Spectrum Health Care Foundation: From BBQs to parties

2017 was a strong year for our employee-funded charitable organization, Spectrum Health Care Foundation!

From BBQs to day camps, parties to holiday gifts our philanthropic efforts helped children, youth and adults in various communities across the GTA. Here’s a quick recap of the many initiatives that the Foundation supported in 2017:

Centre for Addiction and Mental Health’s (CAMH) annual Gifts of Light Canada Day BBQ:

Spectrum Health Care Foundation was proud to be the presenting sponsor for CAMH’s annual Gifts of Light Canada Day BBQ. Not only did the Foundation provide a donation to help fund the BBQ but our very own Spectrum employees also got involved and volunteered their time to set up, prep food, organize games and help with the entertainment.

Peel Children’s Centre (PCC) annual Summer Day Camps

The Foundation’s committee spent the early months of 2017 working with PCC to plan their annual Summer Day Camps for children enrolled in PCC’s programs. The Foundation’s donation helped fund two day camps which included an ice cream truck, magician, visiting petting zoo, bouncy castle and loot bags. A number of Spectrum employees joined in on the fun and helped run the camps over the two days.

CAMH Christmas Gift Wrapping

For the second year in a row, the Foundation participated in CAMH’s holiday gift wrapping. Spectrum staff headed to CAMH and helped put together over 500 gift bags with holiday treats for CAMH clients. The gift bags were sponsored by Spectrum and included practical household items such as: journals, blankets, socks, shampoos, conditioners, body lotions and deodorants.

CAMH Christmas Party

In 2016, the Foundation sponsored two CAMH client holiday parties, one for an outpatient program and another for the geriatric floor. Last year we took our party sponsorship one step further and hosted CAMH’s all-client holiday party. The party was hosted for clients in the hospital and clients in the outpatient programs. The event was filled with music, food, holiday cheer and a group of Spectrum volunteers who made sure the guests stayed well fed.

Lumacare’s Seniors Holiday Gift Giving Program

The holidays can be a hard time if you are a senior on your own, that’s why the Foundation teamed up with Toronto-based community agency, Lumacare, to help spread holiday joy to isolated seniors in the Downsview area. Our donation to Lumacare’s Seniors Gift Giving program helped to provide over 50 seniors with a holiday gift. For some of the recipients it was the only gift they received during the holiday season.

PCC Youth Holiday Gift Program

Alongside senior gift giving, the Foundation closed out the holidays with a donation to PCC’s Youth Holiday Gift program. The donation helped fund holiday gifts to youth in PCC programs across the Peel region. As a token of appreciation the youth at PCC sent Spectrum handmade Christmas cards to thank our employees and the Foundation for its donation.

Thank you to all our employees who continue to contribute to the Spectrum Health Care Foundation. Last year your generous donations allowed the Foundation to contribute over $55,000 to the above initiatives. This year the Foundation is excited to expand its charitable giving to more organizations and strengthen our existing relationships with our current partners like CAMH and PCC.