Oscar-winning actor Sean Penn will be in Toronto next month to receive a peace and justice award for his humanitarian and relief efforts in Haiti.
The Milk actor will be honoured at the Bovet 1822 Artists for Peace and Justice 2016 Festival Fair at Casa Loma on Sept. 11 during the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF).
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The eighth-annual event is hosted by Canadian director, writer and producer Paul Haggis and his non-profit organization Artists for Peace and Justice – an organization that encourages peace and social justice and addresses issues of poverty around the world.
The immediate focus of Haggis’ organization is on the poorest communities in Haiti, where Penn has done post-earthquake humanitarian work and established a relief organization.
Haggis will host along with A History of Violence actress Maria Bello and Canadian media personality George Stroumboulopoulos, among others.
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Penn landed in Haiti in January 2010 to take part in the clean up just days after the country experience a 7.0 earthquake, killing more than 300,000 people and displacing 1.5 million. The 55-year-old actor is an ambassador-at-large for Haiti’s president and is the CEO of an aid group called J/P Haitian Relief Organization, which became an agency that managed a camp for displaced people. It also focuses on providing medical, engineering and construction, community development and reforestation to the areas that continue to feel the after effects of the 2010 hurricane.
Other stars connected to Haggis’ organization are Gerard Butler, Susan Sarandon and Ben Stiller.
With files from The Canadian Press
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