Level I Community Service Day Opens Eyes and Hearts

On December 15^th, all Level I students took part in TFS’ first Community Service Day. The students had chosen to volunteer at one of five locations: the North York Harvest Food Bank, New Circles Clothing Bank, Good Shepherd Ministries, Thorncliffe Park Public School and Meighan Manor. The organizations were chosen based on an existing relationship or parent recommendation, and to provide a diversity of offerings, including working with the elderly, youth, at a homeless shelter downtown, and at a food bank or clothing bank, both in our own area.

The morning of the 15^th was spent engaged in activities ranging from preparing and serving food, and sorting donated clothes and food items, to offering assistance in class at Thorncliffe and to the seniors living at Meighan Manor. Each group was accompanied by staff and a parent volunteer.

The afternoon was devoted to reflecting on their individual and group experiences back at the School. The five groups met separately to recount those experiences and to put them into a presentation to share with all Level I peers.

The students who visited Thorncliffe Park Public School, the largest public school in North America with a population of over 1800 students from JK to Grade 5, had varied impressions.“They spoke Spanish, not English, and they were amazed that we could say ‘hello’ to them in French,” reported some students, while others mentioned how Thorncliffe students spoke of getting Christmas presents from a dollar store and of never having been on a vacation.  Other TFS students, though, talked of the pride the student exhibited in their native cultures and that “they find happiness with what they have.”

The trip to the Good Shepherd Ministries shelter took students into the heart of a largely impoverished downtown Toronto neighbourhood. They learned the history of the shelter, which serves the male homeless population, and how the shelter operates, such as receiving used soaps and shampoo from hotels for resident use. The students sorted food, served breakfast and packed sandwiches for the drop-in lunch. One student commented “they are really, really suffering; they took several sandwiches and then came back for more to last through the day.”

Kim English, Dean of Student Affairs, reminded the students that “We are all connected, even in the big city of Toronto.”