Emmanuel De Silva, or Emman for short, is a local business owner who co-founded the Canmore Filipino Canadian Society in 2019 after the destruction from the Taal volcano eruption in the Philippines directly affected many local families.
Caring for our community
“We organized a program to help the affected families financially through donation drives. The support was overwhelming," says Emman. "When the pandemic started in 2020, we continued to provide support, cooking and distributing food to families who badly needed it. We also served hot lunches to frontline and essential service workers thanks to a grant from the Bow Valley Food Alliance.”
The society’s mission evolved from there to empower the Filipino community and help everyone integrate into the Canadian culture. The group participates in Canada Day celebrations each year, having won the best parade float contest. They organize community clean-up drives each June during the Filipino Heritage Month, and many sporting activities throughout the year.
The society has partnered on different occasions with artsPlace to distribute creative art kits to the Filipino community and to partake in multicultural celebrations during the Festival of Art & Creativity.
“The festival was the first time we joined. This event opened the doors to artsPlace for our community.”
Since then, the partnership between the two organizations has grown, and Emman continues to share information about free and low-cost artsPlace programming with his fellow Filipinos.
Caring for his community comes naturally to Emman, who used to serve on the national police force and was directly involved in community relations programs in the Philippines. He says of his engagement:
“I’m used to doing this kind of work from back home. In our culture, we have a word for this tendency to reach out to your fellow neighbors to offer help, to care for your community.
We take care of each other.”
Statistics from 2021 show 550 Filipinos living in Canmore but Emman notes that number is likely twice to three times higher. The society works directly with 140 families and estimates around 1200-1500 community members. “And it’s growing.”
Emman not only shares information about the programs and services with his community, but also does his best to help folks access them, whether that’s through offering to babysit their kids or give them a ride (something he does frequently).
“We know for a fact that parents want their kids to attend programs, but the challenge is that they’re busy working, so they need people they trust to pick up their kids and drive them to the activity.”
Emman says that once his fellow Filipinos access the event or program for the first time – if we can make it happen for them – they feel comfortable attending it next time on their own.
“It takes time for newcomers to adjust to a new culture and a new place. We are acting as a bridge to connect them to programs and make them feel comfortable here.”
