The Toronto Kiwanis Boys & Girls Club will be open all summer long, thanks to a donation from global enterprise software company Salesforce.com.
The company is donating $220,000, some products, and about a week’s worth of their staffs’ volunteer time to help promote a “safe and supervised” place from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily. The club is used by 1,100 young people in the area to “play basketball, go rock climbing, learn about poetry and pretty much anything that sparks their interest.”
According to Amanda Neale-Robertson, one of the club’s managers, the summer months are crucial to keep these kids busy who otherwise would be milling around without much to do. “If Mom or Dad doesn’t have extra income lying around to send you to a camp, or there’s no one at home to look after you, what do you do? You can get into quite a bit of mischief.”
This is just another small chapter in the larger narrative that is the revitalization of Regent Park. As part of the planned redevelopment of Canada’s largest social housing project, the neighbourhood has seen a number of new amenities open in recent years including the Regent Park Aquatic Centre, Regent Park Arts and Cultural Centre, and the Paintbox Bistro.
[via Metro News]
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Jeremy Schipper is an intern at Toronto Standard. You can follow him on Twitter at @jeromeoschipps.
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