AFC grant recipients inspire audiences with uplifting Canada-wide journey!
On Wednesday, May 19, Anglican Foundation of Canada (AFC) Members and Board Directors were treated to the premiere of AFC’s 2020 Annual Report video.
“Even without the red carpet or the popcorn there was a buzz on the ZOOM,” says The Rev. Canon Dr. Judy Rois, Executive Director, AFC. “In January we made the decision to find a paperless way to tell our story. Now, to see how this video has come together—our grant recipients sharing their hopes and dreams in their own words—is more meaningful than I can say.”
“The initiatives the Foundation supports are quite literally a national tapestry of faith and love and hope with a lot of hard work thrown in,” says Lisa Barry, Senior Producer, Anglican Video, Anglican Church of Canada (ACC). “Viewers can see for themselves the work that goes on, quietly, day after day, in parishes and communities across Canada.”
Barry says COVID-19 travel restrictions have given rise to handheld video as “a powerful way of sharing and learning.” She says the challenges of variable video quality are more than overcome by truth and authenticity. “The stories are authentic, and as viewers we feel that. And we miss each other so much that we are warmed by these beautiful homespun videos now more than ever.”
The video is accompanied by a digital report—www.anglicanfoundation.org/2020report—featuring more first-person testimonials and the detailed reporting typically found in AFC’s print-based Annual Report. “The web is a remarkably flexible tool,” says Brian Bukowski, Web Manager, AFC. “This digital report offers donors expanded capabilities and interactive elements that are audience-focused. What might have taken nearly forty print pages can be communicated in one smooth, flowing design.”
“This collage of testimonials reminds me of Archbishop Desmond Tutu,” says Canon Rois, “who said, ‘Do your little bit of good where you are because it’s those little bits of good, put together, that can change everything.’ When I watch the video, or scroll through the website, I see how all of those little bits of good came together during one of the church’s most challenging years.”
Rois says the video is an offering to the whole Canadian Church, “Whether you are an AFC supporter or not, I encourage you to watch it and let yourself feel uplifted and inspired by the video’s true star power: this amazing country we call home and the spirit of courage and compassion that sustained us through 2020.”
