The Voice of Canada News|

ICACI (Indo-Canadian Arts and Culture Initiative) organized their Vaisakhi celebrations at Culinary Stars in Brampton today. This evening was an attempt to celebrate Arts & Culture with the multicultural communities in GTA. At this event, the organizers showcased traditional folk performances like Bhangra & Gidda, Punjabi Fashion show by Poornima Creations that was well received by the guests besides inviting popular singers Parmjit Hans and Fouzia Khan who enthralled the audience with their Punjabi songs. In addition to the mouth-watering snacks and dinner, it was a great evening for networking and socializing, Vaisakhi is a harvest festival and New Year celebration, and it also recognizes the founding of the Sikh community. It originated in the Punjab region (the northern part) of India, but is celebrated in Sikh communities around the world, especially in Canada. This day is observed as a thanksgiving day by farmers whereby farmers pay their tribute, thanking God for the abundant harvest and also praying for future prosperity. Many prominent personalities from the GTA were in attendance including Councillor Harkirat Singh from the City of Brampton and Mr Baldev Mutta CEO of PunjabiCommunity Health Services. Indo Canadian Arts & Culture initiative (ICACI) Founded in 2015 as a non-profit organization, the Indo-Canadian Arts and Culture Initiative (ICACI) is a registered organization dedicated to guiding members of the community to personal and professional success through participation in events, workshops and other cultural and community activities. ICACI was started to support, promote and raise awareness about our rich Arts & Culture of India. We have been regularly organizing different events and programs to engage our youth, women and newcomers to be a part of our GTA community Mokshi Virk is a well-known community leader in Brampton. As the founder-director of ICACI (Indo-Canadian Arts and Cultural Initiative) Virk is an active voice on women’s issues. She works tirelessly for the commun

ity using her time and network to help residents and newcomers in the city of Brampton. She is the recipient of numerous community awards and was most recently awarded the Community Leader award in Inspiration Category by the City of Brampton. Her philanthropic activities include organizing programs and providing leadership to support various charities and non-profit organization such as GTA Northwest Community Health services and LANGAR SEVA as a volunteer including setting up and hosting the event. She has been an event convener for social and cultural events like “Culture Day”organizing Art workshops & Exhibitions in addition to Celebrating Indian festivals like Holi and Vaisakhi. She has been invited as a Guest speaker at “ACCESS Employment” to share her experiences with new immigrants and speak about “Role of Mentorship” at Indo Canadian chamber of commerce (ICCC). Building a stronger community where she lives with her family and runs her real estate business and non-profit organization is a very important to her. She encourages local business network to support the events that would enable all our multi-cultural
communities to thrive here in GTA.