The Kickback 2025

We would like to extend our heartfelt gratitude to our generous partners for their invaluable support in making this event a resounding success. Your generosity and dedication to supporting those affected by sickle cell disease has made a lasting impact on the lives of individuals and families affected by this condition. These are our partners for this event:

Canadian Blood Services
Vertex Pharmaceuticals
Goava Studio

The Kickback is NotJustYou’s signature celebration marking the start of Sickle Cell Awareness Month—a rooftop BBQ with joyful, high-energy gathering rooted in purpose, culture, and community action.

This year’s Kickback spotlighted the importance of blood donation, featuring a moving message from Gift Okwa, a regular blood donor and proud member of NotJustYou’s Canadian Blood Services Partners for Life team. Gift shared his personal journey of donating blood regularly over the past 8 years, inspiring attendees to see blood donation as an accessible and life-saving act of service. His story helped energize the room and encouraged many guests to register for our upcoming group blood donation.

As a direct result, we successfully doubled our registrants compared to our first group blood donation in 2024—an incredible milestone fueled by community momentum. The Kickback also marked the official launch of our first-ever giving campaign, The 100, with a goal to raise $10,000 for the sickle cell community. While the campaign continues, the event itself set the tone by raising $1,000 and eventually $4,500 total, demonstrating the power of collective giving.

The afternoon was brought to life with an electrifying performance by Melafrique, whose music created an atmosphere of celebration, joy, and cultural connection. 

A heartfelt thank you to Vertex Pharmaceuticals, Canadian Blood Services, and Goava Studio for sponsoring The Kickback. The Kickback embodied what NotJustYou does best—transforming awareness into action and advocacy into community.