Our Annual Gala, the Butterfly Ball, will be held on October 9th, 2025 at the RBC Convention Centre.  Each year, we invite people in our communities and networks to come together to learn about the struggles and triumphs that our Canadian youth face, and the impact we can make by supporting these programs. So many young people are struggling, and we will continue to do all that we can to give them hope and encourage impactful healing. This year, we are expecting approximately 1,500 people in attendance at our Gala, and our reach is continually growing each year.

Hosted by Winnipeg’s favorite radio personality, Ace Burpee, you can expect a night filled with compassion, connectivity, and most importantly, change. With the support of our generous donors, we will have an unforgettable live auction, a silent auction, and other prizes.

Butterfly Ball Impact

The Samantha Mason Foundation team raises funds to support mental health initiatives for youth across Canada.  We are building a community of businesses, and likeminded people who acknowledge and understand the crisis that our Canadian Youth are in and want to make a difference.

Our current partnerships allow us to reach students nationwide, offering programs, resources, and most importantly, hope.  We are currently partnered with LiveDifferent and the Toba Centre for Children & Youth.

We want to continue to grow our impact and the reach we have. Much like raising kids, it takes a village to do this.  We want you to be a part of our village!

At last year’s Butterfly Ball alone, we were able to raise over $350,000! As a charity organization, you can feel comfortable knowing that 100% of your funds donated go to supporting Canadian Youth, and helping them overcome their individual and unique struggles, and traumas.

LiveDifferent

Funds raised through the Butterfly Ball go towards grants and scholarships for Indigenous youth to receive life-promotion programming and experiential leadership opportunities through LiveDifferent’s Canadian Youth Fund.  With these funds, they have been able to offer schools and communities grants and scholarships to receive the programming below at a reduced cost and in some cases, no cost. These programs include:

Full Circle Program:

(6 sessions including a compassion project – LiveDifferent facilitates some of these but also train teachers, youthworks, and student leaders to facilitate these on their own)

• Authenticity: How do we really connect with others?
• Empathy: How can we make others feel important?
• Growth: Can our beliefs change who we become?
• Resilience: How can we become stronger from life’s challenges?
• Altruism: How can we become people who make a difference?
• Values and Priorities: What are the things that really matter to us?

Online Assemblies:

LiveDifferent’s Leadership Coaches facilitate one of the above Circle Sessions in an online format with a school.

School/Community Tours

This is LiveDifferent’s in-person programming. The teams visit schools and Indigenous communities. The teams facilitate the above-listed Circles with the students. The average assembly is about 500 students – However, they can range from, 50 to 2,500 students depending on the school size.

Professional Development Days for Teachers:

Customized programming to facilitate some of the above Circle Sessions with teachers for two main reasons:

1. Showcase our programs with teachers so they can catch a glimpse of the impact and in turn, bring us in to work with their students.

2. Team building and professional development for the teachers themselves.

Toba Centre for Youth & Children

Toba Centre for Children & Youth opened in 2014, offering a safe, neutral, family-friendly setting where children and youth who have become victims of abuse are interviewed by independent, highly-trained forensic interviewers. 2019 marked the beginning of their transformation to a fully co-located, coordinated response to child abuse in Manitoba.

This evolution included expanding their services beyond forensic interviewing, to providing wrap-around supports to children and families impacted by abuse. In 2023, they moved to our current location in Assiniboine Park. Within this space, police, social work, medical and other support services work together to serve children and families. This coordinated response serves to reduce potential trauma to children and families and improve services overall, while preserving and respecting the rights, mandates, and obligations of mandated agencies.

Toba Centre’s mission is to restore the health and wellbeing of those affected by child abuse through a coordinated, community response. Funds raised at the Butterfly Ball will go directly towards this mission.