I had the distinct pleasure of being a guest of Parveen Dhupar at the Mayor’s Annual Address Luncheon put on by the Mississauga Board of Trade. Parveen invited champions of the Mississauga non-profit sector as his guests. Instead of inviting anyone from the corporate world that could have enhanced his business, he chose to give non-profits like Eden Food for Change (EFFC) the opportunity to take part and be in a room full of potential partners and donors, which is a testament to the type of person he is.
As I am new to my position of Executive Director at EFFC, the event was invaluable for meeting with business people, politicians, non-profits, public sector workers and more. At Parveen’s table was Ron Saito, a current board member and the past president of EFFC, Avril Helbig of Living Arts Centre Mississauga and Gurpeet Malhotra of Indus Community Services; all worthy causes that Parveen has united and supports.
Parveen is a board member of the Board of Trade, volunteers with several charities and owns BTI Brand Innovations, a branding and marketing firm. He and BTI have donated and provide services to EFFC. When we changed our direction in 2015 to better reflect our mission and approach to meeting the needs of our community and changed our name from Eden Food Bank to Eden Food For Change, BTI provided EFFC with new branding, a new look and a beautiful website.
I would like to thank Parveen for the great work that he provides to the community and for all the support he has given to us at EFFC over the years.
Ida McLaughlin
Executive Director
Eden Food for Change
