FRONTLINES New Windsor Charity Aims To Make Dreams Come True For Adults With A Terminal Illness Oneday Dreams, a new charity offering to grant end-of-life dreams to Windsor residents, has launched a fundraising campaign and hopes to start fulfilling dreams by late spring. Established by long-time friends Michael Bennett and Jason Soulliere, the nationallyregistered charity is dedicated to granting special moments for eligible adults across Canada. “There are a number of similar charities for children, but people age-out of them at 18 and Jason and I decided we wanted to try and do something for adults,” explains Bennett, a social worker with The Hospice of Windsor and Essex County Inc. Bennett and Soulliere had arranged a few dreams on a casual basis for people Bennett had come into contact with through his job. Soulliere, meanwhile, was able to help make the dreams come true through his job as a booking agent for the Feldman Agency, a Toronto-based talent agency. “We decided to try and make more dreams come true by launching a charity to help it happen,” states Soulliere. Bennett and Soulliere have already helped people make connections with Marianas
Trench, a well-known Canadian band; superstar Shania Twain; the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Toronto Blue Jays. The dreams can include watching a favourite sports team, meeting up with family for a big celebration or riding in a hot-air balloon. According to Oneday, dreams are as unique as each individual and the charity strives to ensure each request is fulfilled and tailored to every dreamer and their families. Dreams can cost upwards of $3,000, so fundraising is a key component of the organization’s mandate. Every dollar or resource donated will enhance the quality of life for thousands of Canadians living with a terminal illness. “We are in the process of generating some exposure so that we can attract enough donations to make this work,” indicates Bennett. Bennett and Soulliere are hoping that friends, family, colleagues and other likeminded individuals across the region will help with a donation to make dreams come true. And since the charity is nationallyregistered, they’re hoping to spread their dreams across the country, eventually.
Oneday Dreams Founders Michael Bennett (left) and Jason Soulliere, pose in a model home by Lapico Custom Homes on location for a video segment they were filming to promote their new charity. Photo courtesy of Aphelion Media.
According to Soulliere, it took about three years to put a board together and fulfill all the required paperwork to achieve registered status. Now the board is preparing to start accepting applications late spring for dreams and charitable tax receipts will be made available to each donor from Oneday’s finance committee. For more information or if you would like to make a donation, visit: OnedayDreams.ca.
Local Marketing Agency Gets The Creative Juices Flowing Windsor Creative, a local full-service marketing and content creation company, which specializes in photography, videography, graphic design, social media marketing, and post-production, officially announced their launch on March 1, 2021. After being delayed from opening in 2020 due to COVID-19, Windsor Creative is now open for business and ready to help local companies get their marketing strategies in motion. The new agency came about in 2019 as a merger of Pastorius Media, and AO Marketing. At that time, they were a small, core team of four, but, over the last year, they have been able to grow the team to nine full time staff. “It’s incredibly exciting to finally be able to launch,” expresses Devon Pastorius, Creative Director and President of Windsor Creative. “It’s been hard trying to be patient over the last year. However, we were incredibly fortunate to have a base of work that allowed us to hire more team members, and really round out what we’re able to accomplish for our clients.” Windsor Creative provides complete in-house marketing services for businesses, both local and international, with small or large budgets. From marketing concepts and strategy, to full photography and video production, graphic design, social media management, and video post-production services, it’s all under one roof in an office and studio space at 3353 Walker Road (online at: WindsorCreative.ca). “Being able to boast a team of nine creative professionals, especially in Windsor, is incredible,” says Amanda Orr, Marketing Director and Co-Owner. “And with our space on Walker, we’ve moved into a kind of creative corridor, with a bunch of other really
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Devon Pastorius, Creative Director and President of Windsor Creative and Amanda Orr, Marketing Director and Co-Owner. Photos courtesy of Elena Pastorius.
cool, creative businesses like Generator Design, Milestones Photo Studio, and our parking lot neighbours Media Duo. It’s nice to see the number of creative jobs and opportunities in the city increase.” With the rise of social media and online platforms, the importance of strong content for marketing any business or brand has never been greater. Windsor Creative endeavours to be a partner in the success of as many local businesses as possible. Pastorius adds “Our goal is to help businesses in Windsor and Essex County get their name out there, and grow their business beyond what they thought was possible.”
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