Why We’re Building Our Own Community Fundraising Platform

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In a world where most fundraising has become tied to corporate products, paid advertising, and social-media algorithms, we are choosing a different path. The ILFJL Collective is building our own community-driven fundraising platform—one that uplifts Oshawa’s small businesses, strengthens local connections, and keeps every possible dollar within our community.

This platform has been years in the making, shaped by love, compassion, and a belief that real change is grown from the ground up, not purchased from a corporation.

Because Local Small Businesses Deserve to Be Part of the Solution

When communities rely on big-box stores and corporate fundraising products, most of the money leaves the community. The product may support a good cause—but the profit cycle supports a corporation, not local people.

We’re doing the opposite.

By sourcing prints, stickers, magnets, clothing, displays, and fundraising materials from Oshawa small businesses, we create:

• Local economic support instead of corporate profit

• Mutual uplift between community programs and neighbourhood entrepreneurs

• A stronger local identity built on shared pride instead of generic corporate branding

Every print, every shirt, every sticker becomes more than a product—it becomes a local partnership, a shared effort, and a ripple of support that stays rooted right here.

Because Real Community Growth Can’t Depend on Social Media Ads

The reality of today’s online world is simple:

If you don’t buy ads or boost posts, your content is pushed out of the spotlight.

Algorithms decide what people see—not effort, not heart, not purpose.

We refuse to play that game.

Instead, we have spent years learning how every major social network works and discovering what gets the best unpaid reach and engagement. We have also built our own social network, our own space where our community can connect without being filtered, ranked, or hidden behind a corporate paywall.

By avoiding paid ads and boosts:

• Every dollar goes directly to those who need support

• We keep our work independent and free from political or corporate influence

• Our reach grows naturally, through truth, consistency, and real connection

• We build lasting visibility that isn’t erased the moment an ad campaign ends

This approach takes more time, more patience, and far more creativity—but the results last longer and stay aligned with our values.

Because Working Together Strengthens the Whole Community

Our fundraising platform is not just a store. It is a partnership model rooted in collaboration:

• Local small businesses create or print the products

• We produce all promotional content and awareness campaigns

• Together, we grow brand visibility for both sides

• Community members receive high-quality, meaningful fundraising options

This cooperative approach creates a powerful cycle:

Local business supports community programs → Community programs promote local business → The community benefits from both.

No outside corporation can match that.

Because We Value Truth, Purpose, and Direct Action

Everything we build is shaped by the same belief:

LIFE – Love Is For Everyone. FIFE – Food Is For Everyone. Support should be human, direct, and free from gatekeepers.

A corporate fundraising model would compromise that.

A self-built, community-funded, community-supported model strengthens it.

Our platform exists so we can:

• Provide free food, clothing, and care packages through the Not Just A Food Program

• Grow free plants and nutrition through FIFE – Food Is For Everyone

• Offer training, volunteer opportunities, and future workspace development

• Support mental health and wellness through beauty, photography, and nature

• Build a community network that uplifts everyone, not just those who can pay

Every step has been intentional, every choice grounded in compassion, responsibility, and respect for the people of Oshawa.

Because Community Fundraising Should Look Like the Community It Serves

Our fundraising products are not generic, mass-produced, or disconnected.

They are made in Oshawa. Pictures are taken in Oshawa. Messages are written for Oshawa. Funds stay in Oshawa.

This is place-based fundraising—designed to reflect the people, spaces, beauty, and realities of our community.

When someone buys an Inspiring Times print, a sticker, a shirt, or anything else, they’re not just supporting a program. They’re investing directly into their own community’s wellbeing.

Because Independence Protects Our Purpose

By building our own platform:

• We are not controlled by outside interests

• We do not rely on grants or politics

• We are free from corporate advertising influence

• We can make decisions based on love, compassion, and community needs

Independence allows truth. Truth allows compassion. Compassion allows real change.

This is leadership that cannot be bought—it must be built.

A Fundraising Model With Heart, Purpose, and Local Power

Our goal is simple:

Build a self-sustaining, locally supported, community-first fundraising platform that empowers those in need while uplifting the very businesses that make Oshawa what it is.

We are choosing collaboration over competition. We are choosing independence over algorithms. We are choosing love, compassion, and community over corporate marketing.

This is the future we’re building—one product, one partnership, one ripple of love at a time.

LIFE – Love Is For Everyone. #JustOshawa #NJAFP #FIFE #LIFE #ILFJL