Youngsters urged to make a difference
Live for the Cause organizing gala to encourage youth to engage in philanthropy
Olivia Monton, a McGill University med student from Dorval, has been honoured for her efforts — through her Live for the Cause foundation — encouraging young people to stand up and make a difference in their community.
The mission of Live for the Cause, founded about four years ago, is to encourage young people to engage in local philanthropy.
“We do that through education and events,” Monton said. “In terms of events, we host a gala. Every year we choose a different cause. We really try to expose young people to different causes and do a lot of education around the cause. This year, the theme is mental-health awareness.”
The goal of the Secret Garden gala, being held in the Plateau district on May 26, is to raise $25,000 to create mental-health educational workshops in association with the Montreal Douglas Mental Health University Institute. The workshops will target Grade 7 students in the West Island.
An accompanying art exhibit, which launched May 21, is also part of the gala night.
“It’s to bring awareness to different types of mental-health disorders and normalize them for young people but also for all Montrealers,” Monton said.
The Live for the Cause gala is the foundation’s major fundraiser. Because of the amount of work involved in preparing the event, it will now be hosted every two years instead of annually, said Monton, who organizes the gala with a team of foundation volunteers.
“We build the event each year from scratch (with) a different cause, different venue and different entertainment (at each gala),” she said.
The once-competitive swimmer went through a difficult period in high school. She fractured her spine at age 13 and required extensive health-care treatment, including surgery. Her interest in volunteerism began as a teenager, organizing swim-a-thon and car-wash fundraisers in her neighbourhood.
Monton said that finding a cause, such as volunteering at children’s hospitals, really changed and enriched her life and this sparked her to launch Live for the Cause.
“The point is to get young people out there and engaged with philanthropy and volunteerism and to give back to the local community,” she said.
Monton, 28, has been recognized for her charitable efforts. The Governor General of Canada recently awarded her with the Sovereign’s Medal for Volunteers. As well, she was awarded the CaRMS Sandra Banner Student Award for Leadership (SBSAL) and the CFMS and MD Financial Leadership Award at the Canadian Conference on Medical Education this spring.
Let’s hope Monton continues to inspire and challenge other young people to volunteer and raise funds for worthwhile causes.
The Live for the Cause Secret Garden gala is at the contemporary art gallery Le Livart, 3980 St-Denis St., Saturday at 6 p.m. Tickets cost $125 and include a cocktail dinner, open bar, entertainment and the art exhibit. For more information, visit www. liveforthecause.ca.