Get involved · همراه شوید
Every program at Norooz Foundation is run by volunteers and paid for by people who think it matters. There are six ways in, and none of them require you to be Iranian, to speak Persian, or to have been before.
Volunteer
Every festival needs about twenty pairs of hands; every program needs a few steady ones. For one evening or the whole year.
Teach
Native speakers with teaching experience for the children's classes; teens who finished the program as assistants; musicians, cooks, calligraphers and storytellers for the cultural programs.
Everyone working with children completes a vulnerable-sector police check and safeguarding training — we'll walk you through it.
Teach with usMentor
If you've built a career in Canada, you know things that aren't written anywhere. Two hours a month, in your own field, can shorten someone's first year by a lot.
Sponsor
Businesses and professionals in the community keep our events free or low-cost. In return you're thanked on the night, on this site and in our announcements — in front of exactly the audience you'd like to meet.
Host
Whether you're in Kelowna, Halifax, or outside Canada altogether, if Persian is spoken where you are, there should be a Nowruz. We help local hosts get the first one off the ground.
Give
A donation covers what sponsorship doesn't: a family's Nowruz basket, a child's term of classes, a newcomer's résumé clinic, the rental deposit nobody remembers to budget for.
For schools, workplaces & municipalities
Teachers, HR teams, librarians and city councils ask us for the same thing: a way to mark the Persian new year that's genuine, and that doesn't fall on one Iranian colleague to organize alone.
We come with a Haft-Sin, a short talk on what each thing means, music, and something to eat. Twenty minutes for a classroom, or an evening for a whole building. We'll match the scale to yours.
The questions we hear most.
No. About a third of our volunteers don't. There's always someone to translate, and most of the work — carrying, welcoming, serving, driving — is done in whatever language you have.
An event shift is usually four to six hours. Teaching is Saturday mornings for a 12-week term. Mentoring is about two hours a month. Say what you can give and we'll fit around it.
Support programs are free. Festivals are free or by donation. Classes ask for a sliding-scale contribution that anyone can waive by ticking a box.
Yes, with planning, materials and introductions — we work with hosts and sister organizations in the United States and elsewhere by email and video call. Online programs are open across the border.
Norooz Foundation Inc. is a not-for-profit corporation. Ask us at info@norooz.ca about the current status of charitable receipts before you give, and we'll tell you straight.