I’ve Seen The Heart of Toronto…
This week I saw Toronto’s heart. It was beautiful.
Let me elaborate. With the holiday season upon us there have been a lot of fundraisers and holiday parties and opportunities to help the less fortunate. On Wednesday and Thursday night I was able to attend two of these events and see just how caring, giving and amazing the people of Toronto can be.
On Wednesday night we were lucky enough to go to the 7th annual Andy Kim Christmas Show (at The Phoenix) and while we were being entertained there were thousands of dollars being raised for Juliette’s Place. A safe place for abused, alone and in need women and children. Each year Canadian music legend Andy Kim chooses a new charity as the recipient of the funds raised at his event and this year I think we can all agree that he chose well.
With a line up including The Arkells, Honeymoon Suite, Ron Sexsmith, Buck 65, Lights, Sarah Harmer and Sam Roberts there was no shortage of amazing Canadian talent on the stage. There were Christmas songs, introductions by Steve Anthony of cp24, John Moore of News Talk 1010, Jian Ghomeshi of (Moxy Fruvous) and the CBC and a musical interlude by comedian Sean Cullen.
Without a doubt though, the 2 highlights of the night were Andy Kim and all of his friends singing Rock Me Gently in one of the most epic live performances I’ve ever seen AND the announcement that 1,100 people had packed the venue and that $50,000 would be donated to Juliette’s Place this holiday season!
On Thursday night I was also fortunate as I had a ticket (thanks Rayanne) to #HoHoTO, the party that Twitter built, the 4th Christmas event, 5th overall and the biggest holiday/Christmas/awesome fundraising party I’ve ever been to. It was awesome. My new office went as a group, the SUPERFRIENDS were all in attendance, and the Mod Club was packed with some of Toronto’s greatest party people.
The sponsors that stepped up for this years’ event were unreal. The list just seemed to keep going and going and going on the screens inside the club. The raffle prizes were off the hook as the kids say and everyone was having a great time. Food donations were also being accepted at the door, which makes sense since #HoHoTO is a fundraiser for the Daily Bread Food Banks in the city. And the Twitter announcement was that over $70,000 has been raised to date with the Hangover Auction still to come this week coming up!
That is over $120,000 raised at 2 events, in 2 days, in Toronto, for people in need, by people who care.
If that number doesn’t make you feel good about this city… I don’t know what will.
Politics were cast aside (for the most part), drinks were flowing, Christmas spirit was in the air, and there was more love and joy and hope than you could shake a stick at.
So, when times get hard, mean, loud, hurtful and less than ideal in Toronto – remember that there is a lot of good here.
I’ve seen the heart of Toronto and it’s a beautiful thing.
Happy Holidays and Merry Christmas.
creator of content, daddy blogger, writer, coffee drinker, fan of the Batman. proud mo bro. prouder dad.
