Gala Charity Benefit in Toronto to Help the Homeless

Toronto Charity Benefit – ‘Our Toronto includes the Homeless’
Reserve November 28th on your calendar to make a difference for the thousands of people in Toronto who are experiencing homelessness. We pass them on the streets every day and, as the cold weather comes, see them huddled over hot air grates outside Toronto’s downtown skyscapers and [...]

A Girl Named R

A friend recently told me that people who want to help the homeless are interested in reading more personal stories about those who are experiencing homelessness.  They didn’t know I’ve been posting stories about many of the homeless people we serve at Project417 for several years. It comes with the territory of being a [...]

Toronto’s Mark the Litter Guy – Out on the streets

Our friend, Mark the Litter Guy, was featured in a story in the Toronto Star last week. If you are anywhere around Queen Street West in Toronto in the Spadina to Bathurst area, then you will be familiar with Mark.

photo -thestar.com
Mark works out on the street all day, sometimes for 10 or more hours picking [...]

Concert Fundraiser for Bloor Lansdowne Community Dinner

Bloor Lansdowne Community Dinner presents
A Cup of Cold Water

in concert, Saturday May 23rd at 7:00 pm
Where: 1307 Bloor Street West, Toronto, Ontario
South side of Bloor Street, just west of Lansdowne, steps from the Lansdowne TTC subway stop, extra parking at the Value Village next door
Why?
A “Pay What You Can” fundraiser with all proceeds [...]

Explosions in Two Toronto Apartment Buildings

Update: Hundreds of residents were forced to evacuate after explosions rocked two Toronto apartment complexes in separate incidents Thursday.
The first, a condominium building in the east end at Kingston Rd and Eglinton, suffered two blasts shortly after 2:30 am – one inside a utility room, followed by a Hydro transformer outside the building. More [...]

Explosion at Toronto apartment – 500 residents evacuated

Explosion in Toronto Apartment Complex
Location: Kingston Rd – Eglinton Avenue
Update from canoe: Hundreds of residents were evacuated after an explosion this morning at an east-end apartment. Many, some wearing only their pj’s and robes, were loaded onto transit buses and taken to a community center.
The explosion, in the basement utility room, knocked out the [...]

Gulf Coast New Orleans Spared as Gustav Downgraded and Passes Through

Thankfully, Hurricane Gustav weakened before striking the gulf coast and passing New Orleans. According to news reports, Hurricane Gustav was downgraded to Category 2 hurricane before making landfall about a hundred miles to the south west of New Orleans in the Cajun bayou country of coastal Louisiana. Although Gustav packed a punch, with strong winds [...]

The Toronto Star Dazzles Us with Crime Statistics

As promised in my previous blog posting, here are some more facts and commentary on the Star’s misleading series they ran last month – “Why Getting Tough on Crime is Toughest on the Taxpayer”, Toronto Star, Jul.19 , 2008.
An open letter to the editor of the Toronto Star:
July 28th, 2008
Dear Editors,
In an eight part series [...]

Toronto Star Claims Getting Tough on Crime Waste of Taxes

The beginning of an 8-part special series from the Toronto Star. At issue is a new law (effective May 2008 ) that toughens mandatory minimum sentences. The Star claims this is no deterrent to crime and trots out misleading and incomplete statistics in support. Their opinion is soft on crime and hard on victims.
We have [...]

A Church in the Heart of Toronto – Bloor Lansdowne

Bloor Lansdowne Christian Fellowship – located at 1307 Bloor St West on the southwest side of the Bloor Lansdowne intersection, this church has been serving the community since the late 1930’s. A small, vibrant and multicultural congregation is committed to helping their neighbors, especially the poor and disenfranchised. Community Dinner, Wed. 6-8PM. Project417 has partnered [...]