Supporting your local community
Waste to Wonder is proud to support a growing number of charities in the Greater Toronto Area.
Waste to Wonder gives local charities and schools the opportunity to collect furniture for their causes for FREE.
Charities and schools have found our initiative extremely valuable as funds that would be used to furnish their offices are redirected back into their budget and straight to the people that need it most.
Founded in 1938, the Canadian Cancer Society is a national, community-based organization of volunteers whose mission is the eradication of cancer and the enhancement of the quality of life of people living with cancer. They achieve this mission by funding research on all types of cancer, providing the public with comprehensive information about cancer and risk reduction, advocating for healthy public policy, as well as offering supportive care services to cancer patients, family members and friends. Volunteers and staff support these efforts with funds raised in communities across Canada. The milestones that have been achieved and continue to be pursued are truly reflective of their mission in action.
http://www.cancer.ca/Alberta-NWT.aspx?sc_lang=en
Habitat for Humanity Calgary builds simple, decent and affordable homes in partnership with the community and with the families who will own them. The homes are built almost completely by volunteers using donated building materials, land and money wherever possible. Their supporters include individuals, businesses, service clubs, foundations, and faith groups in our community. In 2009 they celebrated the completion of their 100th house!
Habitat houses are built with, not for, the families who will purchase them. Families pay for their homes with no-interest, long-term mortgages. Mortgage payments go into a ‘Fund for Humanity’ which is used to build future Habitat homes.
http://www.habitatcalgary.ca/users/folder.asp
“Humber Valley Village Junior Middle School would like to acknowledge the wonderful partnership that we have recently established with Waste to Wonder. We have been able to procure task chairs, bookcases and filing cabinets for classrooms at no charge to the school through Waste to Wonder. We are able to spend more of our school funds on student resources and learning experiences as a result of not having to spend these funds on furniture.”
http://schools.tdsb.on.ca/humbervv/Humber_Valley/Home.html
“Just wanted to give a big thank you to Waste to Wonder for providing our new nonprofit, Free Geek Toronto, with much needed office furniture including desks, chairs, and whiteboards. The desks, chairs and whiteboards provided by Waste to Wonder will help Free Geek Toronto increase our capacity for training people on how to refurbish and recycle computers. Like Waste to Wonder, Free Geek Toronto believes in reuse of office equipment such as desktop computers, and reducing items that would otherwise go to the landfill. The Waste to Wonder staff responded to our request within a few days, and matched our requirements perfectly with donated items. A special thank you to Kathryn Long and other staff who helped organize the pickup, and to Elena Jusenlijska, Account Executive, who introduced us to Waste To Wonder exactly at the time when as a new startup nonprofit, we were looking for donated furniture.”
http://www.freegeektoronto.org/
“On behalf of Wildlife Preservation Canada, I would like to thank you and Waste to Wonder for your generous contribution of an HP 2600 N colour laser jet printer. Wildlife Preservation Canada is a dynamic non-profit charitable organization devoted to saving highly endangered animal species facing imminent extinction in Canada and internationally. This is accomplished through focused species conservation and professional training programs, complemented by education and outreach programs. Your contribution will allow us to maintain our low overhead costs in order to focus our funding on these vital programs.”
http://www.wildlifepreservation.ca/
Furniture Bank, a unique and rapidly growing charitable organization that helps families in the GTA escape homelessness, reduces waste and reuses materials (diverting over 1,100 metric tonnes from landfills last year alone!) for social benefit. Our vision is to enable all families and individuals in need, to live with hope and dignity in a re-established home. Our mission is to facilitate the transfer of household furnishing from donors to recipient. We provide furnishings to families that are escaping violent households, refugees struggling to acclimate in a completely new environment and homeless people that are ready to make a shift in their lives. In 2009, we helped 2,048 families which translates into more than 4,000 people right here in the GTA. The goal for 2010 is to help 2,400 families. It is through the generous donations of individuals and organizations that will enable us to do so.
For over 25 years the Red Door Family Shelter has been on the front lines of delivering support services to homeless families, abused women and their children. The Red Door helps reduce the impact of homelessness by providing safe and supportive emergency shelter to over 500 families every year. In addition to housing, the shelter’s mission is to provide vital services to the family as a whole, aimed towards permanently ending a family’s episode of homelessness. Our wide variety of programs help clients rebuild their lives and help their children heal. These include: counselling, medical assistance and referrals, legal and immigration assistance, child care and educational programs, support in securing permanent housing and ongoing outreach for families in need.
“I wanted to take the time to thank you properly for arranging those bookshelves for us. I was finally able to set them up in our donation room today, and they are just what we needed! We were also able to give the TV and microwave to a family who recently moved out, and they were thrilled. Thank you again for your support! You’ve helped us greatly!”
NYWC (North York Women’s Centre) is a community of diverse women providing resources and support to affect positive change. We deliver this in a safe, inclusive and welcoming environment for all women in the community of North York and surrounding areas.
“Working with Waste to Wonder was an amazing and easy experience. The staff was extremely helpful in collecting the furnishings we needed to transform our non-profit agency into a functional and warm space. The staff at Waste to Wonder truly cares about the service they provide and are eager to help!”
Heritage Skills Development Centre (HSDC) is “Helping Families Build a Strong Foundation”. HSDC is a grassroots agency with a vision to impact positively on the lives in our community. HSDC assists families in building stronger foundations through integrative and empowerment programs and services. HSDC is a non-profit organization established in 1993, with a mission to improve the health, social, cultural, and economic self-sufficiency as well as the well-being of refugees, new immigrant Women, at-risk youth and other marginalized individuals, so that they and their families can enjoy and contribute to the opportunities that Canada offers. HSDC has developed various training programs and social support activities along with job placement opportunities for our volunteers, interns, and others who participate in our programs. 80% of individuals who participate in one of HSDC’s programs and services succeed in securing employment or venturing into a business of their own.
Since 1896, Yonge Street Mission (YSM) has been reaching out to meet the needs of people living in poverty in Toronto. Their diverse programs have made a positive difference in the lives of families, seniors, socially isolated adults, street-involved youth and children growing up in our low-income communities. Last year alone they welcomed 18,000 individuals in over 185,000 visits. At YSM, they’re committed to being a pivotal agent of change in the community. Their branches offer services, programs and networks of mutual support that allow those in need to improve their lives. These include food bank and meal programs, employment and computer training, school readiness programs, counselling, daycare and a post-secondary Education Award. With a staff of 130 and some 3,500 volunteers, they assist everyone who comes through their doors strictly on the basis of need.
Victim services of Peel’s mission is to provide 24 hour crisis support to persons victimized by crime and domestic abuse as well as people suffering a tragic circumstance such as sexual assault, homicide, suicide, sudden death, traffic/fire fatalities and armed robberies in all communities of Brampton and Mississauga. Victim Services of Peel is the only round-the-clock crisis intervention agency serving people in crisis in this region. In addition to their ‘around the clock crisis intervention’, they provide services and programs such as: counselling, SupportLink/Domestic Violence Emergency Response System (DVERS), witness support, transitional and housing support, Resources, Education, Advocacy and Community Help (REACH) and SAFE – South Asian Family Enrichment Program. Victim Services of Peel is a not-for-profit, charitable organization founded in 1985 through the collaborative efforts of Peel Regional Police, Region of Peel Social Services, the Ministry of Community and Social Services and the Social Planning Council of Peel.
When a child first goes missing, the police, the media and the community all rally together to help the terrified and grieving family search for their child, but as time goes by, that involvement gradually decreases, leaving the family to continue the search…alone. It is for these families the Missing Children Society of Canada was established in 1986. Since that time, their unique and comprehensive search program called Project: Reunite has assisted police and searching families in the active and ongoing search for missing children. It is their mission to reunite missing children with their searching families through professional investigations, public awareness and family support programs. Their investigators have closed 1,600 cases since 1986–an average of 70 a year–and have assisted law enforcement in over 6,000 cases.
