This Holiday Season Help Toronto’s Most Vulnerable to Stay Safe
IF MEDIA PRESS | NOV 25 2020
COVID cases are rising, the city has been locked down and Torontonian’s can show what “Toronto the Good” really means by donating to help Toronto’s most vulnerable residents stay safe.
Toronto Public Health has reported two very difference experiences of the pandemic — one for the privileged and one for everyone else. 83 per cent of COVID-19 cases involved racialized Torontonians. And, 51 per cent of COVID-19 cases involved people living below the low-income threshold.
Too many racialized and low-income people in the city lack the three-layer non-medical masks that have been recommended as most effective by Dr. Theresa Tam and the Public Health Agency of Canada.
The Impakt Foundation for Social Change, a Toronto-based charitable organization, has launched a new campaign with the goal of ensuring every Torontonian has access to the personal protection that has been recommended by the Public Health Agency of Canada.
In light of this, The Impakt Foundation will be donating fabric masks to the City of Toronto for use by community partners in need.
Donations can be made at impaktfoundation.ca and 100% of contributions will go towards manufacturing fabric masks to donate to the City of Toronto for use by community partners in need. The Impakt Foundation is issuing tax receipts for donations of $25 or more.
TORONTO, NOVEMBER 25, 2020
"I want to thank the Impakt Foundation for stepping up to help our community partners. We know the importance of wearing masks to help stop the spread of COVID-19. This donation will be distributed to our community partners through the Community Coordination Plan, which will allow them to continue providing much needed social support to vulnerable communities during this challenging time,” said Mayor John Tory.
In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the City of Toronto and United Way Greater Toronto created the Community Coordination Plan to ensure there is coordination and communication between City, United Way, and community organizations. A large part of this collaboration includes understanding how COVID-19 is affecting residents and mobilizing to address their urgent needs during the pandemic. The Community Coordination Plan established ten geographic clusters and additional areas of focus. The additional city-wide areas include a city-wide agencies cluster, the Black Resilience cluster that engages African, Caribbean and Black serving agencies and ongoing engagement of indigenous serving organizations with support from the Office of Indigenous Affairs. It is through these clusters that issues are identified to find local solutions or City and United Way supported solutions.
Based on Toronto Public Health data, some of the highest concentrations of COVID-19 cases have been found in the North Etobicoke and Black Creek-Humber Summit clusters. This data will help inform the prioritization of the early distribution of masks to these clusters as well as the Black Resilience cluster and Indigenous serving organizations.
“It's so important now more than ever that we support our communities, providing solutions to help prevent the spread of COVID-19 is crucial work that is being done in our community and I'm thankful that there are great initiatives like the Toronto Mask Program that have stepped up to ensure the people of Ontario stay safe.” Scott Belton, Senior Vice President of Metro East, TD Bank. To help start this important initiative TD has made a generous contribution of $50,000 towards the purchase of masks made locally by Canada Sportswear, a Toronto family-based firm which started over 60 years ago in 1954 and has made hiring newcomers and other vulnerable people a priority.
“COVID-19 has touched everyone’s lives on the planet. This ranges from fatalities, economic disarray, to mental health issues. Community relations and reaching out is more important than ever. It gives me great pleasure to be able to help those who may not have access to non-medical cloth facemasks. Everyone should not do without life’s essentials. Keep healthy. Keep safe.” Ralph Goldfinger, Co-CEO, Canada Sportswear.
"As we continue to navigate these challenging times, it's more important than ever to support our local communities and our neighbours," says Jason Anderson, Senior Vice President of Brand, Marketing, & Communications at Cadillac Fairview. "The safety of our community is our top priority and we're proud to join forces with Impakt Foundation to reaffirm this commitment by providing access to much needed PPE to protect Toronto's most vulnerable neighbourhoods.
“During the COVID-19 crisis, the Impakt Foundation’s work has centred on helping newcomers to maintain their jobs and help other vulnerable people in Toronto to stay health and safe,” said Paul Klein, Founder of the Impakt Foundation. The Impakt Foundation for Social Change (impaktfoundation.ca) is a registered charity with a mission of creating pathways to employment for people in need.
This holiday season, Torontonians can show what “Toronto the Good” really means by helping our most vulnerable residents stay safe as the city is experiencing elevated levels of COVID-19. Donations can be made at impaktfoundation.ca and 100% of contributions will go towards the donation of masks and the Impakt Foundation will issue tax receipts for donations of $25 or more.
AVAILABLE FOR COMMENT IN TORONTO
Paul Klein - Founder, Impakt Foundation for Social Change
416-805-6174
Ralph Goldfinger - Co-CEO, Canada Sportswear
416-740-8020 ext. 314