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Social Action Committee
Our Social Action Committee meets
every other month on the second Monday of the month. Check
the congregation’s calendar on this website for definite
dates. The meetings start at 5:30 p.m., followed by a video
on a social justice theme at 7:00. Come for the meeting, the
video, or both. Bring a brown bag supper or a dish to share
and come prepared to get involved. We welcome newcomers in
our many social action commitments which include:
AGINCOURT COMMUNITY SERVICES - ACSA
http://www.agincourtcommunityservices.com/
ACSA is a Multi-Service Neighbourhood
Centre with programs for people of all ages and all racial
and cultural backgrounds. They work in the northern
part of Scarborough. Don Heights has a Twoonie Collection
one Sunday a month to help keep the ACSA Food Bank stocked.
Murray Fulcher, one of our active volunteers
hunts for bargains on quality food
products for the Food Bank.
SOS
www.loftcs.org
Street Outreach Services provides many services to at risk
young people under the age of 25. They provide assistance
with job, education, housing, welfare, health, and legal
issues. They also provide referrals to other community
services and give out information on HIV/AIDS/STI. Don
Heights supports SOS in many ways. Our coffee houses and
special collection raise badly needed funds. When any of us
travel we collect individual soaps, shampoos, and other
toiletries for SOS. In the winter congregational members
knit hats, scarves, and mittens for the young people and in
the fall we collect school supplies for the students who
hope to resume their education.
Out of the Cold at
Knox United Church -
www.ootc.ca
For
the past three years Don Heights has partnered with the Out
of the Cold Group at Knox to provide dinner and breakfast
for 2 Friday nights during the cold winter months. We
usually play cards and watch a movie with those who are
sleeping over at Knox.
Milne Hollow Stewardship
Program
www.toronto.ca/greentoronto
A dedicated group of Don Heighters get
together every week to participate in the Milne Hollow
Stewardship Program. The group meets at Milne Hollow on
Lawrence Avenue, just east of the Don Valley Parkway, at
10:00 every Thursday. Burdock, thistle, tansy, and phragmite
are everywhere, so the group works on getting rid of these
and other invasive species They also plant native vegetation
and monitor the environment. In the near future the group
will be recording information about the insects observed in
areas where plants are blossoming. Their findings will
become part of a national database concerned with problems
of plant pollination. Anyone is welcome to join us.
Palestinian Refugee Sponsorship
Program
www.mcc.org
Along
with four Toronto Area Mennonite Congregations the Social
Action Committee has worked to sponsor the immigration to
Canada of a Palestinian family who had been in a refugee
camp on the border of Iraq and Syria. At the end of January
2010 our family arrived: father Salmi, mother Faten, and
seven children, ranging in age from 15 to four years old. We
have raised money and collected household items, furniture,
and clothing for the family, and helped them in a variety of
ways as they adjust to life in Canada.
Great
Canadian Shoreline Cleanup
http://www.shorelinecleanup.ca/
Every year Don Heighters participate in
the Great Canadian Shoreline Cleanup, working to clean up
St. Clair Ravine Park at St Clair and Warden Ave. The
cleanup occurs on a Saturday in September – check this
website for the date. We meet at Don Heights at 9:30 and car
pool, but you can go directly to the site at 10 am. There is
lots of free parking in the TTC lot at St. Clair and Warden.
You will be supplied with gloves and garbage bags. Be sure
to bring sunscreen and insect repellant. You can check our
site at
Recycling
In our congregational space at
18 Wynford Drive we collect used eyeglasses, batteries, cell
phones, pop can tabs, used white sheets, and computer
printer cartridges for recycling.
Letter Writing
Frequently during the year we sponsor a letter writing
campaign on behalf of a social justice cause. Recently
letters were written on behalf of the Toronto Environmental
Alliance, urging the Government of Ontario to begin testing
the feasibility of a wind power facility in Lake Ontario off
the eastern shore of Toronto. Believing that letter writing
is an effective tool for social change, the Social Action
Committee urges all Don Heighters to get involved in this
way.
Other Programs with
which Don Heights has been involved:
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