Auction in honour of International Women's Day

To mark International Women's Day, the Women’s Collective Philanthropy Program (WCPP), a program of the Ottawa Jewish Community Foundation, is launching a special auction to raise funds for our Women’s Collective Endowment Fund (WCEF), which supports initiatives and training that improve opportunities for Jewish women and children in Ottawa.

We are delighted to share that one of our founding members, and the artist behind the iconic WCPP card, Janet Dollin, is donating her original artwork, entitled "Pansies" for this auction.

About the artist

As a woman in the field of medicine, Janet has always learned and taught about women’s health and equity and sought out a like-minded community, which she found in the WCPP. As a Jewish woman, she believes our community must work from within to improve the lives of women and to fix our sometimes-broken world.

She is grateful to have played a contributing role to WCPP, which she explains was born of this need to support women.

“Strengthen women and you strengthen your society. This was a gap in our own understanding and in our approach to philanthropy before the existence of the WCPP and I am so proud of the strong women who both know this and found this route to action,” said Janet.

“The dream of creating a philanthropy fund for women by women came together in 2011 by founder Lynne Oreck-Wener, and the hard work and dedication of Yaffa Greenbaum and Eileen Melnick McCarthy has kept it growing. The many excellent grassroots projects that have been awarded funds from WCPP over the years speaks to both the value and the need.”

She urges other women who are interested to reach out and join the committee - “Do it! There’s no better time than now. Share whatever is your own strength and passion!”

Now as a retired physician, Janet has continued to seek healing, light and beauty through her art.

“What better way to spread joy is there? My flowers are for that purpose so I felt that they would make a perfect WCPP card,” said Janet.

About the art being auctioned

The French translation of pansies is “fleurs de pensée," which means the thinking flower. The flowers symbolize thoughtfulness, consideration and free thinking. Pansies are also symbolic of platonic love so for all these reasons they make the perfect gift to honour your mother and those women in your life who are important to you. Bids begin at $200.

Make a bid here

Thank you for participation in our auction. The money raised goes to the WCEF through which the WCPP has been able to provide funding to numerous organizations and people doing important work. Our grants have supported initiatives such as self-care counselling for women, Jewish Family Services programs, Ottawa Kosher Food Bank services, women’s safety on campus, programs for single and divorced women, supplies for children in shelters and much more.

Interested in applying for a grant? Applications are now open for 2023 here.

JOIN OUR TEAM: The WCPP is welcoming new members and encourages interested parties to consider joining the WCPP executive. Find out more.