In the fall of 2019, preschool teacher Michèle de Pencier had the idea of creating a holiday charitable giving program for the kids at her school. Similar to well-known initiatives like The Shoebox Project (which also generously supports Nellie’s), Michèle’s idea was for families to fill a decorative box with unwrapped gifts that someone in need might like to receive — but with this project, the focus was on kids gifting to other kids.

“The whole concept for me started with asking the question: How do we teach kids about empathy and giving back?” explains Michèle. “How do I get more kids to understand that although they live in their cozy bubbles, there are still kids out there who are living in crisis and in horrible situations?”

With the blessing of her school director, Michèle made a plan to invite families in their school community to create gift boxes which Michèle would then drop off at a shelter in time for the holidays. With a suggested total value of $25 to $35 per box, Michèle instructed families to fill each box with goodies such as mittens or socks, small toys like cars or action figures, baby supplies like wipes or onesies, stickers or crafts, and Wal-Mart or grocery store gift cards (for the moms). The response from the families at her school was immensely positive, and Joy in a Box was born.

“The parents loved it,” says Michèle. “They told me that it helped to start really interesting conversations at home, and provided them with a way to try to teach their young kids that there are other kids their age that live in this city and have a really difficult life.” That first year, her small school managed to make about 50 boxes for kids in need.

Despite some setbacks due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Michèle’s initiative has continued to grow — in 2022 she collected approximately 275 boxes which she distributed to five different shelters across Toronto, including Nellie’s. Michèle credits a lot of the growth to the connection she’s made with the Heaps Estrin real estate brokerage, who has helped to promote the project and now uses their two locations in Leaside and Rosedale as drop-off points for families who create gift boxes.

Having worked with young children for over 35 years and having three sons of her own, Michèle understands that kindness and empathy can be learned at a young age — you just have to find the right way to teach them. Joy in a Box is Michèle’s way of making this connection for young kids, teaching them in a simple and fun way about how they can help their peers in need. In the future, Michèle hopes to have the opportunity to partner with more schools and be able to connect with students directly.

“I’m excited to see how this can continue to grow, but I’m also so sad that my mom wasn’t here to see this,” explains Michèle. “She died in 2014, but she would have loved this. She just loved Christmas and she was a big part of how I came up with the concept and the name — her favourite perfume was called Joy de Jean Patou.”

Thank you, Michèle, and every family who has participated in the Joy in a Box project, for your tremendous support of Nellie’s. Your generosity and passion mean so much to the women and their children who need us.

Here at Nellie’s, we are eternally grateful for our amazing community of generous donors. From hardworking businesses to selfless individuals, Nellie’s is stronger because of every single person who has supported us over the years.

2022 was a challenging year for us at Nellie’s, due to the continued effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as increasing inflation — and we know that so many of you felt these pressures, too. But even during these tough times, our donors continued to step up and come to our aid. We cannot express how appreciative we are of the many individual donors who still made giving to Nellie’s a priority during a challenging year. Thank you for your unwavering support!

Here are just a few of the organizations who helped us make a difference in 2022.

Miracle Toronto

 This iconic pop-up bar has been a holiday tradition in Toronto since 2018, with $1 of every drink sold donated to Nellie’s. In 2022, Miracle Toronto raised an amazing $40,000 and we’re so incredibly thankful for their continued support! If you haven’t been to Miracle before, be sure to add it to your festive to-do list for the holiday season in 2023!

Atura Power

 While the electricity that Atura Power generates is used across the entire province, last year we were so fortunate to be one of the local organizations they chose to support. Thank you, Atura, for your generous $3,000 donation, and your continued support of our work.

Parents Association at Bishop Strachan School

 The Bishop Strachan School is Toronto’s oldest independent day and boarding school for girls in JK to grade 12, and we’ve been so thankful for the support of their incredible parent community. Throughout the year they raised funds in order to buy toys for the children at our shelter, as well as other essential in-kind donations. Thank you for making a difference for the families at Nellie’s!

One Fire Movement

 Thank you to Tony Roost, founder of One Fire Movement, a growing arts collective that uses the power of social enterprise to create powerful change. One Fire Movement has been an amazing supporter of Nellie’s over the years, and in 2022 this included an incredible Back to School drive for the children living at Nellie’s, as well as sponsoring several families through our Sponsor a Family holiday program.

Park Yoga Toronto

 Summer 2022 was Park Yoga Toronto’s 18th season of pay-what-you-can yoga classes in parks across Toronto, and its 12th season in which a portion of the proceeds were donated to Nellie’s. Each season runs from June through Thanksgiving, with classes every day throughout the summer. We’re so thankful to founder Beatrix Montanile and her continued support through this initiative! These donation-based classes have hugely supported our staff and residents over the past several years.

Rotary Toronto Eglinton

 Rotary Toronto Eglinton is an amazing group of volunteers who share a passion for community service, and we’re very thankful for their continued support. Last year they donated $2,500 in support of our Food Program, which helps us fight food insecurity in our community. Thank you for your invaluable support!

The women and children in our community count on us to be there for them when they need us, and we thank every single individual, community organization, and corporation that helped us to do just that last year.

In the waning, lazy days of summer, Tony Roost was focused on back-to-school, and thinking about what the children living at Nellie’s would need to start the year off right. He figured backpacks, notebooks, pens and pencils topped each of their lists, so he got to work collecting supplies and packing boxes.

“The need at Nellie’s never goes away,” says Tony, founder of One Fire Movement, a growing arts collective that uses the power of social enterprise to create powerful change. “When we give to Nellie’s, we know we are giving directly to families in need.”

One Fire Movement marries its celebration of the arts, with events such as live music and dancing at Pedestrian Sundays Kensington Market, with community engagement. Collective artists include songwriters, visual artists, graphic artists, musicians, photographers, and more. As an artist, songwriter, musician and poet himself, Tony founded One Fire Movement in 2009 when he quit a corporate sales and marketing job with a burning desire to help. “I essentially challenged myself to focus more on things that give me fulfillment and satisfaction in terms of my heart and soul.”

He started by calling local shelters to ask what they most needed and then engaged a few like-minded friends to pitch in. Before long, he had carloads of donations and supplies for a number of shelters, including Nellie’s.

“After my first visit to Nellie’s, I decided I wanted to see if I could push the snowball even further,” he says. And he has. Over the years, One Fire Movement has marched with Nellie’s on International Women’s Day, performed for our community in honour of Mother’s Day, sponsored a number of families every holiday season, and delivered much-needed back-to-school supplies.

“I was raised by a single mom on welfare and I was the kid who got the Christmas wish boxes every year. She was a mom who experienced violence, so working with Nellie’s just feels right,” says Tony. “There are so many factors that connect me to Nellie’s that make me want to be able to do more and more.”

It’s an honour, he says, to support an organization like Nellie’s. “A question I ask myself every day is: ‘are we doing enough for someone else and can we do more?’”

Thank you, Tony, and every member of One Fire Movement for your tremendous support of Nellie’s. Your generosity and passion mean so much to the women and their children who need us.

Beatrix Montanile was living in Los Angeles when she first started attending, and later teaching, yoga in the park classes. It was the early 2000s and these pay-what-you-can yoga classes at Runyon Canyon Park would one day become a huge phenomenon, changing the way people viewed teaching yoga in North America. But at the time, it was a new and novel concept.

When she moved back to Toronto in 2005, it was into an apartment near Riverdale Park. It was then that an idea suddenly came to her: if people practiced yoga in the park in Los Angeles, why couldn’t they practice it in the park in Toronto during the summer months? And so, Park Yoga Toronto, with its pay-what-you-can model, was born.

“The whole point of park yoga is to make it accessible to the community. Anyone can join without feeling intimidated by being in a studio,” says Trixie (as she is affectionally called by her students), adding that even children and pets are welcome.

For several years, she continued to teach yoga every Saturday (and then Sundays, too) in Riverdale Park during the summer months and in a nearby church during the winter months. In 2011, she opened her own yoga studio, The Flying Yogi, a Suspension Yoga^TM studio and teacher training centre in Toronto. Instead of that becoming the end of Park Yoga, it became the beginning of something greater.

“I decided that Park Yoga could be about being accessible to the community while also supporting the community. I had heard about Nellie’s, and their work really moved me. I myself have experienced domestic violence and abuse and it is a horrific thing to be in a place that is supposed to be your safe place — the place you call home — and have it become a nightmare,” says Trixie.

Summer 2022 is Park Yoga Toronto’s 18^th season and the 12^th in which a portion of the proceeds are donated to Nellie’s. Each season runs from June through Thanksgiving and it has grown far beyond Trixie teaching classes at Riverdale Park. There are classes every day throughout the summer taught by a number of different yoga instructors in various parks around the city, including one in North York and one in Thornhill.

“It has become this whole beautiful community. Instructors keep approaching me and asking to teach so I tell them to find a park,” says Trixie.

In May, Trixie permanently shuttered The Flying Yogi. This fall, she will be opening The Flying Yogi Mérida, a Suspension Yoga^TM teacher training centre and Suspension Yoga^TM holiday retreat in Mexico. But it still won’t be the end of Park Yoga Toronto.

“Yoga in the park is the part of yoga that I really love. Park Yoga brings together the community. We get to be together, practice together and do something good for the community, together. I won’t give it up. I will just keep coming back to Toronto every summer.”

Thank you, Trixie, and every yoga instructor who helps make Park Yoga Toronto a success! Your generosity and passion mean so much to the women and their children who come to Nellie’s.

At Nellie’s, we are lucky to be surrounded by a wonderful community of generous donors. From hardworking businesses to selfless individuals, we are stronger because of every passionate person who has supported us over the years.

As the pandemic continued through 2021, many felt the effects of COVID-19 on their mental health, their routines and their businesses. But even during this difficult time, our donors continued to step up and find new ways to advocate on Nellie’s behalf.

When businesses had to close their doors, they created virtual fundraisers. When people had to stay home, they spread the word on social media. They got creative and they found ways to navigate through all of the past year’s challenges. In a time of so much uncertainty, we cannot express how appreciative we are for their unwavering support

Here are just a few who helped make a difference in 2021.

One Academy

For the second year in a row, One Academy raised over $5,000 in support of Nellie’s shelter. Even as they dealt with gym closures and lockdown requirements, they kept Nellie’s in their thoughts. One Academy launched “We are Stronger as One”, an event which offered free community fitness classes in exchange for donations to our shelter. People showed up both virtually and in-person to sweat for the cause!

King Ursa

King Ursa, a full-service advertising and marketing agency, has been a long-time supporter of Nellie’s. Before the pandemic, their dedicated staff often volunteered at our annual community holiday party. In 2021, they also helped fundraise for Nellie’s and one staff member went above and beyond, providing hand-packed shoeboxes filled with self-care essentials. There was a package for every woman in our shelter.

The Flying Yogi

Whether it was virtual workouts or yoga in the park, The Flying Yogi continued donating a portion of their fees to Nellie’s last year. Their donation-based classes have hugely supported our staff and residents over the past several years.

Rothman, Benson & Hedges

Last year, In addition to their annual corporate support, Rothman, Benson & Hedges People and Culture department helped raise funds for Nellie’s through their “Holiday Cheer” campaign. We’re so grateful to Rothmans, Benson & Hedges for their many years of support. Their annual grants have helped us expand our community programs and allowed us to maintain our services through the pandemic.

Peggy Capitan

Thank you to Peggy Capitan who once again reached out to her network to spread awareness about Nellie’s and raise funds for the shelter. Peggy is a Toronto mom and volunteer who started Nellie’s holiday party tradition, and she has continued looking for new ways to help out our staff and residents.

The Women at Thomson Reuters

The women at Thomson Reuters have offered continuous support to the children staying at Nellie’s shelter. Their most recent campaign raised over $5,000 and helped furnish our new computer room. This new room will allow women and children better access to online resources and provide a place for groups to gather.

The Justice of Canada Employment Equity and Diversity Committee

In 2021, the Red Rose Campaign raised over $6,000 in support of Canada’s National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women. On December 6th each year, we remember the tragic mass shooting at l’École Polytechnique de Montreal in 1989 which took the lives of 14 young women. We thank the committee for commemorating this piece of history and raising money in support of ending violence against women.

 The women and their 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.