Community Event at the HUB with Sai’s Helping Hands
May 10, 2022
Written by
Neha Jayaram, Communications and Marketing Specialist
SCHC’s Coordinator of Volunteer Engagement, Lori Beesley, was contacted by a multi-faith, spiritual organization called Sai’s Helping Hands before the August long weekend. They were looking for a non-profit that works with families in high-need neighborhoods, to host an event for them. Because of the long weekend, they had received a lot of rejections, but were really keen on going ahead with the event.
We were very excited at the opportunity because of how much it would benefit our Scarborough community. On August 3rd, Sai’s Helping Hands came to the HUB Mid Scarborough, for the free community event.
All the event attendees were to receive free bagged lunches, free clothing and 108 households received food baskets. A live music concert was organized to provide entertainment to everyone who attended.
Our wonderful HUB staff helped to make this event a success. Chanel, our Social Support Assistant, put up the event flyers on all the bus stops, public notice boards in the community as well as various SCHC sites to reach as many people as possible.
Emi, our HUB Program Assistant, placed flyers at her children’s daycare centres and asked the teachers to explain the event to the other parents. The staff also spoke to all the clients who arrived at the HUB and informed them of the event and encouraged them to come.
We had a full-house on the day of the event. We distributed 216 bagged lunches, a 100 food hampers and lots of clothing, bed linen and other essentials to everyone who attended.
Donna, one of our Community Support staff, shared the flyer with her friend, a newcomer, living alone in Scarborough. After the event, her friend sent us this testimonial: “It was a great experience for me as a newcomer. I brought a friend along. We enjoyed the music and laughed a lot.” She was happy to have found out about the event because she got a chance to find out more about our services and be a part of the Canadian community.
SCHC’s Fund Development Manager, Debra McGonegal who attended the event said, “Even though it was a holiday weekend, people came out 3 hours early to make sure they got a spot. The music kept everyone in good spirits as they waited patiently for their turn to shop for clothes for themselves or family members. No one went away empty handed. One mother commented that this event was a life saver for her because the local food pantry was closed for the Civic holiday Monday and she was running short on food for her 3 kids.”
We are very grateful to organizations like Sai’s Helping Hands for the work they do and giving us the opportunity to collaborate with them. Together we were able to make a direct impact on the people that need it the most.