Kardinal Offishall's 16th annual Christmas charity bash

Kardinal Offishall hosted his 16th annual Christmas party on December 18th at Cube night club, this time a bit more intimate compared to the year prior.

He knew the name or face of every person that was there during the VIP portion – and that was intentional. That allowed him to challenge each and everyone there to give back and donate to Free the Children through the live auction or even by anonymous donation. He made sure the venue was absolutely silent during the important speech delivered by Free the Children’s co-founder, Marc Kielburger. Kielburger and Kardi talked about the Canadian youth they brought to Kenya last year to let them see first hand how the donations we give can make a big difference to those less fortunate than us here. Absolute silence is rare these days during speeches at charity parties, so it was quite astounding to be there for that.

Marc Kielburger (Free the Children)

As Kardi says himself, he doesn’t just talk the talk, but he also walks the walk. And he encourages everyone to do so as well. I frequently witness first-hand just some of how much he himself gives back to communities in Toronto.

And at the same time, he’s still producing fresh new music, including his newest single just released this month, “That Chick Right There” ft. Chaisson.

"Take a picture of this" I said. "This is upliftment, this is guidance, this is mentorship, this is caring about the city that you live in, this is not just talking that talk, this is walking that walk. This is making 2015 the year that we take action and spread more love and really make all of the chat turn into action. This is love. These gun fingers in the air represent this beautiful city and why I spend so much time giving back to our kids that will be our future leaders…" (Or something like that…) 4EVR16 was amazinggggggg last night. @thisisjester and @djlissamonet killed the set and had the whole city LITTTTTT. T-Minus, @boi1da , @preign, @mr1loveto , @therascalz, @darealsd , @dejaydoc , @missjullyblack , @damonallen9 , @quinn.marie , @solitairmusic , #AllanRayman, #JdEra, @adriakain, @rookz, #ShiWisdom, #Telus, #PizzaPizza, @thempcf , @thenumber_3, @1loveto , @sonofgastone, @markstrizzzy, @big_c1, @kimbigk, @princerok , @majormovements , @davidjohnson_28 , and SOOOOOO MANY OTHERS were in that building last night contributing and making it an epic night for @freethechildren and @30Elephants (Tag yourself if you were in that building last night because I wanna big up everybody!). We raised a good amount of money last night, but need more to reach our goal of sending a minimum of 10 kids from various neighbourhoods (typically low income communities) to Africa to volunteer to help build schools, health clinics, libraries and go into the communities and interact with the people. The kids learn leadership skills and have life changing experiences that will help create the future leaders of this planet. Shoutout to the people that were not in attendance, but still donated and continue to inquire about ways to donate and help make this trip possible. Big up @itfactorbiz for executing a great night. Thank you for everyone who donated their services, sacrificed time, and have a strong effort into what was a unifying night-not just for Toronto, but for everyone who believes in progression and has a passion to want to do more for our communities and our youth. Big up every radio station, every tv station and the internets for the support. 1LOVE?

A photo posted by Kardinal (@kardinalo) on Dec 19, 2014 at 7:20am PST