The holidays are a time of joy and celebration, and also give us an opportunity to reflect upon our own blessings and give to those who most need some of their own. At CAFE Dispensaries Toronto, we are committed to ongoing work that helps others in our community, through cleanup efforts, participating in charity fundraisers, and our own annual food and toy drives. This past 2024 marked our 7th Annual Toy Drive, where we collected toy donations at each of our five dispensary locations across the city, and matched those with additional toys. The result? A massive pile of toys, books and games, ready to be delivered into the waiting hands of some very lucky children!
We collected toys during the month of December, and dropped them off to our local charity partners Sistering and Yonge Street Mission, just in time for Santa to deliver them on Christmas! On drop off day, the team met at our 932 Bloor West location, where all the toys were gathered. We were all overwhelmed by the amount of toy donations that had come in, which simply reinforced our faith in the local community despite the tumultuous economic situation so many are facing in recent years. It is truly amazing how the holiday spirit inspires people to give, and help out.
Once all the toys were gathered and organized, they were split into two halves – one for Sistering, a women’s shelter located a few minutes down the street from our 932 Bloor location. Sistering serves women and children who are unhoused, fleeing from domestic violence or facing other serious challenges. Our team gathered up their batch of toys in large tote bins and bags, and headed over to the shelter to drop them off.
Our next stop was Yonge Street Mission with the second half of the toys!
Delivering the toys was a very fulfilling experience for our CAFE team. We love to do what we can to help out our community, and the opportunity to bring joy to children at Christmas is especially heart warming. We are grateful to our community for contributing to our toy drive, and our amazing staff for their efforts in dropping everything off. We look forward to continuing to serve our community in 2025!
