Toronto Agency Donates $10,000 to Help Fight Homelessness in Toronto, in Hopes the Act Will Inspire Larger Companies to Give Back More in 2021
TORONTO, Feb. 19, 2021 /CNW/ - Toronto boutique digital creative agency, Toronto Creatives hopes to inspire larger companies to help fight homelessness in their cities, with a $10,000 donation to Toronto's Fred Victor. The Fred Victor organization works to fight homelessness and poverty in Toronto and are heading deeper into the most demanding winter they have ever faced. While the donation is just a fraction of what's needed, the Toronto Creatives team sees it as proof that corporations - even small ones like themselves - can contribute directly to positive action.
It may seem counterintuitive for a Canadian company to give away money after a year like 2020, but that is exactly what one Toronto company did early this week. Toronto boutique digital creative agency Toronto Creatives Inc. donated $10,000 to Toronto's Fred Victor, to help fight homelessness in the city. The donation was made in hopes that it would inspire other, larger corporations to give back more in the coming year, in particular, to help protect people from the cold over the winter.
The boutique digital agency made the move after working with the charity to help them pivot two of their annual fundraisers last year, both usually in-person events, to virtual/livestream formats. The pivot allowed the Fred Victor organization to keep in step with their 2020 fundraising schedule, even in the face of social distancing and other COVID-19 restrictions. While working with the Fred Victor team on both virtual/livestream productions throughout 2020, the Toronto Creatives team gained a deep appreciation for a multitude of different reasons people experience homelessness, an experience that solidified the decision to donate to Fred Victor.
Toronto Creatives President and Creative Director Benjamin Gibson said this about the donation, "It's cold out, and we all know how harsh Canadian winters can get, even in Toronto. The tents in the parks, the signs begging for help, for housing it's hard to see. We made some money on this project as well as other projects this year and even though the year was tough, we had it easier than some. When we thought about how grateful we were for that, we wanted to give something back. Fred Victor does awesome work, so we went with something we could feel good about, that would have a direct impact."
The Fred Victor organization helps support over 2,000 Torontonians experiencing homelessness and low-income Torontonians every day. Fred Victor helps their clients rebuild their lives through affordable and transitional housing, food services, job training and counseling, shelters and emergency respite sites, mental health outreach, as well as other specialized support programs. The organization accepts donations on their website and their services and experience have never been in more demand. In a regular year, it's estimated that there are between 8,000 and 9,000 people that experience homelessness in Toronto every night, and with the ongoing COVID-19 situation it's estimated that number is considerably higher.
"I've heard numbers like 10,000 and 14,000 (people per night) this year, I don't know how accurate that is, to be honest," Gibson says about the statistics "I know the Fred Victor team has been on the front lines of this through this whole thing, and before that too, of course. I hope other people and other companies recognize this as a real problem and recognize that they can, and should help, too."
The small team at Toronto Creatives recognizes that this $10,000 donation is only a small drop in the bucket of the funding that an organization like Fred Victor needs to be effective. The team hopes that this small gesture will inspire other, perhaps larger, companies to donate to Fred Victor or another organization like Fred Victor that operates within their cities, to help fight homelessness.
Keith Hambly, CEO of the Fred Victor organization had this to say about the agency's donation and Toronto's current homelessness crisis, "We are incredibly grateful for this generous gift from Toronto Creatives – and for their compassion and commitment to people experiencing poverty and homelessness in our city. We know the pandemic has impacted many individuals and businesses financially, but in spite of that, they are still giving back to a cause they believe in. It really does make a difference knowing that there are businesses like Toronto Creatives doing what they can to help."
Toronto Creatives is a boutique-multidisciplinary digital creative agency in Toronto, Canada. Catering to clients across North America, all with diverse sets of creative and strategic needs. Toronto Creatives provides 360° marketing and communications services, specialized for the internet generation. The company's services include brand design, digital marketing/targeted advertising, video production, corporate and product photography, website design, and development, all powered by one of the most multidisciplinary boutique teams in Canada's creative industry.
SOURCE Toronto Creatives Inc.
on the Fred Victor organization and to find out how your association can help them fight homelessness in Toronto visit FredVictor.org; For more information on Toronto Creatives visit the agency's website at TorontoCreatives.com.
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