Where it started

It started with a vision — and a need. Karibbean Spice Music Association was formed in May 2011 out of a simple belief: that music could give young people a positive path forward, away from the negative influences facing some communities and youth cultures.

Music is one of the few things that reaches everyone, regardless of background. K.S.M.A. used that common ground to open a door — giving young people a productive way to get involved, building unity across cultures, and shining a light on the challenges affecting our youth. The mission centered on becoming more multicultural, and embracing difference through music rather than in spite of it.

K.S.M.A. made its mark at Carnival, Carivibe, and Latinfest, and was proudly sponsored by the 2013 Scotiabank Caribbean Carnival — with every dollar raised going to charity.

A personal mission

Karibbean Spice Charities started the way most charitable giving does — a few donations a year, simply because it was the right thing to do. For our founder, that meant SickKids Hospital.

"That changed a few years in, when I learned that SickKids is the reason I'm here at all. I was a patient there for two weeks as a baby — and if it wasn't for them, I wouldn't be writing this today. From that point on, it became my mission to help raise money so other kids could be saved the way I was. I guess you could call it a personal debt. With whatever knowledge and resources I had, I started finding more creative, more innovative ways to raise money."

That mission grew to include fundraising for the ALS Foundation and the Humane Society — because once you start looking for causes worth fighting for, you don't run out.

Passing the torch

That decade of music, community, and fundraising is the foundation — literally — that Case the Wolf Foundation is built on. The name and the mascot are new. The commitment to kids, community, and causes that need help isn't.

See how that torch gets passed forward → · Browse photos from past events →