Home is Canada: Our first year

Reading Home is Canada: Our first year 9 minutes Next Peace Collective x Grand Groove DJs

It’s been about a year since the birth of Peace Collective and what a year it’s been. We never realized how all of this would turn out and a lot of it still feels like a dream. To walk around and see people in our community supporting this project is so heartwarming. It was never just about creating a cool Canadian brand, Peace Collective strives for more than that. It’s about igniting a sense of fellowship married to philanthropic ideals. Our aim is to promote Canadian pride and build up our community by combating child hunger.

Every nation struggles in the fight against child hunger - even in highly developed countries like Canada. While on a volunteering trip in Morocco, Peace Collective founder, Yanal Dhailieh, felt moved by the lifestyles of the children he was there to help. Most would skip school to accompany their parents to panhandle on the streets - all because they did not have enough money to eat. His experience while volunteering, coupled with the one-for-one business model he found while reading Start Something That Matters by Blake Mycoskie is what sparked his drive to create Peace Collective.

We know Canadians can make a huge impact in not only minimizing child hunger, but also eliminating it altogether. Investing in our children is investing in our collective future and through this program, we can ensure children have an equal opportunity to chase their passions and one day attain their dreams. As a proud Canadian brand, we focus our efforts by drawing awareness to and creating change in Canadian poverty and hunger. Through this understanding we have integrated a charitable aspect to the brand, and we’re so ecstatic that this has resonated so immensely with the community. When someone purchases a garment a child is fed school meals for a week through our partnership with Breakfast for Learning. We recognize the invaluable tools education can give to someone and through Peace Collective, we can all do our part to ensure no child has to choose between eating and getting an education.

We are proud to share that in our first year we have raised and donated $47,500 towards child hunger (Breakfast for Learning program and World Food program). From the bottom of our hearts we want to thank everyone who has supported Peace Collective. The extent of our happiness is indescribable, and in turn we want to celebrate our supporters and the amazing individuals pushing our country towards a brighter future. We've been hard at work planning projects for 2016 and we're very excited to share what's to come. In the new year we are releasing a series of videos titled Canadian Built where we highlight Canadians creating a better world for everyone - whether within the arts, science, politics and everything in between. This is a project we are so proud to be creating. It gives us the avenue to showcase a person’s drive and passion while inspiring those around us. We want to do our part in encouraging a nation where we help and support one another. This is our first year and our very first step towards doing our part. The upcoming year looks bright and we are thrilled to have you along for the ride as we continue to say Home is Canada.


 To celebrate our 1 year anniversary, use the code 'HAPPYBIRTHDAY' for 15% off your order valid until January 7th! 

Meet The Team

What does it mean to chase your passion?

 

  

 

Yanal Dhailieh   @therealyd

For me, personally chasing your passion means working hard to create the best possible version of yourself - the person you were put on this Earth to be. For some strange reason though, people seem to associate following your passion with expecting a life of luxury without having to put in much effort. But that isn’t the case at all. It doesn’t mean laying in a hammock and reading a book on the beach, or sipping on lattes in some exotic location. I believe that chasing your passion boils down to two ingredients: (1) do what you love and (2) add value to the world. As long as you’re doing those two things, regardless of what anyone has to say, you’re probably on the right track.

  

 

 

 
  

 

Lisa Diep   @_ldiep
Dreams and passions are an ever-changing, personal concept that evolves as we grow and progress in our lives. They are not end-goals but rather interim goals that we strive towards at every point and milestone in our lives. I strongly believe that the act of chasing passions is the journey towards those goals and the feeling of accomplishment that we get when we reach them. Passion is the enjoyment and feeling of fulfillment in doing what we love. It is something that is so personal that it can't be clearly outlined by a single definition. It is something that we truly want to do and will do with no hesitation whatsoever. I think one of the greatest struggles in life is blurring the line between our responsibilities and our passions. When you're working and doing something you truly love and are passionate about, I think that's when you've made it.

 

 

 

 

  

  

John Molina   @molinayadigg
Chasing your passion means everything. Without it, life becomes less meaningful. It’s the foundation of a person’s happiness and it’s what helps you get out of bed. I’ve experienced what it’s like to not know where you’re going, to feel lost and without hope. But when you find your passion, things get brighter. It’s one of the most exhilarating things in the world. Taking the time to discover and learn what ignites you is very important and is at the core of a person’s well being.

 



 

 

 

  

Roman Hessary   @romanceee
There is probably something that you’d much rather be doing than whatever you’re doing today. We all have dreams, thoughts of what we’d like to have in our life or things we’d like to do. However, most of us remain complacent and let those dreams be just that, dreams. We fill out heads with doubt and excuses on why we can’t achieve something - convince ourselves that we’re too young, too old, too busy, not smart enough, etc.. But do you remember when you were a kid and all those dreams seemed all too possible? Were you just naive or did somewhere along the line you lose sight of what you actually wanted and settle on what pays the bills? Chasing your passions to me means taking that step towards doing what you truly love and removing yourself from your comfort zone. It means having a vision of what you really want out of life and setting goals to get yourself there. Personally, I used to underestimate the power of goal-setting until I actively took initiative to incorporate it in my own life. Before long, things that I had written own that I wanted to achieve with steps on how I was going to achieve them were starting to come to fruition. I challenge you to do the same and you’ll be pleasantly surprised at what can happen.

 

 

  
  

 

John Yoo   @johnysyoo
For me, my passions lie with Leadership, Music, Lifestyle, and Sports. I'm lucky enough to be directly involved with 3 of these in my career, and also pursue the other outside of work. With that being said, this means that I love what I do, which is the most important part of chasing my passions. What's important to note is that this didn't happen overnight. You need to surround yourself with thing's that make you happy which in return will allow you to succeed. There will of course be times where you go through rough patches, but this will help build your love for your passions even more, and also build your own character. You will find that through these times, your passions will follow you in return, and will only help you grow as a person. By chasing your passions, I find that you are not just enjoying your work, but more importantly enjoying life and truly being one with yourself. Follow your passions, cause they will follow you.
 

 

 

 

  

  

 

Jordan McDonald   @justcallmegord
I am a big believer in goal setting and when it comes down to it, I think before you can chase anything you need to figure out what it is you want. For some it may be money, other may want to change the world, and some may be passionate about something as small as being a good friend or family member. At the end of the day, I think the most important thing is to define what passion means to you and I don’t necessarily think you need to limit yourself to just one thing. Passion is an interesting word and something hard to define because it means something different for everyone. I think you need to figure out what you want in life. The key word here is “you”. We all need to be able to look in the mirror and define the things that we love and want, and not what others tell us we should want. Now I know this is a lot easier said than done but I truly think you can’t chase anything until you have defined what it is that you’re chasing. Once you can determine the things you are passionate about, and the things that truly make you happy, then you can develop a plan and roadmap to chase those passions.