AmmarOriginals Heart of Toronto Fund

The short version:

Local businesses are the Heart of Toronto & the Greater Toronto Area. Local businesses need support now more than ever, people need support more than ever. So how do we support local businesses and locals at the same time? Thankfully, local businesses are also great neighbours, they know how to give back to their communities best. We are raising awareness & $100,000 to financially support local businesses and our neighbours. With your help we will donate at every $1,000 mark and keep donating as long as is needed. We will work with businesses, case by case, to allow them to empower their communities. That may mean:

• Ordering takeout from a local indigenous restaurant to provide to a shelter.
• Buying gift cards from a local clothing store for them to give to those who are in need.
• Donating this money to an individual who needs extra rent relief.
• Donating to a charity focussing on mental health.

The full version:

My name is Ammar Abdul Raheem, I believe the world has a lot of beauty in it and believe in our ability as a people to love and help each other. I want to raise awareness and $100,000 to feed, clothe, shelter, build up, empower as many people as we can. 

This fund is aimed directly at helping locals & local businesses in the Greater Toronto Area. The pandemic, and unprecedented closures has hit local businesses, marginalized communities, and our neighbours unfairly. Though we see the numbers, I want to highlight the kindness in humans, and bring the humanity to these numbers. Each and every one of these businesses is a dream, a story of risk and defying all odds to provide a better future. I care about these dreams because these are our neighbours, our family, our friends and the heart of Canada. This fundraiser is just one more tool to help those around us.

How it works:


Money raised will be given to the Heart of Toronto, local businesses in the GTA. We will donate at every $1,000 mark and keep donating as long as is needed to the following groups:

A) I, on our behalf, will donate to small businesses by purchasing $1,000 worth of gift cards, product, or services from chosen businesses to then give away to their local community. I will work with every business to see that their 'give back' makes the most impact in helping their community and to keep you updated. To nominate a business, or someone you know who continues to make a positive impact on others, please nominate through Instagram DM @AmmarOriginals

B) Knowing that many individuals are also having a tough time financially, I will look for cases where we can relief the cost of living/housing for individuals.

C) Charities in the GTA do a lot of great work and have run into fewer donations. I will donate money on our behalf to several charities that are tackling the effects of this pandemic best.

I will also spend most of my efforts reaching out to big brands who want to help local communities to accelerate feeding, clothing, sustaining and empowering our neighbours.

This initiative relies heavily on raising awareness and crowdfunding. I can't thank you enough for your financial support. However, I urge you to not donate beyond your means.  I can not overstate how powerful a simple share of this initiative can be. You sharing this, may mean someone sees it and messages me to benefit from this fund. It may mean someone donates $100. It may mean a brand sees this and donates financial support to help our neighbours financially.

How to Nominate:

Please DM me on Instagram @AmmarOriginals to nominate your business, a business you know who have held it down for the community, as long as it's a local small business.

If you work at a big brand, or a media company and see the value in empowering local communities and people, I urge you to send me an e-mail [email editado] (but no spaces)

How can you trust me:

I am getting $0 from this. No admin fees, no wage, no gas money, nada. I believe GoFundMe takes 3% to process the money, and the rest is for the people. Put simply, I will keep all receipts/proof of financial supports given and verify them with a trusted third party. 97% of MONEY FROM PEOPLE GOES TO THE PEOPLE. 3% goes to payment processing fees. (which is one of the lowest of many other platforms) This whole pandemic has been a huge trust exercise, the ability to trust each other that we have our collective best interests in mind. Sure, there may be some exceptions but overwhelmingly people and businesses have gone way beyond expectations to keep each other safe, to help, and to support one another. I will do all that I can to provide proof of every action of giving your hard earned money to support others while respecting their privacy and confidentiality. I will then get a third party to review that every thing is legit. 

My Intentions:

I think it's important to talk about my intentions here and to answer 'what's in it for me...' Simply put, I am an ambassador of local businesses in the GTA, anyone that knows me, knows I know the most obscure local places and love to connect with owners of small business. Highlighting the beauty of the world, of Canada, and of the GTA is what my brand AmmarOriginals is all about. Every job I have ever done has been about serving the community, serving Canadians, and serving people from all walks of life. My dream in life is to be kind for a living, initiatives like this propel my brand AmmarOriginals to a place where I can live this dream. The following is the societal change I intend to make through my work: Many companies hire brand ambassadors and influencers based on their looks, or their talents, I say this to be transparent and acknowledge the fact that I intend to represent brands I believe in by marketing my kindness to other people. Money raised by people, like this campaign, will be given on your behalf and will always go back to helping others. I also acknowledge that people are hurting all over the world and that this is not a problem exclusive to Toronto, I do have future plans to grow my reach of help to all over the world, but for this event I believe it's safest, quickest, and I can be most impactful by helping the GTA.

Example Cases:

NishDish, an amazing indigenous restaurant has been serving the community and has just spent money to get an outdoor patio heater. They are no longer allowed patios, and have been hit hard to try to serve the community. They message me on Instagram to cater food for a local women's shelter to help pay for sunk costs and nourish the community in a healthy way. Buy food, provide evidence, and share with this giving community of the work done.

A local gym in the Peel region owner can not operate their gym even though they followed all safety guidelines, we work with this gym owner to provide online personal training sessions to people who wouldn't otherwise afford to. We try to empower the people by having access to something they wouldn't otherwise, as well as the gym owner by decreasing the risk of shifting their business.

Small Businesses we are looking to help:
(List updated as nominations come in) (Financially and/or through awareness)

In Progress:
 Loga's Corner, Little Tibet's loveliest human being, Loga is an angel and the greatest food @LogasCornerTO

Upcoming Nominations:
Knowledge Book Store, African gifts and bookstore in Brampton @KnowledgeBookStore
Kukum kitchen & Chef Joseph Shawana, Indigenous Kitchen and Catering in Toronto @kukum_kitchen
Get Fresh Company, 'Made in Toronto' clothing label and biggest supporters of Queen St. W. @GetFreshCompany

Businesses that have made an impact on my life (Close friends now that I wish I could support but don't want some conflict of interest)
Go show them love (A follow, a share, a purchase, or even a message goes a long way)
Yousif Al-Badri, lovely Mississauga Personal Trainer and best friend @You5You5


Your share, your donation, your love, is powerful and appreciated.

Humbled at your support,
Kindly, 

Ammar Abdul Raheem
@AmmarOriginals