Get your photo with “I’m a Welcomer” frame for upcoming social media blitz
The Pembina Valley Local Immigration Partnership (PVLIP) is launching a fun new social media campaign next month, and they’re inviting you to be part of it.
From Sept. 13-22, PVLIP will for the first time be taking part in Welcoming Week.
Welcoming Week is an annual opportunity to recognize and celebrate the people, places, and values that help everyone feel welcome and give them a sense of belonging in their community, no matter where they come from.
“It’s a national initiative that started about four years ago,” explains PVLIP coordinator Elaine Burton-Saindon. “For us, it’s really the first year we’ve had the resources and the staffing to manage it on top of everything else, so we’re stepping into it this year with the intention of keeping it going on an annual basis.”
Taking the lead on the campaign is PVLIP community liaison Kevin Driedger, who has put a call out for people and businesses to make use of the “I’m a Welcomer” selfie frame they’ve created.
“We at PVLIP want to celebrate all the people who make the Pembina Valley a welcoming place,” he says, explaining he and other agency staff are open to scheduling a time to stop by locations across the region to snap a photo of individuals, employee groups, volunteers, etc. with the frame to be posted on social media during Welcoming Week (#WelcomingWeek2024 and #WelcomingPV).
“Already I’ve got places that are interested scheduling times,” Driedger says, noting that you can also take part by sending him photo that he can insert into the frame digitally. “We’re trying to make it as accessible as possible for people to participate.”
“This is a fun and engaging way to get community people involved, businesses, other organizations, municipal leaders … we hope throughout the region there’s a wide variety of participation,” says Burton-Saindon.
“The plan is for that week, social media will be flooded with pictures of welcoming people from throughout the Pembina Valley,” Driedger adds. “That’s the goal.”
Helping create communities where everyone feels like they belong is what PVLIP was created for, Burton-Saindon says, so this campaign is a great fit for the organization.
“Everything we do—in all of our strategies, our promotions, our campaigns—is all about creating that welcoming space,” she says, explaining they do that in a variety of ways, including helping municipalities and businesses create policies that foster inclusiveness, hosting community events to bring people from all walks of life together, and shining a spotlight on local success stories.
“Businesses are thriving because of immigration, economic development is happening because of immigration, and our communities, in general, are very welcoming. There’s a lot of good stories out there,” Burton-Saindon says, and this campaign is one way to shine a spotlight on that.
If you’d like to get involved in Welcoming Week 2024, connect with Driedger via email to kevin@pvlip.ca.
