A hands-on approach to helping new Canadians.

Send + Receive creates powerful PSA campaign for Afghan Women’s Organization.

The refugee crisis has touched many corners of the globe and Canada is no exception.

The country has become a safe haven for newcomers looking to rebuild their lives while preserving their identity and culture.

The Afghan Woman’s Organization (AWO) is on the front lines of this important settlement work, helping more than 100 landed immigrations and refugees per month.

To further build awareness around the Mississauga-based non-profit’s wide range of services, Toronto creative agency send + receive has created a series of TV commercials and refreshed the organization’s logo.

Produced by Someplace Nice and directed by Sean McBride, the 15-second spots, “Wellness Café,” “Job Skills” and “Literacy” showcase different facets of AWO’s services using simple, yet powerful imagery.

Each film shows AWO employees themselves supporting newly arrived Canadians. The ads are shot in a single take and use staging inspired by live theatre to show community- based solutions to challenges faced by newly arrived refugees.

They each feature a character sitting alone in a room – an older woman, a seven-year-old boy and his mother and a young woman – grappling with a problem when a group of Afghan women arrive and transform the space into a welcoming and nurturing environment.

The spots will begin airing on April 1, 2017 and broadcast through December 31, 2017.

“In a simple way, we wanted to show how transformative AWO’s work really is,” said JP Gravina, Partner/Creative Director, send + receive. “The spots show how these volunteers actually change people’s lives.”

“To keep it authentic, we decided to use the volunteers themselves as part of our cast. Everyone was excited to be involved,” said Simon Craig, Partner/Creative Director, send+receive. “These spots are elegant ways of describing the real effect that community can have on newcomers to Canada,” added McBride. “It’s a very timely message.”

Send + Receive Send + Receive is a full-service, project-based agency based in Toronto. Partners JP Gravina, Simon Craig and Andrew Carty have more than 35 years of collective experience working with brands from every category and created some of the most memorable and effective work in the country, including a rebrand of Canada’s largest bank, a social media appeal for an ailing brand that received tens of millions of impressions world wide, and a public service campaign that won Canada its first-ever Grand Effie. The agency has also won awards from D&AD, One Show and Cannes Lions.

Someplace Nice Based in Toronto, Someplace Nice represents a roster of local and international directors, cinematographers and photographers that produces advertising for the Canadian market. Specializing in broadcast, digital and print, the company’s work has been recognized by leading industry award shows such as the Cannes Lions, CLIO Awards, Applied Arts, The ADCCs and the Marketing Awards.