NotJustYou celebrates seven years with The Afro-Jazz Experience in Edmonton

On Saturday, January 24, NotJustYou celebrated its seventh year with The Afro-Jazz Experience, a free evening of live music in Edmonton. “Year 7” signs marked the tables, and the night was presented with Canadian Blood Services.

The evening drew on two traditions. One is the Yoruba owambe, a grand celebration of community. The other is the elegance of a cocktail party.

Music, food and an owambe spirit

Melafrique and Slim Tyme performed live Afro-jazz, and Iranti served canapés. Guests sat at candlelit tables, and some came dressed in traditional attire.

The owambe idea fits NotJustYou’s 2026 theme, “From Taboo to Tradition.” The theme is about weaving health advocacy, philanthropy and open conversation into culture, especially in African, Caribbean and Black communities, and an owambe-style celebration put that idea into practice.

Seven years of NotJustYou

NotJustYou launched in January 2019 with the Ruva N Friends worship concert, which drew more than 300 people. Seven years later, the anniversary was again marked with live music.

The years in between built the organization NotJustYou is today. A few milestones along the way:

• November 2019: packing Warrior Bags with the University of Alberta Black Students’ Association
• January 2020: the One Year Anniversary concert
• 2020 and 2021: gifts and Warrior Bags for the Stollery Children’s Hospital, the Alberta Children’s Hospital, BC Children’s Hospital and SickKids
• March 2023: the first Cellular stem cell drive and networking night, NotJustYou’s first in-person event after a 38-month pause
• June 2023: the first World Sickle Cell Day Brunch
• 2024 and 2025: Cellular travels to Toronto and Calgary
• September 2025: The Kickback, the rooftop BBQ that opens Sickle Cell Awareness Month, launches The 100, a campaign for 100 people to give $100 each and raise $10,000 for families affected by sickle cell

Today NotJustYou runs Cells, Canada’s first and only nationwide virtual peer support group for people living with sickle cell and their caregivers, now in its third year. It also runs Bright care packages and the Cellular stem cell drive.

NotJustYou was founded in Edmonton by Ufuoma Muwhen, who was diagnosed with sickle cell at age 2 and is now sickle cell free after a stem cell transplant. Its mission is to be an easily accessible, broad support network that educates, motivates and celebrates individuals and families affected by sickle cell disease. Read more about NotJustYou.

Canadian Blood Services at the table

Canadian Blood Services had a table at the event, and the evening opened a three-part initiative between the two organizations. The other two parts are a national digital campaign sharing the stories of donors and recipients, and a group blood donation during Black History Month. The table’s banner listed four ways to give: blood, plasma, stem cells, and organs and tissues.

The partnership runs through NotJustYou’s work. Every Cellular stem cell drive has included a Canadian Blood Services registry table, and NotJustYou gives blood as a team through Canadian Blood Services’ Partners for Life program, with group donations in 2024 and during Sickle Cell Awareness Month in 2025.

The reason is direct. Ethnically matched blood is critical for people living with sickle cell who rely on transfusions, which is why donors from African, Caribbean and Black communities matter so much.

To give blood alongside NotJustYou, join our Partners for Life team at Canadian Blood Services. Learn how on our blood and stem cell donation page.

Update, February 26, 2026: NotJustYou’s first Black History Month group blood donation took place on Saturday, February 21, at a Canadian Blood Services donor centre in Edmonton. Read the recap.