September 22, 2016
The Toronto Public Service announced its 2016 United Way fundraising goal of $1.35 million at the campaign launch event today at Nathan Phillips Square. City officials were joined by representatives of the municipal unions and associations. The Toronto Public Service's United Way fundraising campaign is led jointly by unions and management.
"The City of Toronto is proud of its long-standing tradition of supporting the United Way," said Mayor John Tory. "Helping those that are most vulnerable remains to be a value that Torontonians cherish most. Events like these make me proud to be the Mayor of such a caring and philanthropic city."
"The City of Toronto often collaborates with United Way Toronto and York Region in serving our most vulnerable residents," said City Manager Peter Wallace. "The work we do together helps to improve services for residents and ensures that urgent needs are being met."
Contributions to United Way Toronto help in many ways. Four examples are helping to provide shelter for abused women, providing pre-employment training opportunities for newcomers, enabling at-risk youth to participate in school programs or counselling sessions, and giving adults with physical or mental disabilities an opportunity to participate in programs to help them to live independently and stay connected to the community.
The campaign is an excellent opportunity for the Toronto Public Service to not only be engaged in giving back to the community, but to demonstrate its commitment to the priorities of United Way of building strong neighbourhoods, reducing poverty and youth success, said Campaign Co-Patrons John Livey, Deputy City Manager, and Maureen O'Reilly, President of the Toronto Public Library Workers Union Local 4948.
The Toronto Public Service is joined in its campaign by five agencies and corporations: Toronto Public Library, Toronto Zoo, Toronto and Region Conservation Authority, Toronto Parking Authority and Exhibition Place. The City's campaign has raised more than $1 million each of the past 15 years.
Toronto is Canada's largest city, the fourth largest in North America, and home to a diverse population of about 2.8 million people. It is a global centre for business, finance, arts and culture and is consistently ranked one of the world's most livable cities. For information on non-emergency City services and programs, Toronto residents, businesses and visitors can visit
http://www.toronto.ca, call 311, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, or follow us @TorontoComms.
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Media contact: Chris Fernandes, Strategic Communications, 416-397-5211, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
