OUT OF THE COLD AT ST. ANDREW’S
“The people of St. Andrew’s are called by God to serve in faith, hope and love in the heart of Toronto”. As one way to live out that mission statement, over twenty-five years ago, St. Andrew’s Church began to open its doors for people on the streets of Toronto, offering a place for them to come in out of the cold and have a good meal. Sadly, there are more people than ever responding to our invitation but St. Andrew’s continues to be a place where they find a good meal and some friends who care.
We have been offering community breakfasts year round on Tuesday mornings. From November until April, we have been serving supper on Monday nights. In recent years we have often welcomed OVER THREE HUNDRED guests on some evenings. Our chef works with a large team of volunteers to prepare delicious meals. Our mandate from the beginning is to serve meals that we would be proud to serve our family and friends.
In addition to serving wonderful meals, guests are welcome in our Boutique where they can choose new and gently used clothing as well as toiletry items. All of these items are donated. We now work in partnership with Brands for Canada and the Bargains Group.
UPDATES DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC
Socially Distanced Prepping
Packing up those takeaway meals!
THE “BOUTIQUE” DONATIONS
Please note that the Boutique is currently located in the West Tower adjacent to the Simcoe Street entrance and is open during the Tuesday breakfast.The Boutique is in need of the following new or gently used items for the fall/winter season. We would ask that all used clothing be laundered or dry cleaned (and without stains) before donation. We are especially in need of men’s and women’s fall/winter jackets as well as men’s and women’s running/casual shoes.
Men: Medium, Large and XL t-shirts (short and long sleeved), jeans and casual pants (especially sizes 32-34), track/sweat pants, sweatshirts/hoodies
Women: Large and XL t-shirts (short and long sleeved), jeans and casual pants (sizes 10-14), sweatpants/leggings, sports/casual shoes, new women’s underwear (sizes Large and XL)
The Boutique continues to need individually wrapped bars of soap, small bottles of shampoo and hand sanitizer, small packages of kleenex, disposable shaving blades, toothpaste and toothbrushes and insoles for shoes (all of which are available at Dollarama!). Small, medium and large plastic/cloth bags/knapsacks/ gym bags are always welcome.If you would like to donate items, please arrange with the Church Office for a drop off time by emailing Diana Veenstra at: dveenstra@standrewstoronto.orgWe are also willing to purchase any of these items in bulk if you would like to make a cash/cheque donation. To make a financial donation online, click the “Donate” button at the top of the Homepage at: standrewstoronto.org and choose, “Out of the Cold Program” from the drop down menu. Please identify the donation to go to the OOTC Boutique (comment section on-line/on the cheque).The Boutique team, and our OOTC guests, want to thank everyone for their continued support!
VOLUNTEERS
Volunteers are always needed to make these programs work and our volunteers come from both the congregation and the wider community and are much appreciated.
However, due to COVID-19 restrictions and the suspension of our OOTC Supper programme until Fall 2021, we will not be taking new applications at this time. Please check back here shortly when we will have updates for our new and returning volunteers.
