The Regional Advisory Committee on Inclusion, Diversity and Equality (RACIDE), held its first “I am Different Because…” campaign on Friday.
The campaign recognized the United Nations International Day of Tolerance, which aims to bring awareness and understanding between cultures and people.
Caitlin Downie, project lead on RACIDE, said they ordered 500 shirts and ran out two weeks before the campaign was set to start.
“It was absolutely an overwhelming response from everyone. We ended up designing posters that people could print out instead of having the T-shirts so that people could still participate in the campaign.”
The shirts, which say “I am Different Because…”, have a spot for the wearer to fill in what makes them diverse.
Downie said it’s hard to know how many people participated. After the shirts ran out, posters were sent to 15 organizations digitally, leaving them to print multiple copies.
As for future initiatives, Downie said there are plenty to come.
