Month: December 2021

❄️ Happy Holidays!

Posted on by Alec Amato

To Our Manitou Family:

We wanted to take this opportunity to reach out to you and say thank you for your continued and unwavering support. This past summer, and throughout the past two years, our families and staff have been so patient and understanding with us and reflecting on that kindness brings us so much pride, love, and respect for our community. For our new families who have just joined us this year, we feel so privileged to have you as part of our Manitou Family.

With the year wrapping up, this is a wonderful time to pay tribute once again to the resilience and determination of our Manitou family, our summer and off-season staff, our community’s health care workers, essential workers, and all of those who have given so much of themselves for our wellbeing and the wellbeing of our children.  

Despite the challenges of the past year, it’s been wonderful to see that more of you than ever have participated in our Manitou Cares events, a testament to the incredible values of our families. On our side, we will keep doing everything we can to make Manitou Cares programming available to everyone so that we can continue to make a positive difference and work together to teach our children the value of giving back.

As 2021 draws to a close, it has never been clearer that our Manitou community is one that believes in putting the needs of others first and providing love and support to not only their own families but to our greater community at large.

Let us all remember that despite the recent setback of the variant, we can still look forward with hope and positivity for the future. Let’s try to celebrate all that we have and look at the glass half full. This way when we look back on the past year, we can say that we truly lived each day to the fullest just like we say in our Friday Night Fireside poem.

Here’s to a wonderful 2022 filled with good times, good health, and another ‘best summer ever’ at Manitou!

P.S. Due to COVID supply chain issues, our printed yearbook will be sent out in the new year to our 2021 families and staff.

-Mark, Jeff, Chris, Jen, Alec and Melissa

🎁 GIVE BACK: The Manitou Cares Shoebox Project is here!

Posted on by Alec Amato

As the holiday season is now upon us, it can be hard to find programs to give back in a meaningful way. We are very excited to be continuing our partnership project with Eva’s Initiatives for Homeless Youth for the holidays. Eva’s provides shelter, transitional housing and programs for youth experiencing homelessness. They work to empower young people towards brighter futures by building skills and providing support to reach their goals and dreams.

We are fortunate as a Manitou community to be able to give and receive gifts during the holidays. However, the homeless youth at Eva’s, will most likely not be receiving gifts or have the opportunity to celebrate with friends and family. Again this year our Manitou Cares Shoebox project will be benefitting the 123 youth at Eva’s who could use some holiday cheer!

If you haven’t had the chance to join our Manitou Cares movement this year, now’s your chance! We hope all of our Manitou families and greater community will choose to give back this holiday season!

THE MANITOU CARES SHOEBOX PROJECT
The Manitou Cares Shoebox Project is the perfect way to give back to youth who need it most. This year, we will collect and distribute gifts in the form of Shoeboxes to youth who have experienced homelessness or have been at risk of becoming homeless. Each thoughtfully created and decorated shoebox is filled with items valued at $50 that can enhance self-esteem and reduce feelings of isolation for youth in crisis. It helps provide youth with gifts they would appreciate, but not necessarily purchase during difficult times.

FOLLOW THE 4 EASY STEPS
1. DECORATE

Decorate your shoebox with wrapping paper to make it festive. Make sure to wrap the lid and container parts separately so it can still be opened! You can also find pre-decorated holiday boxes at your nearest dollar store too!

2. FILL

The contents of the box should have a value of approximately $50. Items could include beauty/hygiene products, Black hair care, nut-free chocolates, flip flops, headphones, warm accessories, small notebook and pen and gift certificates from stores such as McDonalds, Tim Hortons, Dollarama, and Shoppers Drug Mart.

3. WRITE

Youth who receive a gift from The Manitou Cares Shoebox Project are touched by the effort that goes into decorating the Shoebox as well as the special cards, messages, and poems contained inside. Get creative and have fun!

4. DROP OFF

Drop off your shoebox between December 13th – 16th between 10:00 AM – 4:00 PM

TORONTO – Toronto camp office 2478 Yonge Street (at Castlefield Ave.)

VAUGHAN – 217 Southdown Avenue (leave on porch)

If you need to drop off outside of these times, please email Jen (jen@manitoucamp.com) to arrange.

BONUS: INSPIRE!

As always, we encourage you to motivate your friends and family to get involved and give back. Post photos with your shoeboxes on social media using #ManitouCares or e-mail them to us to share with our community!

OUR GOAL
 

Our goal is to collect as many shoeboxes as possible from our Manitou community, 123 shoeboxes would be enough to provide for each youth at Eva’s right now. We will collect the boxes at our Toronto office (2478 Yonge Street) to be distributed in time to the youth for the holidays. Please join us and give to those in need!