The Friends4Cause Foundation is all about community and supporting the local fundraising initiatives of causes associated with autism and children’s palliative care, focusing on those that need their support. It all started a few years ago when the founder, Carmelo Tortolano, decided to raise funding for cancer for the Cedars Cancer Foundation. His mother had passed away from cancer a few years prior and he felt that he could make a difference by supporting the Cedar Cancer Foundation raising funding within his community. The power of social media is also a contributing factor to the early beginnings of the foundation. Tortolano had a Facebook page that created engagement and positivity to encourage activity and support for the foundation. The Italians of Montreal and Friends came into existence.

Proud of Our Roots
Italians of Montreal and Friends were the origins of the Friends4Cause Foundation. Community has always been the focus of the organization, starting with local organizations that needed the support from the Italian community. Tortolano works tirelessly on top of his full-time job, committing to his cause that has made such a difference in recent years. The Friends4Cause logo proudly portrays their Italian roots by using the Italian flag colors in their logo. Today, the name has evolved to include everyone who wishes to make a difference, therefore rebranding to Friends4Cause. Many corporations wish to donate to this foundation, and those who are not Italian can still contribute and make a difference. Community is still the theme of the name; however community extends to the whole Montreal community since we are a city of great diversity.

Community as a Whole
The mission statement of Friends4Caus is as follows: “Alone One Can Create Change, Together We Can Conquer!” The impact of a collective community can have a significant impact for the organizations that they are trying to raise money for. When there’s a will, there’s a way. Although Tortolano is the founder, none of the successes can be accomplished without the support of sponsors, contributors and friends lending a hand. Their mission statement is so engraved in their purpose that they operate everyday with community in mind, including the term in their activities. For example, during their functions, such as their banquet events, food is always donated to the 2nd Chance Café. No opportunity to help out is overlooked and the community is always in mind in their decision making.

Current Goals
Friends4Cause is currently raising money and promoting awareness based on the positive impacts of their fundraising initiatives for The Lighthouse Children's Palliative Care, and the Galileo Adult Education Centre in Montreal, a school that caters to adults with autism through educational programs and nurturing acceptance in their community. The Galileo Centre is always creating opportunities to help adults with autism thrive, despite facing daily challenges. The Galileo Adult Centre is also a community on its own.

The Lighthouse, Children’s Palliative Care has made a significant impression on Tortolano. He believes that his foundation can make a difference in the children’s lives and the lives of their families. He was touched by the cause and especially because the Lighthouse operates as a happy place to foster the kids and their families. The Lighthouse represents the same values as the Friends4Cause. Community is what it stands for, and Tortolano can relate.

Fundraising Functions for Charitable Causes
Friends4Cause is currently raising funding and building awareness to achieve their ultimate goal of helping the Galileo Adult Education centre raise enough funding to build a new kitchen and green room and the Lighthouse needs to raise $5 million to meet yearly operational expenses, including the goal of purchasing new beds and bedding for their children’s palliative care centre.

The foundation usually hosts events during the months of April, for Autism Awareness Month, and in the month of October for Children’s Palliative Care Month. Every year, they actively host an annual golf tournament raising money for their causes and a disco bowling night. Every event boasts rave reviews and lots of successes. Anything is possible with the Friends4Cause Foundation’s major sponsors, Euro-Pharm, Les Délices Lafranaie,Vera Trima, Iris Importing and Distribution, Radio CFMB, Corriere Italiano, and many more. For a full list of their sponsors, please refer to their website: friends4causefoundation.com/index/sponsors/.

The pandemic has not stopped their momentum. 2021 has allowed some of the pandemic restrictions to ease up and they were able to host charity events, such as their bowling fundraising event, raising money for the Lighthouse and the Galileo Centre. Priced at $30 a ticket, the event raised over $10,000 and their outdoor golf tournament brought in over $30,000.

As for 2022, should the pandemic restrictions permit, they do plan to host these popular events again to drive fundraising efforts. In addition, they are also planning to host the big gala in a reception hall but only if the pandemic health measures ease up. Every year, the funding focuses on specific fundraising initiatives. Past events always focused on humanitarian causes, primarily on palliative care and social programs for children and autism.

Thinking Outside the Box – Shop 4 the Cause
The pandemic has brought about many hardships for all types of organizations, particularly those fundraising through fundraising events. Many of the non-profit organizations and charities rely on events to raise funding for their causes. The pandemic created new challenges for the foundation; they had to think of a creative way of raising funds for their organizations. Instead of sitting back and doing nothing, Tortolano found a new way of raising funds for the foundation. The only types of businesses that could continue to operate without closures were essential businesses. The grocery boutique came to life since it was considered an essential business. The grocery boutique is located in Montreal-North, 3177 Rue Fleury E, Montréal-Nord, QC.  The grocery boutique is able to donate profits from the sale of their specialty Italian products, selling imported and local gourmet products such as pastas and olive oils and delicacies to benefit their fundraising efforts.

Because of their loyal supporters, one of their community members was able to provide the foundation with the rent-free location for one year to ensure that funds raised in their store initiatives could continue to be collected despite the lack of events bringing in the funding.

All of the employees working at the physical store and the online store are volunteers. They dedicate their time to the community causes and the foundation because they believe in making a difference and contributing to the cause as a community member.

The grocery boutique sells Christmas baskets during the holiday season and specialty Italian goods throughout the year. One of the favourites is their colander Christmas baskets packed with Italian specialty products. The Christmas baskets can also be purchased online through their contactless online grocery boutique.  For people who support the causes by shopping at the physical store or online will get a tax receipt for their contribution based on a percentage of their purchases all year long. As for the Christmas baskets, purchasing a Christmas basket will help both the Galileo Adult Education Centre and The Lighthouse. People who purchase these baskets will get a tax receipt and sales receipt for their purchases.

The boutique also provides an opportunity for Galileo students to work at the store. The Galileo students can develop their work skills and social skills by working for the cause, labeling store products and putting together Christmas baskets. The storefront also serves as the headquarters for the foundation.

Plans for Expansion
Friends4Cause is not slowing down. Due to the huge success of their Montreal-North storefront, they plan to expand the store locations to other areas of greater Montreal, to give local communities the opportunity to shop locally for their causes. The Friends4Cause Foundation is looking into expanding into the West Island and other areas, like Laval, to provide shoppers and supporters the opportunity to support the causes without leaving their area as they shop for grocery specialty items to support the foundation’s community.

Regardless of the hurdles faced by Tortolano, President of the Friends4Cause Foundation, and his supporting team members, the community will not give up on the foundation’s causes. “The grocery boutique is an essential business, and we can still operate as a foundation and continue to raise money for our causes,” says Tortolano. “Friends4Cause will not be limited in its fundraising by the pandemic. We will always find a way to support our causes.”

Friends4Cause boutique has opened its doors and hearts to the community for support since the early days of the pandemic. Should you wish to support their fundraising efforts, please feel free to shop for the cause or follow their initiatives on their social media pages or online at www.friends4cause.com/collections.