| |
Over the past five years, the Junior League of Toronto has donated gifts and gift cards valued at over $68,000 to over 1,250 teenagers living in shelters in our communities. During the holiday season, young children in need tend to be at the forefront of our thoughts, while the “big kids” are often forgotten. The gifts collected at the Junior League of Toronto Tea for Teens are often the only gifts received by many of the teenagers living in the shelters in Etobicoke, Mississauga, and Oakville. Community partners have included: Interim Place, Oakville Community Youth, Our Peel Place, Pelletier Homes for Youth, St. Alban’s Boys’ & Girls’ Club, Ernestine's Women's Shelter, Women’s Habitat, and Youth Without Shelter. Guests attending the JLT Tea for Teens bring a gift or gift card for a teen and then enjoy refreshments, entertainment, and a shopping experience in our “Unique Boutique”, a selection of original and inventive items for your holiday purchasing pleasure and convenience thanks to a variety of vendors who showcase their wares at our event. Along with the gift donations, guests are invited to buy tickets for a raffle of prizes donated by members and local businesses. The proceeds of the raffle are used to buy additional gift certificates for the teens in the shelters. In the spring of 2007, the JLT Tea for Teens was the recipient of the Talbots Canada Community Impact Award, recognizing the development and implementation of this strong responsive community project. With your continued support, the Junior League of Toronto will continue to make a difference in the Toronto Community. 5th Annual Tea for Teens Update Remembering the ‘Big Kids’ this On Friday, November 27th, the Junior League of Toronto (JLT) raised over $13,000 during its 5th Annual Tea for Teens event to provide hope and holiday gifts for teens in crisis. “The JLT recognizes that while younger children often receive generous support from the community, ‘big kids’ tend to be forgotten,” says Junior League of Toronto President Venise Stuart, who attended this award winning event. Five years ago, women in the JLT noted the lack of gifts donated for kids in the 10-16 year old age group while sorting gift donations at shelters. This season, gifts donated by over 140 guests at the Tea for Teens, will enable the JLT to assist over 250 teens at Women’s Habitat, Youth Without Shelter, Ernestine’s, Community Youth Oakville, Interim Place, and Our Place Peel. As in years past, the JLT Tea for Teens was held at the historic Assembly Hall in Etobicoke. This year’s Tea featured entertainment by the Kingsway Conservatory of Music, and the Lamajana Quartet. Guests enjoyed delectable treats courtesy of Pickle Barrel, the IGA at Guests were asked to bring an unwrapped teen gift, gift certificate and/or donation with a suggested value of $25 - $50. Individual and corporate donations could also be made through the JLT website at www.jlt.org
Our Community Partners
Performer from The Kingsway Conservatory of Music
One of the many vendors at the event - Q Gourmet
From Left: Venise Stuart - JLT President, Gerri McAskill - Chair JLT Tea for Teens and Jonna Smith - JLT President-Elect
Marilyn and Shirley – sustaining members of the JLT
Thanks from our recipients: Thank you for ...the generous support of the Junior League of Toronto. You are playing a meaningful part in our work to end homelessness for youth, one person at a time, one step at a time. -Judy Leroux of Youth Without Shelter We will save the gifts we receive from this year's Tea for Teens for our girls' Christmas morning, because they will be the only gifts that many of them receive, and this way, they will have something to open. -Johanna Bak of Pelletier Homes for Youth Our Tea for Teens project is benefiting teens in crisis by providing them with hope and holiday gifts. This year's Tea for Teens provided gifts for over 400 teens at several west end shelters, including Women's Habitat (a shelter for women and their families), Oakville Community Youth Home, Youth Without Shelter, Pelletier Homes, Interim Place and Our Place Peel. Women's Habitat would like to thank the Junior League of Toronto for its continued support and remembering the teenagers - often forgotten about during the holidays. -excerpt from recent publication of Women's Habitat of Etobicoke newsletter Junior League of
From Left to Right: Kathy, Shevawn, Gerri, Valerie
From Left to Right: Shevawn, Ella, Ela, Dawn |
|
