Report on Community Giving
A message to our readers
We are proud to present
our 11th annual Report
on Community Giving, a
public accounting to you,
our readers, on how the
Toronto Star contributed
financially to our
community in 2009.
Since the Toronto Star
was founded in 1892, this
paper has endeavoured
to make a difference in
the city and region. For more than a century, the
Star has been far more than just a newspaper:
it has been an integral part in the growth and
development of Toronto.
We are extremely proud of our famous
“campaigns” that advocated on behalf of the less
fortunate in our neighbourhoods, fighting for such
programs as a minimum wage, affordable housing,
unemployment insurance and universal medicare.
It was our founder Joseph E. Atkinson who set
our focus on serving the interest of our great city.
During his 50 years as Publisher, he set a mission
for this newspaper: humanity above all. For more
than 118 years, we have held true to that goal. His
passionate campaigns on behalf of underprivileged
children also led him to establish two of Toronto’s
oldest and most successful charities: The Toronto
Star Fresh Air Fund, which collects donations
from our readers to send tens of thousands of
deserving children to summer camp, and The
Toronto Star Santa Claus Fund, which provides a
gift at Christmas for 45,000 children in Toronto,
Mississauga, Brampton, Ajax and Pickering.
In addition to our own charities, the Star and its
employees remain strong supporters of the United
Way, and proud supporters of other charitable
programs and organizations in the Greater
Toronto Area. With the support of our readers, we
try to improve the lives of thousands of residents,
especially children.
As Publisher of the Toronto Star, I would like
to extend on behalf of all of the Star’s employees,
our sincere thanks to you for helping us give back
to our communities. The combination of financial
donations from readers, staff and the Star’s own
corporate giving provided $2.9 million to worthy
causes in 2009.
You should also know that every cent of the
money you donated to the Toronto Star charities
was spent directly on the children. The Star paid
all administrative costs.
I invite you to read and enjoy our Report on
Community Giving for 2009.
John Cruickshank
Publisher
Giving children an outside chance
The Toronto Star Fresh Air Fund celebrates its
110th campaign this year. The fund began in 1901
during one of the worst summer heat waves on
record. Joseph Atkinson appealed to Star readers
to help children of the poor escape the sweltering
city heat by providing funds for picnics, excursions
and vacations at camps. Star readers responded
generously that year as they have every year for
more than a century. In the 1930s, the emphasis
switched to camps in the country where needy
children could spend two or three weeks running
in the woods, swimming in a lake or learning to
paddle a canoe. Today, the fund helps children
with debilitating illnesses, developmental and
physical disabilities and those from low-income
families get the chance to create some summertime
memories at camp. Last summer, thanks to the
generosity of Star readers, The Toronto Star Fresh
Air Fund exceeded its $580,000 fundraising goal
and helped send 25,000 children to
106 day and residential camps.
Gifts to children, teens and families at Christmas
The genesis of The Toronto Star Santa Claus
Fund charity, established in 1906, relates back to a
vivid memory from former Toronto Star publisher
Joseph Atkinson’s youth.
One day, young Joseph was watching other
children skate on a pond. A lady approached and
asked him why he wasn’t skating. When she heard
his sad tale of being too poor to afford skates, she
bought him his first pair for Christmas. Atkinson
never forgot the warmth and generosity of that
stranger. Years later, he told the stories of other
needy children in the pages of the Toronto Star
and asked readers to contribute money to help
buy Christmas gifts for them. The gifts of fruit,
candy, socks and mitts were distributed through
Toronto’s Little Trinity Church. Today, bright gift
boxes are filled with a warm shirt, socks, mitts and
hat, a book, small toy, candy and dental hygiene
items. The gifts are still delivered to children’s
homes by volunteers, just as they were in 1906.
In 2009, the Toronto Star and sister papers, The
Mississauga News, Brampton Guardian and
Ajax-Pickering News Advertiser, surpassed their
goal of $1.5 million and provided a gift box at
Christmas to 45,000 needy children in Toronto,
Mississauga, Brampton, Ajax and Pickering. For
the fifth consecutive year, the Fund also supported
10,500 teens, aged 13 to 17, by providing each of
them with two movie passes and a gift certificate
for the theatre concession
stand. For the second time in
its history, The Toronto Star
Santa Claus Fund also assisted
10,500 families with a gift of
fresh produce and basic food staples in December
through the Daily Bread Food Bank and affiliated
food banks across Toronto, Peel and Durham
regions.
A Toronto Star reporter writes daily articles about the plight of needy children in Toronto to encourage readers to contribute to
the funds during each campaign. One hundred per cent of the money donated by our readers in 2009 went directly to benefit the
children. The Toronto Star paid all administrative costs. Donations are acknowledged in the Star and income tax receipts are mailed
to donors following each campaign.
How to give: To donate, please make your cheque payable to The Toronto Star Fresh Air Fund or The Toronto Star Santa Claus Fund and mail to:
Toronto Star, One Yonge Street, 3rd Floor Toronto, Ontario M5E 1E6. To donate by VISA, American Express or MasterCard, please call
416-869-4847. To donate online, please visit:
thestar.com/freshairfund –or–
thestar.com/santaclausfund
Star reaches out to our community
The Toronto Star helped establish the United
Way of Greater Toronto in 1956 and was one
of the founding workplace campaigns. The
newspaper contributes annually to the United
Way’s fundraising efforts with extensive editorial
coverage and promotion. The Toronto Star
staff has contributed more than $8.4 million in
cash donations through its successful employee
campaigns over the past 54 years and also provides
an annual corporate donation. In 2009, the
Toronto Star and its employees gave more than
$445,000 to the United Way of Greater Toronto.
For the sixth consecutive year,
the United Way has presented
the coveted Joint Labour
Management "Spirit Award" to
the Toronto Star for its company
campaigns.
Giving Guidelines
The Toronto Star has a long history of supporting the underprivileged. Knowing how
important Christmas is to thousands of families in our community, we have supported Mission
and Shelter programs during the holiday season. Scholarships and awards have also been
provided to students enrolled in journalism education. The Toronto Star has focused its efforts
to assist in the following three areas of concern in the Greater Toronto Area that meet the
following giving guidelines
• Children – through the Star’s own children’s charities, The Toronto Star Fresh Air Fund and The Toronto Star Santa Claus Fund
• Poverty – supporting the United Way of Greater Toronto
Mission and Shelter programs during the Christmas season
• Journalism Education – providing scholarships at the college and university levels to help continue education in journalism
