| THE HOMELESS AND THE LESS FORTUNATE |
The Holiday Hamper Project The grade 8 and 9 classes at St. Clements School are putting together Holiday Hampers to deliver to two families in need this Christmas. These families have been identified through their children’s schools by social workers working for the Toronto District School Board. The first is a family of five with two sons ages 5 and 13 and one daughter age 12. The second family is a single father with two daughters ages 11 and 14. We have provided a number of items for both baskets and have used your generous donation to purchase groceries for both families. Thank you, once again this year, for providing us with another opportunity to participate in the true meaning of Christmas. I know your donation will be very much appreciated by both families. Your generosity, as always, is inspiring. - Lauren, Tory, Rob and Sandra Hines
Yellow Brick House Mel and I donated the contribution from Brendan Wood International to the Yellow Brick House, a Toronto shelter for battered women and their children. The donation went towards Christmas presents for the kids under the age of seven who are confined to this little shelter. - Pat and Melanie Wood
Daily Bread Food Bank
My decision to support The Daily Bread Food Bank is based on the following:
- Ross McMaster Kathmandu Children’s School Your kindness was donated in Kathmandu, Nepal - in November 2002 - to the Children’s school for the purpose of purchasing new reading books. The children’s school operates on a volunteer basis with donated funds for materials and equipment. Your kindness helped to bring smiles to the faces of the children in Kathmandu and to assist in their education for brighter futures. Thank you for allowing us to the messengers on your behalf. - Mo and Kumari Colson
On Our Salvation Army Day of Giving: Several people at Brendan Wood International pulled together to try to make Christmas day a little brighter for eight families brought to our attention through the Salvation Army. Although not everyone could participate in the afternoon of “Hand to Hand” giving, many of our friends & family gave their time, energy and even encouraged their respective employers to contribute to this cause. Although they could not spend the day with us in the hand to hand giving, Teresa Chan & Laura Torzsas helped with our Christmas effort, donating both their time and many cheery gifts. Laura’s company, Orchard International, was kind enough to donate bath/body products & toys for all the Christmas packages. Teresa encouraged Riviera Concepts to provide perfume and bath products for all the mothers and teen girls of the families we brought Christmas cheer to. On the actual day of giving our team, consisting of Trevor Torzsas, David Clements & Laurel Ward visited two families. The first family we visited was a family of 6 from the Congo. The mother, Messi, arrived in Canada about 6 years ago with her daughter. The father, Kitoko, formerly a judge in the Congo, was not able to reach Canada until 3 years later. The entire family has been waiting ever since to get their official residency. We had the pleasure of spending about an hour with Messi, Kitoko, and daughters Kristine & Jessica. The family was extremely welcoming to us and are extremely happy to be in Canada, even though the weather was a little hard to get used to in the beginning. The second family . . . Unfortunately we were only able to spend a brief time with Noreen who is raising three grandchildren. We walked with her from the Salvation Army office where she volunteers twice a week in the kitchen. We found out that the most popular days to go to the Salvation Army kitchen are apparently the days when Noreen does the cooking. Noreen was going straight from her kitchen duties to the house to drop off our Christmas gift packages and then to pick up the kids from school. She was kind enough to share a prayer with us at her house. - Trevor L. Torzsas
Thank you once again for the opportunity to participate in Brendan Wood International’s Christmas Giving Celebration. This year’s celebration provided Stephanie and I with an opportunity to work with the Salvation Army and learn more about their mission and core values. We were happy to have had the opportunity to spread good cheer to a group of less fortunate families. These hand-to-hand greetings proved very rewarding as did the lesson which I picked up from one of their soldiers - making a difference happens one individual at a time. - Michael and Stephanie Flynn
Earlscourt Child and Family Centre In the spirit of giving established by the BWI partners over twenty years ago, current BWIers take a hands-on approach to helping those less fortunate during the holiday season. This year, we have chosen to make a contribution to the Earlscourt Child and Family Centre in Toronto, specifically their Girls Connection Program. Girls Connection reaches out to families with girls under-12 who have anti-social and aggressive behaviour. It is the only empirically-based girl-specific program in North America with their research findings disseminated throughout the Social Work community. Unfortunately, the program is not government-funded and must make do with grants and gifts from corporate and private donors. We hope that our small contribution will help Earlscourt continue in their noble pursuit of working with our society’s “future mothers”. - Rod and Nicolle Wisco and Robert Posthumus
Back in late October, Rod and I were discussing societal issues that pertain to our youth. It was a “hot-topic” for me as I am a soon to be proud father. During our talk, he told me about a charity that his sister was involved with, the Earlscourt Child and Family Centre, located in Toronto. He explained to me that the charity focuses on young girls, 12 and under, who, for whatever reasons have anger management or anti-social behavioral problems. We then talked about the treatment of the girls and why this program was so successful compared to others. After my conversation with Rod, I came home and told Meghan about the charity. She was as intrigued and appreciative of the effort this charity was putting forward as I was. When BWI generously provided funds for people donate to a charity that they felt was important or relevant to their lives, both Meghan and I had little hesitation deciding on the Earlscourt Child and Family Centre. With our child on the way we wanted to give to an organization that was focused on our future. Since the donation, we have found out that we are having a baby girl, which makes this donation much more relevant and special to our lives. It is our hope that we will be able to continue our support this organization for many years to come. Brett Williams and Meghan Kennedy
Anishnawbe Health Toronto As another winter approaches, I can’t help but think about the upcoming extreme cold alerts and what this might mean for a growing homeless population in Toronto. Specifically, Aboriginal people are disproportionately represented among Toronto’s homeless population. In 1999, while Aboriginal people comprised less than two percent of the general population, 17 percent of the homeless people the Anishnawbe Street Patrol served were Aboriginal. A recent compilation of the number of deaths among the homeless population of Toronto revealed that 35 percent of those who died as a direct result of the harshness of a life lived on the streets, were Aboriginal. Although there are a number of organizations that are supporting the homeless, I believe that BWI’s generous contribution, that I will match, can best be used in the fight against homelessness in the community by supporting an organization that has a cultural response to the issue. It may be that other centres, while effective and useful for the mainstream homeless population, have been unable to help Aboriginal peoples deal with the core issues that cause the drinking, the homelessness, the depression, and the dysfunction in families. There are deep issues at work, ranging from colonization and dispossession, to the cultural and familial destruction wrought by residential schools. Anishnawbe Health has a number of Street Patrol programs as well as longer-term Outreach programs to provide a culture-based solution to this growing problem and provides an important service to this community. Anishnawbe Health Toronto is a culture-based Native healing centre committed to the full recovery of Anishnawbe people through traditional ways. This healing takes place from the spiritual realm, through traditional Healers, Elders and Teachers, through ceremonies and other gifts of Creation. - Milan Roy
Street Haven Over the years, I had heard reference made to Street Haven briefly on the news but did not pay much attention. I originally wanted to make a donation to the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health. However, my contact person had reservations about this because she felt the funds might not get to the people who really need them and suggested an alternative, Street Haven. Street Haven offers services and programs to women who have addictions to alcohol, cocaine, and other drugs. Some of these women are also homeless and afflicted by mental illness. As such, there are case managers to provide ongoing support. Having no money, home, and lacking a network of family or friends, these women can find solace in the drop-in center or tend to health care issues through physicians who are affiliated with this organization. There is also a breast cancer clinic on site.There are educational programs and a learning center to help women develop coping skills so that they may learn to deal with the multitude of issues that face people with addictions. There are two facilities that offer residential rehabilitative programs which may last up to six months. There is a hostel for emergency shelter and an apartment building which is subsidized while these women recover and gain the strength to move forward in their lives. As always, I appreciate the opportunity to make a difference through the support and generosity of Brendan Wood International. - Brenda Kastner
Help for Humanity When I heard that BWI would be continuing their Christmas tradition of The Lazarus Projects, I felt more inspired about Christmas giving this year than in times past. It was very humbling to know that I could be apart of a tradition of sharing and giving generously to charities that not only my peer group had a passion for, but also the leaders of the firm in which we take such direction from. I thank you for this opportunity. The charitable organization that I chose was Help for Humanity and the reason for my decision was actually an easy one. Help for Humanity is currently working on a Senior Village project in Kitchener, Waterloo. The project is to help individuals who have given their life to different ministries around the world in the missions field and who have now retired to find themselves lacking the basic necessities of life. All to often we have forgotten the people who have spent their lifetime helping others and making the small differences in the world, that we for the most part, take for granted. For this reason, I have forwarded the funds to Help for Humanity as their efforts run parallel with my desire to give. Some of us can help by getting our hands dirty by participating in the daily activities and other help by giving generously like BWI. - Ryan Hue
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