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For any questions or to submit registration forms, please e-mail spikeback@torontocitymission.com.

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Schedule
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Poster

We run Sonshine Day Camp every March Break and 7 weeks during the summer in each of our communities. We need mission teams to help camps run smoothly and in order to have the greatest impact on the lives of the children.

If your church or group is interested in serving at a week of camp, please contact Elliott Shin at eshin@torontocitymission.com.

What our Mission Teams are saying about their experience:

“By far, the most positive and praiseworthy thing I experienced this week was the shift in the kids’ mentality about who God is and what faith is all about. We were intentional in our conversations with the campers about faith issues and the discussion portion after the Bible Time was especially helpful in furthering the dialogue. Through this, we were able to demonstrate and, by the same token, be reminded that faith and life intersect in the most unlikely of conversations and unexpected of places; it is at this junction that Christ is most glorified. ”

- Youth Pastor – Summer 2012

“[The most positive thing I experienced was] God working through me to talk to the children. I felt God helped me build a kind of confidence after the mission trip to talk to others about Him.”

- Mission Team Member – Summer 2011

“Seeing the youth in my team stepping out of their comfort zone to interact and connect with the children. Seeing their growth in leadership skills and their realization of their impact as role models to the kids.”

- Youth Pastor – Summer 2011

Thank you for your interest in volunteering with Toronto City Mission (TCM). Volunteers are the backbone of our programs and we are happy to share our opportunities for service with you.

Here at TCM, we believe that all people have been given gifts and talents. We want to use these God-given gifts and talents and put you in a place that is fulfilling to both you and TCM. We believe that these matches exist.

At TCM we are committed to providing a safe and secure environment for all our program participants and volunteers. Therefore, we carefully screen our volunteers.

Below is a list of the locations we serve in. For a detailed description of each of our programs, please visit our Program page. For more information, please contact Volunteer Resources at 416.922.6223 or email us at volunteer@torontocitymission.com.

To view our volunteer opportunities visit the link below:

Volunteer Opportunities

To download the Volunteer Application Package, please visit the following link: Volunteer Application Package

To learn more about how you can donate click on one of the options below:

Toronto City Mission is a member of the Canadian Council of Christian Charities.

Toronto, October 23, 2012 – Toronto City Mission (TCM) is launching an afterschool program at St. Stephen’s Presbyterian in Kingston-Galloway, a “priority” community that has recently made headlines for connections to shootings. (“Kingston-Galloway shootings: youths vying for dominance in re-emerging gang” The Star, September 21, 2012, by Betsy Powell and Jim Rankin)

About Kingston-Galloway

Kingston-Galloway is a diverse neighbourhood in south Scarborough.  The population of Kingston-Galloway is 23,042 people. The community has a high percentage of low income people (29% compared to the city average of 19.4%) and 32.5% of all families with children are lone-parent families – much greater than the Toronto average. (City of Toronto Priorities Neighbourhoods Profiles 2006).   Kingston-Galloway has the highest concentration of subsidized housing in all of Ontario.  In fact, 90% of the population lives in TCHC buildings and 10% of them own their houses. The top 3 languages spoken at home, other than English, are: Bengali, Tamil and Tagalog. (P.5, Kingston -Galloway / Orton Park COMMUNITY RESOURCE AND NEEDS ASSESSMENT By Rihab Abbas )

Pastor Alexander Wilson’s church, St. Stephen’s Presbyterian, sits right in the middle of this neighbourhood.  He describes his neighbourhood as on the forefront of many of the new waves of immigration.  Many of the community members are on assistance and drug abuse is prevalent.  There are many families and a large number of the children wander around without supervision or social programs to fill their time.  Just in the past year, he recalls three shootings that happened right around the church.

The gun violence hit close to home last December when his neighbour D’Mitre Barnaby, a recent immigrant to Toronto with no gang connections, was shot dead. “Police are calling the killing a case of mistaken identity—Barnaby just looked like the intended target.” (“Innocent man mistaken for Galloway Boys target shot dead: Police” Metro, Sept 11, 2012, by Jessica Smith)

St. Stephen’s Church Welcomes TCM with Open Arms

In spite of increased funding to the neighbourhood since it’s designation as “priority”, Pastor Alexander Wilson of St. Stephen’s Presbyterian, has witnessed a gap in services for families and children in the immediate vicinity of the church.  “A lot of the programs exist on the other side of the bridge (a kilometer away) but people don’t cross the bridge.” says Wilson.  He is not aware of any official community organizations on the west side of the bridge.

Pastor Wilson has been serving in this community for 7 years and trying to provide for the many needs of the community.  For example, they have a weekly food bank (in partnership with The Daily Bread and Second Harvest), an adult knitting group, and a monthly clothing bank to name a few.  They also open up their building to community programs like, Narcotics Anonymous, Alcoholics Anonymous, and a Karate club.  The church has also run homework, sports and choir programs in the past but could not continue because of lack of volunteer leadership.

The church has maxed its volunteer resources and so Pastor Wilson jumped at the opportunity to partner with Toronto City Mission by providing space for them to run an after school program for children ages 5 to12 Tuesdays and Thursdays.   The program will provide much needed homework help and music enrichment and can serve up to 25 children. TCM hopes to raise the resources needed to offer this program four days a week in September 2013.  In addition, TCM will offer March Break and Summer day camps to this community.

“I’ve been waiting long time for this.  We’ve been in conversations for over a year.” says Pastor Wilson.

Toronto City Mission brings a wealth of experience working in high priority neighbourhoods in Toronto and running after school programming.  “We only go into new neighbourhoods if we are invited and it is critically important that we partner with local groups to ensure the community’s sense of ownership”, says TCM’s executive Director, Andrew Schell. “St. Stephen’s is the perfect partner with convenient facilities but more importantly, a passion and commitment to serve those in need”, adds Mr. Schell.

“I’m looking forward to working within this community and watching it thrive through this partnership” says Gala (TCM Community Worker).

A ribbon cutting ceremony to mark the launch of this new partnership will be held on October 23, 2012 from 4-6pm at St. Stephen’s Church (3817 Lawrence Ave).

About Toronto City Mission

Toronto City Mission has existed to demonstrate God’s love and bring hope to families impacted by poverty since 1879.   Our purpose is to build strong relationships with others to create positive, lasting change. We believe in the potential of every person we serve.  Our community workers build long-term relationships with families and run preventative programs that equip children, youth and adults with skills to succeed.  We are dedicated to building leaders in our city.  We train and invest in our volunteers and interns and we mentor children, youth and adults to become such leaders in their own communities. We partner with local churches, volunteers, interns and students to inspire children, youth, and adults to have hope for the future and to share the gospel message.  Our vision is that families, impacted by poverty, will lead transformed lives.

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Toronto City Mission

Andrew Schell (Executive Director)

416-922-6223

aschell@torontocitymission.com

Donna has been involved with Toronto City Mission since 2006. In 2011 and 2012, she facilitated high level planning sessions with staff that resulted in TCM’s new brand awareness strategy. She is honoured to join the board in November 2012, and currently chairs the marketing sub-committee.

Donna and her husband Phil have two school-aged children and attend Kingsway Baptist Church in Etobicoke. The family enjoys travelling, skiing, hiking and sharing life’s simple pleasures with family and friends.

When you make a memorial gift to Toronto City Mission, we will send the bereaved family a card acknowledging your gift. The card identifies you but does not identify your gift amount. A receipt is issued to you, the donor, for income tax purposes.

To make a donation in memory of someone, print this donation form, fill it out and mail it to us at 2610 Birchmount Rd. Scarborough, ON M1W 2P5.

When you make an “In Honour” to Toronto City Mission, we will send a card acknowledging your gift. The card identifies you but does not identify your gift amount. A receipt is issued to you, the donor, for income tax purposes.

Print this donation form, fill it out and mail it to 2610 Birchmount Rd. Scarborough, ON M1W 2P5.

The tutoring program links qualified volunteers with children impacted by poverty. A Community Worker interviews families to assess needs. Our volunteers are thoroughly screened, to provide for the safety of the children and their families as well as to determine the volunteer tutor’s interests and skills. Based on these interviews, Toronto City Mission links a child and a volunteer together and provides adequate training and tools for the volunteer tutor. The result is enhanced learning, identification of needs and a step towards building a community of hope!