Gala 2018 was a huge success

Norman Viegas

Speech Given by Norman Viegas at the Gala Celebration 2018 – Putting The Pieces Together

Thank you.  Good Evening to all of you!!

I know that many of you have been coming to this celebration year after year, so in many ways this feels more like a warm family reunion, on a cold winter’s day. Imagine this warm family spirit extending beyond the seas to Mumbai in India, where 450 children and their families are starting the day (it is morning there) with a smile, knowing that they have some place to go to where they will be loved, respected, educated, fed, and can truly be themselves. There are many good organizations that help children in developing countries. One! International, I believe, is different. It is different because it is the only charitable organization that I know of, that treats the children that come to their school, as if they are their own family. Tania and her staff are there at any time of day or night when a child is ill, injured, or suffers from family violence or abuse. They are often, also, the only ones there. We have all seen Tania cry when she talks about the children. That’s what families do. They not only laugh with you, they cry with you as well.

None of what One! International does would be possible without the generosity of all of you that are here tonight. Each of those children may never know you personally, but their lives have been changed because of your generosity and love.

By coming to this event, you are doing several things. Firstly, you are showing that you truly care about the less fortunate in our world.  Winston Churchill once said “We make a living by what we get.  We make a life by what we give.”  All of you by being here today are already giving to One! International. Your participation in the silent auction, your participation at the various stalls this evening is another way of giving. There are many of you that have volunteered to make tonight’s event a success, and others who volunteer throughout the year in Canada and in India.

To all of you who are giving in one way or the other a sincere thank you. As you see the smiles on the faces of the kids on Skype later this evening, and hear their prayers, stories and songs, I hope you feel truly good about yourselves for your kindness and generosity has made that possible.

The reason I support One! International is personal.  Personal, because I was born to a very middle-class household in Mumbai, just a few blocks from where the children that One! International helps live, and where One! has its school. It therefore never escapes my mind that, but for the goodness of life, and the kindness of a lot of people along the way, one of those children could have been me. We do not get to choose where are born, or whom we are born to.

It seems ironic that I would eventually move to Canada for a better life, while Tania would move to Mumbai to make the lives of those kids better.

Over the years that I have been involved with One! International’s finances, I have been struck with how this organization is able to do so much with so little.  I would like to share with you a few of my personal observations.

• One! International is funded entirely by donations and grants. It has a current annual budget of only $180,000. That works out to less than $500 a day. So, just think about this – for less than $500 a day, Tania and her staff in Mumbai are able to run three schools that educate, feed, provide medication, family support, emergency assistance, and even micro loans to over 450 children and their families. In other words, for just over a $1 per child per day, One! International brings hope, literacy, compassion and most importantly love, to 450 children and their families. This is nothing short of amazing.
• Most of us would consider a secure roof over our head, and food a minimum for survival. These kids and their families live under plastic tarps, by the side of a sewer, in the rain, without electricity or water, not knowing where their next meal will come from. Tania and her staff do not help those that do not have much. They help those that have nothing, and treat them like their family.
• One! International does not have any paid staff in Canada. It does not advertise, promote or pay anyone to collect funds for the organization. Its operations are run purely by volunteers, so it has very low administrative costs.

I mention all this because One! International needs your help, and there are several ways to help.

If you feel touched by what you see and hear this evening and have never volunteered for One! before, please give this some thought.  We need your time and your talents (whatever they may be) to continue the work that is being done. Please speak to Tania, Marilyn or me. We will be grateful for whatever help you can provide. I can assure you that you will find the experience personally rewarding and satisfying.

Secondly, a significant portion of One! International’s 2018 budget will come from tonight’s celebration. If you are in a position to help the children with a financial contribution, whatever its size, there are several ways you can do so. You can make a donation at the donation booth (where Marilyn will take your donation with a smile), alternatively there are forms and envelopes on your table. Please fill one out, or take one home. You can also request how you would like your donation dollars to be spent. As One! International is a Canadian registered Charity, you get a tax receipt for your donation. With the combined tax credit of 50% for donations in Alberta, your real cost is just half of whatever you give.

Finally, in keeping with the theme this year – Putting The Pieces Together – imagine the One International family as a large jigsaw puzzle. Each piece represents one of you, with your talents – financial, administrative, medical, marketing, IT, fund raising, etc. Each piece is your work of art, which gently and delicately fits together to complete this labour of love. Which piece of the puzzle would you like to be? For without you, our puzzle would not be complete.

Thank you most sincerely for being here, for listening to me, for your consideration and your support.