When Naushad and Yasmin Jamani think about giving, they don’t start with philanthropy.
They start with gratitude.
Decades ago, their family arrived as newcomers in Canada. They had just 90 days to leave the country they had always called home.
“It was scary and lonely,” Yasmin remembers. “It was a different culture. Everything was different.”
For Naushad, the uncertainty remains vivid.
“I know the desperation you feel when there’s this whole world and nobody’s listening to you,” he says. “Nobody’s responding to your needs. Nobody really cares. It’s a tough position to be in.”
But someone helped them find a way forward.
A United Way-supported agency, the Salvation Army, helped their family settle in Canada. That support helped them build a new life, pursue education, establish careers and, most importantly, stay together as a family.
“Everything that we had… was because somebody helped us,” says Naushad.
From receiving help to helping others
Years later, through a workplace campaign at Nova Chemicals, Naushad and Yasmin became part of their United Way workplace campaign.
For Yasmin, workplace giving became the beginning of a deeper commitment to philanthropy.
“That’s when I started thinking, it’s good to give back to the community,” she says.
As their family became more established, so did their ability and desire to help others.
“It makes me feel good,” Yasmin says. “And it makes me appreciate what we have as a family.”
Giving for today — and generations to come
The Jamani’s established a United Way Named Fund, creating a lasting legacy that will support the causes and community needs most important to them for generations to come.
For Naushad, the decision was about creating a practical, trusted way for their family to help others.
“It’s about setting up a fund that would be managed by competent, good people that I trusted — like United Way — who were going to make sure the money was used in a good way to help other people in the community,” he said.
Once established, the fund is managed by United Way, creating an enduring source of support that will continue supporting the community over time.
For the Jamani’s, the Named Fund came at the right time.
“It resonated with us,” says Naushad.
It supports the causes most important to the donor, creating impact today and for generations to come.
“A lot of the lessons I learned on the idea of philanthropy and the idea of helping community came from our grandparents,” he says. “And they probably got it from their parents.”
He wants to make sure that spirit continues.
“Beyond a nice car and a nice house and the vacations, there’s a whole community of people that we have an obligation to help, if we can.”
Yasmin hopes their daughters will carry that belief forward.
“I hope they will appreciate what they have and be able to be philanthropic and continue what we have started.”
For the Jamani’s, generosity isn’t simply something they do.
It’s something they were given, something they remember and something they’re choosing to pass on.
Give today. Give for generations.
For more information or to start planning your family’s legacy, please contact our Planned Giving Team.