1. To be informed of the organization’s mission, of the way the organization intends to use donated resources, and of its capacity to use donations effectively for their intended purposes.
2. To be informed of the identity of those serving on the organizations governing board, and to expect the board to exercise prudent judgment in its stewardship responsibilities.
3. To have access to the organization’s most recent financial statements.
4. To be assured their gifts will be used for the purposes for which they were given.
5. To receive appropriate acknowledgment and recognition. 
6. To be assured that information about their donation is handled with respect and with confidentiality to the extent provided by law.
7. To expect that all relationships with individuals representing our organization will be professional in nature.
8. To be informed whether those seeking donations are volunteers, employees or hired solicitors.
9. To have the opportunity for their names to be deleted from mailing lists that an organization may intend to share.
10. To feel free to ask questions when making a donation and to receive prompt, truthful and forthright answers.

Toronto City Mission respects the privacy and protection of our donors. We recognize the importance of privacy and are committed to maintaining the accuracy, confidentiality and security of your personal information.  We do not sell or trade any personal information.

The Donor Bill of Rights was created by the Association of Fundraising Professional (AFP).  It has been adopted by our organization.

The Reyes family has been a part of TCM programs for many years (see photo on the top left).  The entire family has been exposed to new opportunities because of TCM.  For example, Nancy, the oldest child, had the opportunity to complete a co-op placement with John Filion, Councillor for Willowdale.  Marcus and Aaron also had a wonderful opportunity this December.   Marcus’s tutor Jon recounts the experience below:

“This past December was certainly very eventful. My student, Marcus Reyes, and his brother, Aaron, and I had the opportunity to be in a community theatre production of “The Wizard of Oz”. This was a humorous answer to a micro-prayer I made one day about a year ago as I was sitting in the audience of a Mirvish production of “Wicked.”  I was watching the chorus members in action and I prayed “God, that looks fun!”

I saw God’s Sovereign hand on this entire process.  Especially when our director, Sarina Condello, gave Marcus and I the opportunity to sing a song at the show’s conclusion. Having prepared a song for Toronto City Mission’s Christmas dinner (an event which we sadly missed because of the dress rehearsal) the decision was easy.  We would sing Chris Tomlin’s version of “Amazing Grace, My Chains are Gone.”  When I sheepishly told Sarina, self-described as “unreligious,” that the song would be related to our faith, she agreed!

As a result, Marcus and I were able to sing our thanks and praises to God in a theatre filled with people from various walks of life. I marvel at the way God causes circumstances to arise in our lives in unimaginable ways. God be praised!”

 For more stories like this one, check out our lastest newsletter here.

Tuesday, April 17, 2012
7:00-9:00pm

Keynote Speaker: Debra Pepler
(Prof. of Psychology at York U. & Scientific Co-Director of PREVNet)

On The Park Events & Conference Centre
1095 Leslie Street, Toronto, Ontario

R.S.V.P. Dorothy Wong
416-922-6223 dwong@torontocitymission.com

Casual business attire/Dessert and refreshments will be served

For sponsorship opportunities, please contact Maureen Pryce at 416-922-6223

February 17, 2012
6 pm – 1 am
Beach Blast – 15 Leswyn Rd

Still accepting teams!

For team registration form, please click here.

For Team Handbook, please click here.

For more information, please click here.

Last year we raised $21,000 and sent 300+ kids to camp. It’s amazing what a group of people with one common goal can achieve.

To see photos of last year’s event join the TCM Facebook page – http://www.facebook.com/?ref=home#!/pages/Toronto-City-Mission/138846392806893

Keynote Speaker: Debra Pepler
(Prof. of Psychology at York U. & Scientific Co-Director of PREVNet)

On The Park Events & Conference Centre
1095 Leslie Street, Toronto, Ontario

R.S.V.P. Dorothy Wong
416-922-6223 dwong@torontocitymission.com

Casual business attire/Dessert and refreshments will be served

For sponsorship opportunities, please contact Maureen Pryce at 416-922-6223

To view photos from the last event visit Toronto City Mission’s facebook page by following this <link>.

By Natalie Williams (Community Worker – Willowtree)

In my experience, Fall is always a crazy season, and it always takes longer than I expect for life to reach a state that I can even pretend to label as “normal”. But I feel like I’m getting closer to what my “normal” is going to be for a good long time.

“Normal” involves a rhythm of busyness and pondering. Running programs, meeting with coworkers and partners, laughing/talking/praying with kids and their families, making plans, and improvising when plans sometimes inevitably go out the window is such an important part of what I’m doing here. But praying, reflecting on this entirely new world I find myself in, revising my naïve perceptions of what will work, and dreaming about the bits of raw potential I see in the children of Willowtree is also becoming part of “normal”.

All of our “normal” programs for the school year are now up and running. A quick overview of a “normal” week at Willowtree..

Monday night we pick up between 6-10 girls in grades 5-7 for an hour or two of girl talk that we like to call “BLiNG” (Bringing Love iN Girls). So far we’ve had some great conversations about positive communication, role models, friendship, and the book of Esther, led in part by our very talented group of TLC’s (Teens Leading Communities, our leadership development program).

After BLiNG we grab another vanload of kids and bring them to one of our partner churches for Jr. High Tutoring. Shelby, a former teacher turned full-time mom/part-time community worker, pairs up kids and tutors for homework help and educational games. It’s amazing how this rowdy group of over 20 kids responds to one-on-one attention with incredible focus and determination that many of their teachers would not think them capable of.

Wednesday nights, Eliot and I hang out at the park while the younger kids are coming home from school, and we take them down to the basement of the apartment building in Willowtree where we do “KiC” (Kids in Community) which involves some group games, homework help, and a Bible lesson. After we send them home, Eliot meets with the Jr. High boys for the masculine equivalent of BLiNG, and I meet with my TLC’s to do some leadership training and to plan for next week’s girls club.

“Normal” is a bit of an enigma on Thursday nights when we run a drop-in for grades 6-9 in partnership with Wellspring Worship Centre. The high-energy environment is a great place to build relationships, spark conversation, and strengthen community by addressing the positive and negative group dynamics that are typical of Willowtree, and inevitably show up in this large-group setting.

But in reality, it isn’t the “normal” that sticks in your mind when you look back on a week, no matter how incredibly important all of those normal, consistent things are. It’s the abnormal, the crazy, and the different that makes you stand in awe.

It’s when your unruly group of teens and pre-teens listens attentively for at least fifteen minutes to a complete stranger talking about using graffiti art for positive rather than negative messages and pursuing the things that God puts in your heart no matter what obstacles stand in your path… That’s when you can only breathe a prayer of thanks and just stand there with your mouth hanging open, looking at your fellow leader and seeing your disbelief mirrored in his face. Laura Bronson, a friend of mine from Bible College, captivated our Drop-in group with her story and her genuine open nature, and even leaders that have been working with these kids for years were stunned at their attentiveness. In one brief evening, a relationship was forged that both sides identify as incredibly valuable and important, and holds the promise of future inspirational visits!

Or how about when disciplining a ten-year-old turns into an opportunity to hold them while they cry, telling you a story in between sobs of how she cares for her ill mother, battles nightmares every night, and feels like nothing good can ever happen to her family? That’s not what you’d call “normal” for a ten-year-old. But what an opportunity to be Jesus to a kid who is carrying a heavier burden than many adults!

It’s these little moments that open our eyes to the fact that the day-to-day hard work of relationship, those awkward moments of silence when no-one has anything to say, the frustration that inevitably comes about when you truly share life together and the endless amounts of energy it takes to pursue someone who doesn’t really seem to want you there… all that hard work pays off in those brief, miraculous moments.

I’m beginning to believe that it’s how we do “normal” that makes the miraculous possible.

The stories we see about Jesus in the gospels tend to be about the crazy, abnormal moments, but if we read between the lines we know that his “normal” involved lots of solitary prayer, eating meals with his friends (and “sinners”), going to parties/weddings, attending synagogue… perhaps if you think about where we find Jesus in many of the gospel stories, you can think of a few more.

Jesus took three years to invite twelve men into his everyday, where all of these normal things provided the backdrop for the miraculous… and those twelve men changed the world.

Can I challenge you to be purposeful about your “normal”, so that you can create an environment for miraculous things to happen? And as part of that process of self-evaluation, can I ask you to make prayer for Toronto City Mission part of your “normal”?

May our very small and normal lives become tools in the hand of a very big and supernatural God!