Awesome Ottawa

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Awesome Ottawa

$1,000. no strings attached. srsly. Awesome Ottawa awards $1,000 every month to forward the interest of awesome in the universe.

10/08/2026

Need $1,000 to make your awesome idea a reality? Get your application for October's award in by Tuesday.

09/09/2026

The latest Awesome Ottawa award goes to Asiya Hilowle and Madina Hilowle to support inclusive tennis for girls and women.

We’re taking Queen of the Court to the turf,” says Madina. “For the last few years, we’ve been building a community in Ottawa that is obsessed with basketball, but more importantly, obsessed with showing up for each other. We’ve seen firsthand how a court can become a home base for women and youth who don't always feel like they ‘fit’ the traditional sports mold. Now, we want to bring that same energy to tennis.”

“Tennis in this city can feel really gatekept,” she continues. “it’s expensive, the gear is a huge up-front cost, and if you didn't grow up in a ‘tennis family,’ it’s intimidating to walk onto a court alone. We want to dismantle that barrier.”

“Our ‘Tennis Takeover,’ she explains, is a four-week pilot program designed to get 20 girls and women in Ottawa onto public courts. We aren't just teaching a backhand; we’re providing every single piece of equipment they need – racquets, balls, court time – so the only thing they have to do is show up in their sneakers. By taking over public park space, we’re making the sport visible, accessible, and inclusive for our community. We’ve already proven we can do this on the basketball court; now we’re just trading the hoop for a net and keeping that same grassroots, high-energy vibe.”

Asiya and Madina started Queen of the Court in 2013 “because we just wanted a safe, comfortable place to play,” says Madina. “What began as a small circle for Muslim and BIPOC women to get on the court without judgment has grown into a full-blown community. We now run drop-ins twice a week, summer leagues, and huge yearly tournaments – we even take the crew on annual camping trips. This tennis pilot is our next chapter: taking that same mission of "claiming space" and applying it to a sport that’s felt out of reach for far too long.”

09/02/2026

Need $1,000 to make your awesome idea a reality? Get your application for September's award in by Monday.

08/04/2026

Need $1,000 to make your awesome idea a reality? Get your application for August's award in by Sunday.

07/15/2026

The latest Awesome Ottawa award goes to Kiana Simmons to support the Ottawa Miniature Gallery – a miniature portable gallery for miniature art.

“The Ottawa Miniature Gallery,” explains Kiana, “is a 6-foot travelling gallery that aims to showcase the work of all types of artist across Ottawa and beyond. We set the gallery up in unconventional places like cafes and shops to make the gallery as accessible as possible to the public.”

The gallery has interior lighting, hardwood floors, and 12 showrooms on three levels, and has featured hundreds of tiny art pieces by numerous artists since its founding in 2022. Kiana took over the gallery from glass artist Jennifer Anne Kelly in 2025.

Kiana is an Ottawa-based miniaturist and artist who left a desk job last year to pursue more creatively stimulating work – including Miniature Veg (miniatureveg.ca), a small business that teaches the creation of miniature foods with polymer clay.

07/03/2026

Need $1,000 to make your awesome idea a reality? Get your application for July's award in by Wednesday.

06/03/2026

Need $1,000 to make your awesome idea a reality? Get your application for June's award in by Tuesday.

05/20/2026

The latest Awesome Ottawa award goes to Charles Garfinkle to support a platform enabling artists to receive patronage in chicken wings.

“This project evolved out of an album of songs I composed about wings,” explains Charles, “inspired by my experiences growing up eating wings in Ottawa.” http://www.wingalong.com

“As part of my performance, I decided to only accept chicken wings for my music, and so I am building a digital wing economy to enable that possibility for myself and others.” http://www.capitalwing.co

“In this system,” explains Charles, “any money an artist receives is held in reserve and only released when they upload a receipt verifying a purchase of chicken wings.”

“If they need cash, the system supports them selling their claims on wing-reserved money to anyone who eats wings – typically at a friendly discount. Fans can eat for you!”

“Eventually,” says Charles, “I’ll accommodate other popular food items, allowing any artist to connect with their fans not just over art but over their favourite foods, by literally accepting that food as payment for their work.”

Charles has been sharing his songs in living rooms, at house parties, and at the occasional open mic for over a decade — first while pursuing a PhD in neuroscience, and later while building a software company with friends. He recently moved back home to Ottawa from California, purportedly “to do the wing thing.”

05/04/2026

The latest Awesome Ottawa award goes to Kate Saunders to support an autism swim program at Gloucester High School.

“Children with autism are more likely to drown than the general population,” says Kate, “as water attraction and wandering are common, leading to fatal incidents in pools, ponds, and lakes – especially for young boys.”

“Our swim program provides inclusive, adaptive swimming opportunities, designed specifically for our students with Autism Spectrum Disorder. The program focuses on water safety, skill development, confidence-building, and sensory regulation in a supportive and structured environment.”

“Beyond teaching swimming skills,” continues Kate, “the program supports physical health, emotional regulation, and social development. Swimming provides calming sensory input, improves motor coordination, and builds independence. Our goal is to remove barriers to aquatic participation while promoting lifelong water safety, self-confidence, and enjoyment of physical activity.”

“Our goal for our students when they graduate at age 21 is for them to be as functionally independent community members as possible, and swimming is one of their favourite community activities. We go once a week, every Tuesday afternoon. They love playing in the water and practicing their swimming skills.”

Kate is a teacher at Gloucester High School. “I am passionate about increasing access to water safety and swim instruction for individuals with autism, and believe that every student deserves the opportunity to feel confident, capable, and safe in the water,” she says. “They deserve a chance to just play and be kids. The joy on their faces makes it all worth it.”

04/15/2026

The latest Awesome Ottawa award goes to Liam Callaghan to support a survival backpack rental service for the city.

“Aid and Assist's Borrow a First Aid Kit service provides first aid kit rentals to anyone in Ottawa,” says Liam. “For $25, we deliver a fully stocked kit, retrieve it up to 30 days later, and don’t charge for the first $5 of used supplies. The service is designed for people going on day trips or longer adventures, and for community groups holding larger events once or twice a year that may not have the resources, capacity, or desire to maintain their own comprehensive first aid kits.”

“We currently offer three kit types,” continues Liam, “the Daypack, Destination, and Event kits. The Survival Backpack will expand on our service to add a comprehensive backpack kit designed to provide both emergency medical supplies and wilderness survival gear. It will increase emergency preparedness during long-distance excursions by providing the resources for a small group to persevere through a wilderness emergency for a minimum of 72 hours.”

“The backpack,” says Liam, “will include an emergency radio and flashlight, emergency rations, expandable water containers, water purification tablets, emergency blankets and sleeping bags, waterproof and windproof matches, a compass, parachute cord, a tourniquet, a splint, glowsticks, and more. It will also only cost $25 to borrow.”

By day, Liam is a policy analyst with the RCMP. He and his team used to volunteer and work at the Carleton University Student’s Association, where they pioneered the Borrow a First Aid Kit service for Carleton University students. “Bringing that success to the greater Ottawa area was a clear first step to achieving our mission,” he says.

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Ottawa, ON

Website

http://awesomeottawa.ca/

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