'Twas a dark and snowy night, but that didn’t keep 50 devoted folks from attending a fundraiser in support of Asociación de las Bienaventuranzas, a Peruvian orphanage for underprivileged children. The event, held Dec. 11 at TIFF Bell Lightbox—where a film about the effort was shown and framed photography was auctioned off—raised $15k. It was organized by JLL’s Amar Nijjar and Chad Gemmell, who founded EDUCATE (Education and Development of Underprivileged Children Across the Earth), a not-for-profit that provides kids in developing countries food, shelter, clothing, education and resources needed to survive and thrive.
Here’s a shot of Chad and Amar in November visiting a shantytown outside Lima, where EDUCATE helped build an extension to an educational facility for kids with disabilities. Amar was inspired to launch the organization following the premature birth of his twin boys at SickKids Hospital two years ago. “You’re in such a vulnerable state," he recalls. "I thought, thank God we have this beautiful infrastructure and we’re living in a nice country. But what if we weren’t that privileged?”
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