Quick facts about Moorelands! Moorelands Community Services is a charity that supports Toronto children and youth living in poverty. Every year over 1,100 children and youth enjoy our leadership focused after-school and summer camp programs. Everything we do is devoted to helping our kids develop the character qualities, skills and strategies they need to thrive. At a time when almost 1/3 of Toronto youth live in poverty¹, Moorelands bridges the opportunity gap for our kids.
Quick facts:
- Over 73% of our families live on less than $24,000 a year in this city
- Moorelands was founded in 1912
- Child poverty in Toronto is on the rise at 29% but in the communities we serve, it is between 50% & 60%²
- We are a donation funded charity and only 2% of our annual $1.5 million budget comes from the government. We are not United Way participants.
- Only 6c of each dollar raised goes to administration.
HOW we bridge the opportunity gap for kids:
We run a variety of programs that focus on providing low-income youth with positive and fun experiences designed to develop their life and leadership skills:
Moorelands Camp – for 600 children and youth aged 8-16, Lake Kawagama, near Dorset
- General camp for children aged 8 – 14, geared to income
- Leadership Camps – Adventure Camp Experience (A.C.E.) – 24 spaces for 15 yr. olds, over four weeks and Skills and Leadership Training (S.A.L.T.) – 16 spaces for 16 yr. olds over a two-week session. Participants must apply and be accepted to both ACE and SALT.
- Session = 6 days, Monday to Saturday, from July to mid-August. Cost to parents = starts at $25 ($1,150 unsubsidized)
After School Programs – 450 spaces every school year, during those vulnerable “latch key” hours
- 3 BLAST (Budding Leaders After-School Teams) – Junior Leadership Programs with spaces for a total of 78 children aged 6-12 each school day (390 spaces each week)
- 2 x Youth LED (Lead Excel Demonstrate) Middle School Leadership Program with spaces for 40 youth grades 6 – 8.
- 1 VITAL (Volunteers In Training As Leaders) High School Volunteer and Leadership program with spaces for 20 youth grades 9 – 12.
- BLAST Sessions last from September to June, 3:15 – 5:45 pm, cost to parents = $125 for 5 days a week for the whole school year ($2125 unsubsidized). All take place in Thorncliffe Park and Flemingdon Park, housing the highest concentration of young people under 16 in North America.
Family Programs – 550 families
- Baby Bundles for up to 250 newborns – all year
- Christmas Sharing Program for children and youth 0-16 (over 300 families) Nov – early Dec.
¹The Hidden Epidemic; A Report on Child and Youth Poverty in Toronto, Nov. 2014