A World of Difference: Celebrating Our Volunteers During National Volunteer Week
May 2, 2025
An Appreciation Post For Our Volunteers
At Ground-Up Foundation, our mission is built on the power of people. This National Volunteer Week, we want to take a moment to thank every single person who has given their time, energy, and heart to help us bring clean water and hope to communities in need.
Whether you’ve served on our board, supported our fundraising events, or been on the ground installing water tanks—you are the heartbeat of our organization. To our board members, thank you for your leadership, your guidance, and for showing up month after month with unwavering dedication and vision. To our on-the-ground volunteers, thank you for rolling up your sleeves—literally—to help install water solutions, organize fundraisers, and bring our mission to life in real time. To the businesses and community groups who’ve donated time, resources, and energy—your support has multiplied our impact in ways we could never have imagined.
Why Volunteering Matters
Volunteering doesn’t just make an impact locally—it makes waves around the world. When someone chooses to give their time to Ground-Up, they’re not only helping us provide access to clean water, they’re helping to improve health, support education, and restore dignity to communities who have gone too long without the basics.
Every tank installed is a ripple effect of compassion.
Every dollar raised is a signal of hope.
Every hour volunteered is a testament to what we can do when we come together.
Thank You for Building from the Ground Up
The impact we’ve made—together—is nothing short of remarkable. But there is still more to do, and we know we’ll continue to rise to the challenge because of people like you.
To every single volunteer who has stood beside us: thank you. You are not just helping Ground-Up—you are changing lives.
If you’ve ever wondered whether your time makes a difference, let us be clear: it absolutely does.
Here’s to you, the volunteers. Not just this week—but every week.
One of our founders, Shaylene, was asked to write a feature about Ground-Up Foundation for National Volunteer Week that would be featured on e=mc² events website and social media channels. She wrote a summary of our story and how it ties into the theme of this year’s National Volunteer Week, “every moment matters.” Here is an excerpt of what she wrote: -------- This story actually begins with one of my partners, Kam Haji. Kam is from Tanzania and travels there on an annual basis. In 2018, he knew it was time for him to give back to his community and he worked alongside his dad to source and install a water tank at a local school. He quickly saw the impact this water tank had on the students, the faculty, and the surrounding community, and an opportunity to do even more. When he traveled back to Canada, he connected with Garet Stewart and me [Shaylene Flanagan] and presented the opportunity to partner up and see how we could grow the cause together. After an inspirational brainstorming session [over a few shared drinks and appies] we came up with the name Ground-Up Foundation. Ground-Up is rooted in “building better futures from the ground-up”. The name itself was inspired by the water sources we would rely on, which come from underground piping, but it was also about the bigger picture. We saw this cause as a chance to make a tangible difference in these communities and dreamt of all the different ways we could holistically impact these lives. By providing access to one of life’s most basic needs, we created a chance for students to more easily access education and we instilled a sense of pride in their community. This was about changing futures, and it started from the ground up. Recognizing that we needed one primary focus, we honed in on water and we continued to install tanks in the Morogoro region. We quickly claimed our name and incorporated the charity and we began engaging our friends and family. This led to the planning of our first fundraising event which took place less than one year after inception [fall 2019]. The first event was hosted at the same local pub we had our initial brainstorm in and we saw a flood of donations from friends, family, and generous strangers who were inspired by our cause. We have big dreams for the future and we can’t wait to see our organization grow as time goes on. This cause is humbling and incredible and consistently reminds me not to take anything in life for granted. The theme of this year’s volunteer week, “every moment matters” is a direct tie to our initiative. Ground-Up Foundation was born from the desire to give back and thrives on the inspiration to move forward. Throughout the last 6 years we have seen and created countless moments that matter; we have impacted 26,000 students that matter; and we have counted every drop that matters.
Recognizing World Water Day
2024 has been a year of challenges, growth, and excitement.
This last year has been a huge success for us. As the world opened back up and people resumed life as normal, we hosted a hugely successful fundraiser that allowed us to install 7 new tanks this year. Our original plan was to install 6 tanks, but we had a special request from a school that was in great need of a water tank, putting our final number up to 21 tanks installed. Our on-the-ground team continued their work throughout the year to ensure the current water tanks were being maintained properly and they scouted out our new locations. Our team in Tanzania does a fantastic job of working with the schools and orphanages, sending steady updates to let us know if we need to make changes or improvements. As of February 2023, we have 21 operational tanks, which provide water to over 20,000 students. We are so grateful to our generous donors who make all of this possible. We thank you for your donations and support, without it, we would not be able to continue our cause and see the year-over-year growth that we have. We look forward to continuing our efforts this year, we will be hosting another fundraiser as we head into the fall and our Tanzania team will continue to look for schools and orphanages to support in 2024.
Another successful year!
We’ve spent a lot of time talking about our progress over the years, but we don’t think we’ve spent enough time telling you how it all started.
This year has been such an exciting year for Ground-Up as we experienced some major growth and new experiences.
Have you ever been at a place in your life where you just don’t know what to do next? I think we all have! But that’s the thing about this life — we’re faced with big decisions all the time. We deal with impeccable hardships that we must learn how to overcome, but we keep going. We find ways to deal with our problems, to solve them and to make our lives better. We’re on the road to greatness and nothing will get in our way. This is one of our favourite quotes and these words of encouragement apply to our cause in such a relevant way. Imagine being a small child between the ages of 6-10. You have to walk countless miles to school each day with less than ideal footwear in extremely trying weather. It’s so hot outside that with every step, you’re dreaming of jumping into a refreshing body of water, letting it cool you from the tips of your toes to the top of your head (it’s hard to relate if you live in Canada, especially this year, but you get where we’re going here). For the kids who inspired our cause, this is only a dream. They make that walk to and from school each day carrying heavy jugs of unsafe drinking water that must last them the walk to school, the entire day at school, and the long walk home. Not only are they without a lake to jump into at the end of the day, but the water in these jugs is unclean and has a very high risk of making them sick — but they still push through. This kind of resilience is admirable. So for now, we want you to imagine facing this uphill battle each day. We want you to think about the strength it takes to talk yourself into making this journey and apply it to your own struggles. If you’re in the middle of a hard decision, you’re not sure what to do next, you have no idea how you’re going to do it, think about these kids and let their fire fuel you. You’ve got this and so do they.
To get a full understanding of Ground-Up, it’s important for us to start this blog post where the first one left off.
““There are those who enter the world in such poverty that they are deprived of both the means and the motivation to improve their lot. Unless they can be touched with the spark which ignites the spirit of individual enterprise and determination, they will only sink into apathy, degradation, and despair. It is for us, who are more fortunate, to provide that spark.”” — His Highness, Aga Khan In February 2018, one of our founding members, Kam Haji , made his annual trip to Tanzania with a specific purpose in mind. With the help of our partners, The Benefits Advisory Group, Kam was able to donate a 3000 Litre water tank along with various stationary supplies to a local school. Kam has a strong connection to Tanzania, as this is where he was born and lived for the first part of his life. He travels back once a year and felt it was important to do something impactful and long lasting for local students, some of whom are required to travel more than 4 hours each way to and from school. Kam chose a school that is located in the mountains of Tanzania; far-removed from the centre of the town, this school has limited access the resources, such as water and transportation. There are certain things in life that we can take for granted in Canada, one of those things being the simple access to ample amounts of water. While Tanzania does have a water supply, it is rationed by the government, so when they run out, the students and staff are left with nothing to drink during the long hot days of travel and study. The 3000L tank that The Benefits Advisory Group was able to donate acts as a reserve that can be accessed when the town is cut off from the water supply. Rather than having to withstand long days of learning and travel without access to clean drinking water, the students and staff now have a lasting supply they can rely on when necessary. As you can imagine, limited access to water makes it all the more difficult for young students to make the journey to and from school each day. To ensure sustainability for the school and for the students and staff, The Benefits Advisory Group donated a 3000L water tank. In addition to the water tank, The Benefits Advisory Group was also able to donate various stationery supplies and some additional food and drink items for the students. We applaud the efforts of Kam, The Benefits Advisory Group , and all others who were a part of this project. Bringing water to this school will help these young students to prosper, to learn, and to be successful in all the ways they dream. From all of us at Gold Key Benefits , thank you for setting this humbling example and for leading our team towards greatness.