The club donated $20,000 for the creation of a recreation room in a new purpose-built facility planned for the Eva's Satellite homeless shelter. Rotary International is the world's leader in the service club movement.
A cheque presentation and speeches by Rotary Club of North York members, a youth from Eva's Initiatives and the president of the board of directors were planned at an event at Mitchell Field community centre near Yonge Street and Finch Avenue yesterday.
Eva's Satellite says it operates from a harm reduction perspective, and provides emergency shelter for up to 30 homeless youth who use drugs and alcohol. Eva's Satellite offers a range of programs to minimize the harm associated with drug and alcohol abuse.
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The final tally is in and the Junior League of Toronto Showhouse 2004, held at Glendon Hall on York University's Glendon Campus, achieved record-level fundraising status of nearly $1 million with net profits of $634,795. As a result, a final donation totalling $360,000 was made to its community partner and primary beneficiary, The Pathways to Education Program in Regent Park, at the league's general meeting that featured former broadcaster and new Consul General to New York Pamela Wallin as the guest speaker.
The league, a women's charitable and educational organization, said the huge fundraising total could not have been achieved without the efforts of York University, designers, sponsors and suppliers - including RBC, PARA paints, and Canadian House & Home - and most importantly volunteers and members of the league.
Said league president Ela Landegger: "Designed to break the cycle of poverty by providing tutors, mentors, public transportation fares and a bursary of $4,000 for each high-school graduate of the program, Pathways is truly making a difference in the lives of high-school students from Regent Park."
Said Carolyn Acker, executive director at the Regent Park Community Health Centre: "This year there are 739 students in the Pathways program who will be able to get to school, stay in school, build self-esteem, graduate and move on to post-secondary programs, thanks to the support of caring individuals like those at the Junior League of Toronto."
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The Elizabeth Greenshields Foundation has selected York University graduate student Sholem Krishtalka for one its international annual awards, valued at $12,500.
Krishtalka follows in the footsteps of his classmate, Jennifer Lefort, who recently won the $25,000 Joseph Plaskett Foundation Award for painting.
The Montreal-based Elizabeth Greenshields Foundation was established in 1955 by C.G. Greenshields, Q.C., in memory of his mother. The foundation receives about 1,500 applications annually from around the world, and grants 40 to 50 awards each year. The competition is open to young visual artists who are in the early stages of their careers, have started or completed art school training and/or have successfully demonstrated, through past work and future plans, a commitment to making art a lifetime career. The prize may be used for any art-related activities of the winner's choice.
"I was over the moon upon learning I had won the award," said the elated Krishtalka. "I see it as a tremendous vote of confidence in my work and career, especially since the award has a reputation of being nigh-impossible to earn."
Krishtalka is a large-scale, figurative oil painter who has a strong interest in the human form, portraiture and narrative. He is currently completing his final year of studies in the visual arts MFA program at York, and plans to use his award to travel and to secure studio space after graduation.
Krishtalka's paintings will be on display at his thesis exhibition, which will be held at the Lennox Contemporary Art Gallery, 12 Ossington Ave. (at Queen Street West) in late April.
"These two recent honours speak to the outstanding talent and ongoing push of the artistic envelope among our students," said Yvonne Singer, director of York's graduate program in visual arts.
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Happy birthday to Villa Columbo resident Lucia Cacchione, who turned 100 Dec. 5.
A three-year resident of Villa Columbo, Cacchione was to be joined by staff, friends and family members including her four children, 11 grandchildren and 16 great-grandchildren to commemorate the milestone.
A native of Fossacescia, Abruzzo, Cacchione credits her longevity to coming to Canada in 1959.
"Canada offered her a good life," said daughter Emma Langlois, saying her mother was "rejuvenated" after coming to this country.
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Raffy Chouljian sends word that the Rotary Clubs of Toronto-Don Mills and Toronto-Don Valley and Yerevan, Armenia, worked together recently to establish a mobile dental clinic. The clinic will travel throughout the mountainous regions of Armenia and provide free dental care to small villages. It will also educate the children of these villages in proper oral hygiene and preventive dental care. Each village will be visited at least once a year.
Most villages in the mountainous regions of Armenia do not have access to dental services. The people of these villages must travel on foot to the closest major centre miles away for any dental care. The children in these communities do not have access to any preventive dental care or education. There are about 150 villages with less than 1,000 people. Average population is 500.