A huge sum raised!
The Croatian-Canadian community of Hamilton, Ontario, Canada held a very successful fundraising Gala at the Croatian National Home on November the 18th, 2017.
Since its founding in 1928, the Croatian National Home has served as a gathering spot for Croatian emigrants and their descendants. It is Canada’s oldest Croatian cultural organization. Today, the Croatian National Home folklore ensemble is among the largest Croatian folklore groups in North America with 130 youth and 50 adult members.
Hamilton is home to a very large ethnic Croatian community. When Croats first settled in Hamilton, they clustered around Beach Road which is where the original Croatian National Home was built. In 1982, the organization relocated to a larger building. Current facilities are inadequate to service the needs of an expanding membership and plans have been developed to construct a new building on approximately one hectare of land owned by the Croatian National Home.
A sold-out crowd attended the festivities and were greeted Croatian-style with alcoholic spirits and tamburaši. Attendees enjoyed a silent auction and a superb meal. Many civic and community leaders attended the festivities, including Hamilton Mayor Fred Eisenberger, Ontario Culture Minister Eleanor McMahon, Republic of Croatia Consul Natalija Bukovec-Osmičević, federal Member of Parliament Bob Bratina and provincial Member of Parliament Paul Miller. Emeritus Bishop and former Military Ordinariate of the Republic of Croatia, Monsignor Juraj Jezerinac led the gathering in prayer prior to dinner.
The celebrations continued into the early morning as Plavi Dim, a well-known local Croatian musical band, performed for the public. During the gala, a two-year capital campaign was launched with a goal of fundraising two million dollars. At this gala, over $300,000 in donations and pledges was committed towards the building of the new facility, not bad for the first day of the fundraising campaign! The amount raised at this dinner is among the largest single-day fundraisers in the history of the Croatian community in Canada.
A new facility will include expanded classroom space, a library and archives, social room, storage room for Croatian national costumes and instruments as well as a community hall with a capacity of 450 people. Completion of this project will have a positive impact on efforts to preserve and promote Croatian identity and heritage in Canada.
