Sarah McLachlan To Receive Humanitarian Award

11/20/08 2:51pm

Sarah McLachlan will receive the Allan Waters Humanitarian Award during the Juno gala dinner and awards presentation on March 28, the night before the televised Juno Awards show at Vancouver's General Motors Place.

The prize, named after the late CHUM Limited founder Allan Waters, recognizes an outstanding Canadian artist whose humanitarian contributions have positively enhanced Canada's social fabric.

"She is an inspirational example of how music can touch lives and positively affect change in communities," says Melanie Berry, the president of the Canadian Academy Of Recording Arts And Sciences (CARAS), which oversees the Junos.

"I feel so lucky and blessed in my life, and giving back feels right and good," says McLachlan. "It's the best way I know to thank the universe."

McLachlan celebrated the 20th anniversary of her recording career last month. In addition to releasing several multi-platinum albums, receiving numerous music awards and touring around the world, McLachlan has also tried to use her music as a platform for social change and has made humanitarian contributions to charities and organizations at home and abroad.

The 40-year-old Halifax native founded Lilith Fair, a touring festival organized to showcase and promote women in music, in 1997. It showcased more than 100 female artists to more than two million music fans across North America. By the end of its three-year run in 1999, Lilith Fair raised more than $7 million for charities and women's shelters across North America.

McLachlan received the Order Of Canada in 2000 for her outstanding achievements, dedication to the community and service to the nation.

The Vancouver-based singer/songwriter founded the Sarah McLachlan Foundation in 1999 to help bring music into the lives of young Canadians, especially in underserved communities. She established the first Sarah McLachlan Music Outreach — An Arts Umbrella Project in Vancouver's inner city four years later. The program offers students free music lessons, educational workshops, mentorship and support networks.

McLachlan's video for her 2004 single, "World On Fire," cost $15 to produce. The remainder of the $150,000 production budget was donated to 11 charitable organizations, including CARE, Engineers Without Borders, Help The Aged, War Child and Heifer International. "World On Fire" received a 2004 Grammy Award nomination for best short form music video.

McLachlan is a major supporter of CARAS' music education charity, MusiCounts, and performed for and presented instrument grants to students from seven Vancouver schools in January. The mother of two joined community leaders, motivational speakers and artists in Toronto last month at a stadium event packed with thousands of young people in support of Free The Children, a global network of children helping children.

The eight-time Juno and four-time Grammy winner has been the spokesperson for the B.C. Society For The Prevention Of Cruelty to Animals since 2006.

McLachlan has sold more than 26 million records worldwide since releasing her Touch debut. Closer: The Best Of Sarah McLachlan, which features her biggest hits and two newly recorded songs, was released in October.

Bruce Cockburn, Tom Jackson and Paul Brandt were the first three winners of the Allan Waters Humanitarian Award.