Messages from the One Burlington Executive Committee:
IN MEMORIAM – We are saddened to relate that Shadi Salehian, Chair of One Burlington, passed away recently. She was active with several arts, cultural, faith and service groups in Burlington and Halton. Her dedication to inclusion, equity and unity in diversity inspired many. She will be greatly missed and our three fall events are presented in her honour.
SPECIAL THANKS – One Burlington expresses our gratitude to all of the research, healthcare, frontline, essential and education workers who are providing dedicated and exceptional service to us all during this pandemic. Thank you.
SUPPORT – If you’d like to volunteer with One Burlington or make a donation, send us a message using the message form at the bottom of this webpage. Please resend your message if you don’t receive a prompt reply.
ONE Burlington's Autumn 2021 and Winter 2022 Outreach Events
Saturday February 26th at 7pm – ONE Burlington hosts an encore video presentation of AFRICVILLE STORIES (Juno Winner for Best Contemporary Jazz Album) featuring Joe Sealy, Jackie Richardson and Paul Novotny in a celebration of Black History. To join us, please register on Zoom: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZYpd-mopjwrGNOXYtkuzEr6XK09S_g85pI-
Sunday Feb. 13th to Saturday Feb. 19th – Consider participating in our SHARE THE LOVE February food drive for the Burlington Food Bank. Last year you helped us spread the love at a time, during the post-holiday period, when the need can be acute, so let’s do it again in 2022. Donate non-perishable, unexpired food at any Burlington Fire Hall or at grocery stores with Burlington Food Bank collection bins. You can donate online at: BurlingtonFoodBank.ca/donate. Please indicate in the message section that your donation supports the SHARE THE LOVE food drive. Thanks for caring and sharing.
Thursday February 1st – As part of the United Nations’ WORLD INTERFAITH HARMONY WEEK, ONE Burlington endorsed and promoted the InterFaith Council of Halton’s online presentation on the evening of the first day of Harmony Week. A keynote presentation shared a personal family story about the Holocaust, followed by speakers from several different faith traditions who educated and enlightened our online audience about the relevant values that mitigate against history repeating itself.
Sunday January 16th – As a prelude to World InterFaith Harmony Week, ONE Burlington hosted WORLD RELIGION DAY (WRD) online in Halton at 3pm. Similar WRD events were held in Simcoe region at 1pm and Durham region at 2pm. Since its start in the late 1950s, WRD is commemorated as an annual event in many locales around the world. Keynote presenter Dr. Brian Carwana of the Encounter World Religions Centre in Guelph was followed by presenters from multiple world faiths, who shared concerns, insights and understandings about the differences and similarities amongst religions – such similarities contributing to global values that affect the establishment and sustainability of an ever-advancing global civilization.
Wednesday October 27th – Our mid-week Zoom seminar on Islamic Heritage featured these educators and scholars:
– Dr. Brian Carwana – Director, Encounter World Religions Centre, Guelph
– Dr. Todd Lawson – Professor Emeritus, University of Toronto
– Hanadi Al-Masri – Halton Multicultural Council
– Imam A. Q. Mufti – Interfaith Council of Halton
– Jewel Amoah – Halton District School Board
– Sita Jayaraman – Halton Catholic District School Board
October 16th – Faith representatives shared the meaning of Inclusion & Togetherness during our original production that celebrated our region’s multicultural diversity at the Burlington Performing Arts Centre with onstage performances of local musicians and artists, including the Enchorus Children’s Choir, Caribbean Pan Drummers, Pianist Renée Huynh, the Don Ko Daiko Drummers, Ukrainian Bandura music, the GuZheng Chinese Zither Group, Filipino Tinikling Pole Dancers, and Chris McKhool with the Sultans of String. View our entertaining YouTube video of this event at: https://youtu.be/1mQrmupXDgs
September 30th – We are enthusiastic to share our beautiful and original production, in honour of Indigenous Heritage, made for Canada’s first Truth and Reconciliation Day. View this unique video now on YouTube at: https://youtu.be/hEbhypMWElg
History of One Burlington
One Burlington began through the inspiration of many Burlington faith leaders and representatives after the Quebec mosque shooting in 2017. We love the unity that flows from embracing the multifaith and multicultural reality of our city. We believe the contributions of our diverse cultural, community, environmental, faith and service groups continually strengthen Burlington; make it an exceptional place to live; and are a foundational part of the prosperity we enjoy here in Halton and area. Our beliefs are manifested in the inclusivity of our free and open seasonal in-person and online outreach events.
Mission
One Burlington is dedicated to creating and facilitating opportunities for people of different backgrounds to come together in a cordial and peaceful manner, in order to learn about and experience aspects of each others’ faith and culture – because we believe a diverse, integrated Burlington is a stronger, kinder and more interesting community to live in.
Vision
One Burlington envisions our city and region growing beyond a place of mutual awareness and tolerance, to a place of mutual respect and understanding – leading to shared goodwill and a unity that embraces diversity, amongst the citizens of our city.
Events
At its inception, One Burlington hosted an annual summer fair featuring faith, cultural, community, environmental and service groups; with free admission, free food and performances in Burlington’s Central Park. Each year, over a thousand people from Burlington, Halton and area enjoyed the amiable atmosphere of these main events. We engaged more of the community with an increased presence on the web, and seasonal outreach events added to promote our embrace of unity in diversity, but due to pandemic precautions, all our events went online. We hope to resume in-person events in 2022.
2021 - ONE Burlington co-hosted World Religion Day online with the Interfaith Council of Halton in January. For Black History in February, we streamed original production videos about "Africville" which was the Black Loyalist refugee settlement in Halifax, that faced systemic racism before their community was razed in the 1960s. We also organized a February food drive for the Burlington Food Bank; and in the fall, we premiered 3 online events in appreciation of Indigenous Heritage, Islamic Heritage, & Multicultural Diversity.
2020 - In February, for Black History Month, we hosted the musical "Rise and Struggle" before a packed and enthuastic audience in the Port Nelson United Church auditorium.
2019 - Our multifaith and multicultural Summer Fair in Central Park inspired multilingual posters
2018 - Councillor Rory Nisan highlights all the best things at our Summer Fair in Central Park.
(use OB Sign 2018.jpg graphic, + OB Activities.jpg, + OB Bandshell.jpg, + OB Booths.jpg, + OB 2018 Dancers.jpg photos attached to this eMail) (use current website video of our 2018 summer event with Burlington Councillor Rory Nisan in the still – Caption could identify him).
2017
(use OBF 2017 Poster 2 graphic image attached to this eMail) (use the current Embrace The World.png globe image with supporting hands) (use OB Dateless Display Poster.pdf file) (use your discretion which row order is best)