own local communities, but also creates the chance for these two charitable partners to interact and serve each other.
2019
2018
In 2018, Project SPOTLIGHT held the first inclusive screening of a Chinese movie with audio description in Cantonese and Mandarin in Canada. It was the first of its kind event in the Chinese-Canadian community where both visually healthy and impaired individuals can enjoy the same movie together in a cinema setting. Joining efforts with Joy Beyond Vision Community (JBVC), the event screened two Hong Kong produced movies with deep connections to Toronto, Dot 2 Dot and Napping Kid and allowed us to start the dialogue with our visually impaired neighbours.