Burger Run?

I went downtown to do a Sandwich Run with some of my friends from Richmond Hill Christian Community Church yesterday. They call me every now and then to lead them.

Since I don't work Fridays I can take an easy during the day. In the afternoon I finished reading a book I took out from the library, then I walked downtown.

I left a bit early so I could grab dinner. I had bought a $20 voucher from Groupon for Big Moe's, a burger joint. It was the second one I used. The first time I went the fellow there said I had to spend at least $20. I didn't know why, but that's what he said.

Regular burgers are $4.79 there. Cheese burgers are $5.79. So to make it to the minimum $20 charge I bought three regular burgers and one cheese burger for four burgers in total.

Now, I know I can generally eat quite a bit. But four burgers might be stretching it. So as I walked out I was trying to figure out what I should do with all the burgers.

Since we were going to hand out bag lunches to people we saw on the street I figured I could do the same with the burgers.

The first place I went to was the Tim Hortons near Ryerson University. It was close to where I was going to meet the group from RHCCC and I knew there was a fellow there, Jason, who quite often hangs out opening the door for people for spare change.

Jason's from the east coast. I don't remember exactly how long he's been in Toronto. Perhaps 14 years or so. I can't remember too many other details about him. But, he's a nice guy, so, whenever I'm in the area, I try to go by to chat and see how he's doing.

This time I had a burger to offer him which he gladly accepted. We had a good chat and caught up with each other. I told him about my recent camping trips to Tobermory and the Thousand Islands from earlier in the summer.

One of his friends came by and I offered him a burger too. He was happy to get it. He tried to sell me the bike he had. I'm not sure where he got it from. I hope it wasn't stolen. That would suck for the person who lost it if it was.

A few people gave Jason change as they entered or exited Timmies. One young fellow gave him a donut in a small, brown Timmies bag. Jason didn't want it because he said it was a bit too sweet for his tastes. So when the young guys were out of sight he offered it to me. I like donuts so I took it.

I figured I'd better go up the street a bit to eat it just in case. That's when I saw a scruffy, older gentleman. I asked him if he wanted a donut and he graciously accepted.

I thought I'd start a conversation with him. Sometimes people who live on the streets don't have a lot of people to chat with. He seemed eager to talk.

Turns out his name is Bill. I believe he said he was 56. He grew up in Lindsay, Ontario. I think he was a ward of the Province. I don't believe I asked him how he ended up like that.

Anyway, we had a nice little talk. He was quite chatty. I guess not too many people ask him about his life or anything like that.

I had one more burger left (I had already eaten one while chatting with Jason). But, I was still a bit hungry, so I didn't offer it to Bill. I felt a bit guilty about that. After we parted I ate it, then went to meet the RHCCC gang at our regular meeting place at 10 Dundas East to go on the Sandwich Run.

Lost

Police headquarters.

So we did another Sandwich Run yesterday. I'm not sure where the group was from, but they were late. We were supposed to meet at the back of Knox at 2:30 p.m. Lilian, Tim and I called them, perhaps, at 2:45 and they were still on the Gardiner Expressway somewhere stuck in traffic.

Even though it was a Saturday, traffic downtown can still be both painfully and unpredictably slow. Not only that, after exiting the Gardiner, they had to wind their way up Spadina. Another headache. Eventually they arrived by, let's say, 3:15; 45 minutes late. Normally I wouldn't have cared too much, but I had to meet my father for dinner, so I was on a somewhat tight deadline.

Tim did the orientation. Only five of the 14 young attendees had gone before so he was got quite in depth. Tim likes talking and may have been unaware that I was in a hurry (especially since we were already behind schedule). I was kind of anxious to get rolling, but what can you do?

We split into three smaller groups after Tim finished speaking. Lilian and Tim each took five people and I took four. Tim was going to do his regular Spadian/Queen route; I was going to do my now regular College to Allan Gardens/Seaton House route; and Lilian was going to go across Gerrard and down Yonge with us all converging at the Tim Hortons near Ryerson at Yonge and Dundas.

My group and Lilian's started off the same way going south on Spadina, then heading east on College. Her group took the north side of College, mine the south. We met up at the Salvation Army Hope Shelter at McCaul and College looking to give out some bag lunches, but there weren't many guys out. It was at that point we parted ways with my group continuing east on College and hers going south on McCaul.

Now, I have to say, our group didn't get very far. Shortly after crossing University Avenue we noticed an elderly lady walking in front of the MaRS building wearing only a light T-shirt, pants and fuzzy, white slippers. This might not have raised eyebrows in the middle of summer, but this was the first week of November and it was quite chilly outside. The high was no more than 10C and it was dropping as the daylight quickly faded.

I asked her if she wanted a bag lunch. She mentioned that she had dementia and was lost and couldn't remember where she lived. She had gone out to get something (I can't remember what now and I don't think she did either) and now was just wandering the streets trying to find her way home.

It was at that moment that I figured we'd better put the Sandwich Run on hold and get her some help. Fortunately we were only a block or so from Police Headquarters on College and Bay. So we put a too small hoodie on her that the young folks brought along to give to someone who might need it, gave her a box drink and headed over there. Slowly. Wilhelmina (I think that was her name) wasn't a very fast walker being elderly and walking in fuzzy, white slippers which fell off a number of times.

As we neared the building the young, female officer at the duty desk came out to help us into the lobby. While there we tried to find out more information that would give us a clue to where Wilhelmina lived. She mentioned she lived on her own. We also found a MedicAlert bracelet on her with her name and an I.D. number.

After a bit of detective work the officer found out where she lived. She contacted some other officers to come pick her up and drive her home. We decided to wait with Wilhelmina to keep her company since there was no one else around. She was still a bit confused and we didn't want her to become anxious or anything like that. While there she kept trying to give her Parker pen away (numerous times) because she didn't realize it was hers.

A couple of the young volunteers sang some gospel songs that they liked for her. It was a funny scene being in the towering lobby of the headquarters with singing like that.

Now, of course, since it wasn't an emergency the officers who were called to take her home took a long time. I had planned to be at my parents' place to pick up my dad to go eat for his birthday between 5:30 and 6:00. It was already after 5:00.

I got in contact with Lilian who was nearing the completion of her route and she sent Tim up to take over for me. His group got to Police Headquarters by around 5:30 p.m.

At that point we had to say, good-bye, to Wilhelmina. I hope she was okay waiting on her own. Tim took my group (who still had all their bag lunches) straight down Yonge towards the Timmies. They would hand them out to whoever they saw along the way. Any extras, I assume Tim and Lilian would take over to Seaton House on their own.

I ran back to my car which was parked at church and hurried as best I could to my parents' place. Traffic on the Don Valley Parkway was terrible and I arrived at 6:45. Hmm.

Anyway, my father and I had a decent dinner. We went to a small, Chinese buffet restaurant on Eglinton at Brimley. Other than the Saturday special of all-you-can-eat lobster, the food was typical, deep fried, Chinese buffet fare. Not that great. But it gave us a chance to hang out together, which was the important part.

Sandwich Runs - the Link

I know I've posted something about Sandwich Runs before. But, I noticed our organizers at Project 417 have produced a short video about what we do. It's just over one minute long and well made. You should have a look.

Basically, we lead groups through the streets of downtown Toronto handing out bag lunches to the homeless folks we meet. If possible we'll try to engage them in some sort of dialogue to see how they're doing because, quite frankly, most people won't even give them the time of day. They'll either walk right by totally ignoring them or say something snarky like, why don't you get a job? To us it's about outreach and instilling a bit of dignity and self worth in their lives. And sometimes all it takes is a bag lunch to start it all off.

So if you're ready and willing, why don't you gather a few friends together and go over to the Project 417 site and contact us to let us know you want to go out. We'll be waiting to hear from you.

Give more than you take...

Give more than you take and you'll make the world a better place.

~ a quote by me

I just read an article in the Midtown Post, a free paper delivered to homes and condos in the area I live. It's directed at people with a higher than average level of income.

The article in question asked if a $400 haircut was really worth it? My answer to that is, why would you even consider such a thing? That much money could sponsor a child in a developing country for one year. Is your hair worth as much as the well-being of another person? It seems quite outrageous to me.

Bill and Melinda Gates seem to have the right idea. They started the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Along with input from foundation trustee, Warren Buffet, they've given out grants of nearly $24 billion since 1994. Here is a statement taken from their foundation fact sheet:

Guided by the belief that every life has equal value, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation works to help all people lead healthy, productive lives. In developing countries, it focuses on improving people’s health and giving them the chance to lift themselves out of hunger and extreme poverty. In the United States, it seeks to ensure that all people—especially those with the fewest resources—have access to the opportunities they need to succeed in school and life. Based in Seattle, Washington, the foundation is led by CEO Jeff Raikes and Co-chair William H. Gates Sr., under the direction of Bill and Melinda Gates and Warren Buffett.

But, you don't even need to go that far. You can do something as easy as volunteering at your local food bank every now and then. For me, I volunteer at an Out of the Cold program at a church in downtown Toronto. We provide hot meals to underprivileged youths every Tuesday evening from November to the end of April.

As well, I help out with an organization called Project 417. Among other things, we take groups out to deliver bag lunches (sandwich, box drink, apple and snack) to homeless people on the streets of downtown Toronto.

There are a lot of things we can do to make a difference in peoples' lives. We just have to shift the focus a bit further from ourselves to others and we'll be on the right track.

Lazy me...

Okay, sorry... I've been neglecting my blog. It's been a week since I've last published.

It's not like I haven't been up to anything either. I do have some things to share. I went to dinner with Dickie at Imperial Buffet on Monday (pictured here)... oh wait... that was last Monday. Anyway, I got a 2-for-1 coupon from my parents. A wonderful invention if I do say so myself. It's funny... Imperial Buffet has been sending these coupons out on a regular basis to my sister and parents' homes. I go there about once every month or two and never pay full price. I don't know how they make money.

I wrote that hockey started again for us a couple of blogs ago. It's going alright. One fellow hasn't shown up for three weeks though. I hope he's paid up already or else we might be short on money. My friend Frank is taking care of the finances this year. He was in charge of the whole operation last year, but this year I'm helping with the rest of the organization. It mostly entails sending out weekly e-mails to see who's going to be there or not and making up the teams.

Gym night has started too. I'm one of the three "captains". Truthfully speaking we don't do much. All we've done so far is chosen our teams and picked the shirt colours. There's no coaching involved. I've been sending out some e-mails to my team members, but people don't really have to respond saying if they're going to be there or not. It's not like we can really grab members from other teams if we're short (I don't think). We'll see.

We had another "Sandwich Run" this evening. It wasn't really an official one though. I just took some of my church friends out who wanted to go. Surprisingly we didn't see very many people where we normally see them. Nathan Philips Square was all but empty. We saw one fellow at the bus shelter on the northeast side on Bay Street. That's his normal spot. There weren't many guys on the benches on the east side of the Square. Same with the south side along Queen or the southeast corner where there normally are 10-15 guys in the summer. Even on the northwest side. I just saw Richard and Raymond and one of Raymond's friends (I didn't ask him his name). Normally there are about 7-10 guys there. Raymond said a lot of the shelters are open on the weekends now. So a lot of guys go to them.

On a sad note, Richard mentioned to me that his friend Ozzie passed away. They used to hang out together at their regular spot in between one of the concrete support beams for the walkway that goes around the Square and a stairway that goes down to the parking area under the Square. Ozzie was a nice, old guy. Smallish fellow with a bushy, white beard. Richard said he was about 65. Though, to me, he looked quite a bit older. I guess living on the street will wear on you. Richard found him passed away one day not long ago. That's sad. I feel for him. He's not getting along with some of the other guys who've taken up residence around him. I guess they're a bit too rowdy. I think some of them drink and cause trouble. One girl supposedly has been stealing stuff too. At least it was a quiet night for the guys who were there tonight. A deserved break for them.

Small Group Sandwich Run

On Friday I went on the smallest Sandwich Run ever. The group we took out consisted wholly of three strong. There were supposed to be seven, but four of them went AWOL. It was the first time there were actually more leaders than volunteers. So Joe and Darlene left and Jenn and I took the group consisting of Jeff, Andrea and Debbie out. They were from Heart Lake Baptist Church in Brampton. Jeff and Andrea had been out many times before.

We did the Spadina/Queen St./City Hall route. They made 70 bag lunches which was great. Summer is much busier than the winter and we had been running out regularly before getting through City Hall.

The small group was really efficient. That was nice. We covered both sides of Spadina as we headed south. Andrea and I were on the east side while the other guys covered the west. There wasn't too much dawdling like we have with larger groups. We still spent time chatting with the folks we met on the street, but it didn't drag on like it sometimes can when more people are involved.

Raymond, Robert and Dan were camped out in their usual spot on the median on University in front of Osgoode Hall. It was our (Project 417's) third time out this week, so we only chatted with them briefly. They're a great group of guys who've just hit a rough patch in life. I know they'd like to get off the streets. Raymond says he's contacted the Streets to Homes guys so hopefully he's well on his way. His daughter in Ottawa just had twins. I hope he gets to see them sometime soon.

We met a few people on the path south of the Courthouse through to City Hall. I think some were stragglers from the Osgoode Hall meal program which gave out food earlier in the evening. I saw a fair number people coming out of the building when I rode by at around 6:00 p.m.

At Nathan Philips Square we saw the regular guys at the northwest corner. I don't remember most of their names unfortunately, only Richard and Oz. They hang out together near one of the sets of stairs that goes to the upper level walkway.

Normally we run out of lunches right around here. But, since the Heart Lake group made so many we had enough to visit the rest of the people around the southeast corner of the square. There were at least ten people camped out in this area. They were a varied group. Mostly men, but a few women too which is sort of unusual to see. There normally aren't a lot of women on the streets. Only a few. All different backgrounds as well. But mostly Caucasian and some native Canadians too.

One woman we spoke to said that her and her husband had a place lined up to go to in the next month or so. That's good. The colder weather isn't too far off. It's best to try to stay out of it if you can.

All-in-all it was a really good run. We had some meaningful conversations, satisfied a few hungry stomachs and stayed out of trouble. That's all you can really ask for.

Toronto the Bad?

This week's Sandwich Run didn't start off that great. We had a group of youths from Michigan visiting us this time.

Jenn and Darlene came out as usual, but Joe couldn't make it. Instead his wife Patricia came out. It's the first time I've gone out with her. She's been doing it for 13 years though.

We started off in the back parking lot south of Knox church at 7:00 p.m. like we normally do. Since we had four leaders we decided to do four slightly different routes. Jenn went down Spadina and across Queen. I went down Spadina and across Dundas. I was going to go directly to City Hall then head over to the park at Metropolitan United Church (beside St. Michael's Hospital). Patricia and Darlene would head east on College. One would go to Allan Gardens and the other to Seaton House.

I started off first with my group. We walked down Spadina to College. Along the way we saw a couple of guys out in front of The Scott Mission. Even though that was officially Jenn's route I thought we should offer the guys bag lunches instead of passing them by. When we got to College my group crossed over to the east side of Spadina while Jenn's group stayed on the west side.

The trouble began when we got to the LCBO at Baldwin and Spadina. I noticed two fellows who looked like they might be in need of a bag lunch. They were arguing though, so I thought it best not let any of the youths approach them so as not to put them in harm's way.

As we passed by things escalated and one fellow smashed a bottle of wine over the head of the other guy. Now this wasn't some pretend candy or sugar glass they use in TV shows or movies. This was a real, heavy, full bottle of wine. It shattered over the victim's head and he fell back onto the ground. As he lie on the street face up and seemingly unconscious, the fellow who hit him over the head wound up and gave him a hard kick to the side of the head. At that point I figured I'd better go over and stop it right there.

I walked over quickly and yelled at the guy as he stood over the other fellow. The attacker was a fairly big guy. About the same height as me, but built a little more thickly. If we were to get into a physical confrontation I'm not sure what would have happened. I was a bit concerned about that.

Anyway, I told him to stop it because I'm pretty sure he wanted to deliver another kick to the guy's head as he lie there. He was angry and said something about the other fellow pulling a knife on him and added they were cousins. I'm not sure what I said next, but it was probably something about the guy needing medical attention.

So the bad cousin scooped his injured victim up and said he would take him to the hospital. The injured fellow was in a semi-conscious state now and stumbled along with the support of his cousin. I was surprised he was able to move at all. From the beating he took I really didn't think he'd regain semi-consciousness that quickly.

Anyway, I sure hope they made it to hospital. The one fellow was a real mess. The back of his head was all bloodied up from the attack, not to mention the blood that was left on the road (from his head).

...And that's how our evening started.

A Sandwich Run to Remember

We went on another Sandwich Run this evening. This time it was with a CSM (Center for Student Missions) hosted youth group from North Carolina. I enjoy taking groups from smaller towns around the city. When you live here you sometimes take it for granted. It doesn't seem like that special a place to live in. But, to see it through someone else's eyes is neat. One fellow, Keith (one of the adult chaperones), said his hometown pretty much shuts down after 8:00 or 9:00 p.m. ... perhaps a little later on weekends. To be out and about and seeing so much activity on the streets at 10:30 on a Monday night was pretty unusual to him.

We began the evening in the parking lot behind Knox church as usual. The group from the U.S. was about 20+ strong. Joe gave his customary introductory speech outlining his safety tips and so on. After that we split into two smaller groups with Darlene and Jenn leading one, and Joe and I leading the other and headed off.

Darlene and Jenn had a rather interesting start to their evening. They ran into an après-G20, anti-police, protest march on University Avenue as they were trying to make their way east towards Allan Gardens and Seaton House. Joe and I missed those guys as we headed south on Spadina towards Queen.

Along the way we saw a few homeless folk who we said, hi, to and gave bag lunches and socks. When we hit Queen we headed east past Steve's Music Store which had been damaged during the "protests" on Saturday. A cop car had been set on fire in front of it and the resulting heat melted the windows out front and partially damaged the store sign.

Our brush with trouble happened when we got to John Street and turned left to head north towards Grange Park. Before we got there we decided to cut through a back alley (Renfrew Place) because there's a small park there that people sometimes hang out in. As we were doing that a minivan full of police officers pulled up and approached some people there. From my previous blog you know that a so-called "Anarchist" group called the Black Bloc had been vandalizing certain stores and banks around the area. Well the police were still out looking for them. Any decent-sized group of young people (such as ours), especially ones carrying backpacks (as we were also doing) was at risk of being picked up. So we promptly did an about face and head back up John to the park. I mean, what were the high school students going to tell their parents when they returned home from their visit to Toronto? Mom, Dad... I spent the evening in a holding cell after trying to give out bag lunches to homeless people? That wouldn't be very good. Not at all.

Nobody needing a bag lunch was hanging out in the park when we arrived. So we walked back down to Queen and continued heading east towards City Hall. The windows at the Scotia Bank at Queen and McCaul had already been repaired I noticed. They had been smashed in by the "protesters" just two days earlier. I was surprised to see they had been fixed so quickly. The three ATMs out front were another story altogether. They still showed the ill effects of being hit by a hammer or rock or whatever other objects the vandals could find around the neighbourhood.

As we were crossing University heading towards City Hall we got stuck on the island in the middle because we weren't walking fast enough. It was at that time I saw a homeless gentleman on a bench on the south island opposite us. I took three people from our group over to offer him a bag lunch while the others continued on to City Hall. We would meet Joe and the rest of them there after we were done. Well, that didn't exactly happen. We never did meet them. Not until the very end of the night anyway.

After giving the fellow on the bench a bag lunch we approached another fellow sitting nearby. We asked if he'd like one too, but he said he didn't need one. We also had socks which we offered as well, but again he declined.

As we were about to leave he stopped us and asked us what we were doing. I mentioned that we were a charitable group that went around the city handing out bag lunches to homeless people. He replied that he was doing very well financially speaking, but had other issues that he was dealing with. He wanted us to stay and talk if we could. We told him that we had people who were waiting for us, but would try to stay a little while if it would help.

Well, that little while turned into a long time. Perry (not his real name) recently found out some very troubling personal news. As well he had Osteogenesis Imperfecta, a serious disease that makes his bones brittle thus making them prone to breaking easily. Visual proof of his ailment was his very slight stature (almost anorexic-like) and the knee brace that supported his right leg (which I believe had recently healed after being broken). He mentioned he suffered numerous broken bones in his 50 some odd years on this planet. As well I'm sure he must have endured some job related stress (to put it mildly). He told us 100-hour work weeks were par for him. That, in my view, is completely insane.

Everything seemed to have all caught up with him at the same time. Sitting there a broken man, alone on an island (both literally and metaphorically speaking) in the middle of University Avenue. With no release valve, no one to tell his troubles too, he just shut down. When we came by and took the time to listen... to show genuine concern for him... to pray on his behalf, a tremendous weight was lifted from his shoulders. He was so very, very grateful for that. You could see tears coming into his eyes.

That moment touched us. I think it's something the four of us will never forget. We broke our "no hugging" rule (for safety purposes) and all gave him one before we departed. I only hope this moment in time can be the start of a road to recovery for him, I truly do.

Richmond Hill Gang

This is part of the Richmond Hill crew that went out on the Sandwich Run with Project 417 last Saturday. A few of my friends go to that church. About once a year they'll join us to hand out bag lunches to our homeless friends in downtown Toronto.

All told, about 23 volunteers came out. We divided them into two groups and went to a couple different areas of the city. I'm happy to say our group managed to give out all our lunches by the end of the night. I believe everyone had a good experience. They got to be a little more intimate with a side of society they might not get much of a chance to interact with on a regular basis. That's a good thing. The better we get to know our neighbours the easier it is for us to identify with them. Understanding goes a long way. Not only between people from different neighbourhoods, but people, in general, worldwide.

Afterwards a few of us stopped for a bite at Johnny Rockets across from Dundas Square. Being a tourist spot it was a bit of a rip off. But, that was to be expected so we knew what we were getting into. We just took the opportunity to sit, relax, chat and reflect on our evening.

Project 417 Fundraising Gala

Tonight was the We are Family Fundraising Gala. It was held at the RBC Auditorium at 315 Front Street West in Toronto. The event was put together by volunteers to raise money for Project 417 and their street outreach ministry. Among other things, Andy, from Project 417 organizes Sandwich Runs where he takes volunteers out to the streets of Toronto to hand out bag lunches to our homeless friends. A truly worthwhile cause indeed.

We had a good turnout. Entertainment was provided by Big John & The Night Trippers a Motown/Blues/R&B/60's Rock & Roll band. They kept the crowd hopping with their groovin' tunes. In between sets a DJ spun songs to keep things lively. A variety of tasty hor d'oeuvres and pastries served by the waitstaff throughout the night. That was great. I couldn't get enough of what I can best describe as a pineapple pie dessert. Yumm-y! In addition to the tickets sales, guests were able to donate more through either the live or silent auctions.

All-in-all I'd have to call it a successful evening. Thanks to all the hard work put in by Andy, Ed, Joe and the rest of the crew both money and awareness was raised. I'll be posting more photos soon. Go to my Flickr.com page in a day or two and you'll see them up.

Homeless in TO

This is Paul's bed. I can't remember how long he's been out here, but he does sleep on the streets more often than not. He's originally from Sudbury, ON. When times are good he can find work as a roofer. When they're bad... well, you can see the result. Paul is one of a number of homeless men who call the grounds of City Hall home. They're allowed, by city staff, to pitch camp here at night as long as they're gone by 5:00 or 6:00 in the morning (before the good folk head into work nearby). It may not look so bad right now, but wait until February comes round and it's -15C (5F) out and the wind is howling and the snow is piling up beside your sleeping bag. See how you like it then.

I've had the pleasure of talking with many of the guys down here. They're a really nice bunch if you take the time to get to know them. Their backgrounds are as varied as the reasons that they're on the streets. Some are young, some are old. Some have physical disabilities, some have mental disabilities. Some have just run into a string of bad luck. Whatever the case groups like, Andy Coates, Project 417 are there to lend a hand.

Project 417 was started by Reverend Joe Elkerton to, among other things, ministry to the homeless where they live - out on the street. Andy has been on staff full time since January of 2004. He, along with other team leaders, lead volunteer groups through the streets of downtown Toronto on Sandwich Runs. The volunteers come from many different places. Some are high school students, others are church fellowship groups. There's even a singles group that comes out now and then.

A typical night will begin in the parking lot behind Knox Presbyterian Church at Spadina and Harbord. Andy will instruct the volunteers on what they will be doing that evening. He explains the pre-made bag lunches they hand out are a "calling card" that gives them a chance to speak with a homeless person. Many of them have the opportunity to grab a meal at a shelter if they wish. The bag lunch gives volunteers a reason to go up to a homeless friend to see how they're doing and find out if they're alright.

Normally, after Andy speaks, they will split the volunteers into two smaller groups to cover more ground. Darlene's group usually heads north to Bloor, then goes east to Yonge and back down to Dundas. Andy will lead his group south on Spadina, across Queen to Yonge and back up to Dundas. Both groups will converge at the Tim Hortons there where they can grab a coffee and donut and then Andy will debrief them.

Volunteers describe the experience as "humbling" and educating. They learned a lot about a side of society they never had much chance to interact with previously. It made them very appreciative of everything they had in life. And they found out that giving is good for the soul... not just those of the homeless, but their own too.