Here at Nellie’s, we are forever grateful for the generosity of our donors near and far. We’ve had to learn a lot about how to safely operate during the pandemic and your unwavering support has helped make this difficult year a little less challenging.
Generous monetary donations, in-kind gifts, masks and other PPE dropped off for our women, their children and our staff, and even heart-warming notes of support, have all ensured that we have been able to continue meeting the needs of the women and their children living at Nellie’s as well as those who need the support of our community programs and services.
“So many organizations pivoted in how they fundraised for us. They were working remotely, or were even closed,” says Ingrid Graham, Director of Development at Nellie’s. “But they changed their fundraising models, and went online. And by doing so, they raised even more money. During times of adversity, our donors didn’t bail, they just shifted.”
Here are just a few that supported us this holiday season.
One Academy
After raising over $8,000 for Nellie’s in May with a virtual workout fundraiser, One Academy decided to do it again before the holiday rush. With an instructor running a class from their closed east-end gym, and hundreds of people joining online from all over the world, Academy One raised over $11,000 in support of Nellie’s.
King Ursa
One of the directors at this Toronto ad agency, along with his wife, were frequent volunteers at Peggy Capitain’s annual holiday dinner for Nellie’s at Ralph Thornton Community Centre. That party, filled with music, food, laughter and a visit from Santa had been held every year for a decade for families in Nellie’s community. Since COVID-19 restrictions across the country meant limits on social gatherings and therefore no holiday party, the owners of King Ursa created an online fundraising campaign in support of Nellie’s. By reaching out to their employees, they raised close to $4,000.
Girl Up Toronto
The Toronto chapter of the Girl Up campaign, which aims to empower girls and encourage advocacy, held a holiday drive to create essentials kits for the women and their children living at Nellie’s. A few days before Christmas, chapter members dropped off toiletries, hair care products, makeup, non-perishable food, and baby/child care items. “They have great ideas of philanthropy and they want to change the world. And they’re so enthusiastic about helping women and girls,” says Ingrid.
Finally, a quick shout out to Fox and Firkin and Realtor Miguel Madeira, who went the extra mile to do something special for both the women and their children living at Nellie’s and our incredible staff. Miguel brought over gourmet pizza one afternoon in December specifically to give our staff a boost. And, the Fox and Firkin offered free meals on three different days. Everyone got to order their own meal off the menu.
“It was a really nice treat for both our residents and our staff,” says Ingrid.
The women and children in our community count on us to be there for them when they need us and we thank every single community organization and corporation that helped us to do just that last year.
