Testimonials

QUOTE FROM THE NEIGHBOURHOOD GROUP COMMUNITY SERVICES

From: Darcy Bonner, Manager, Marketing & Development

Date: November 6, 2023

“Confirming both deliveries were made and the merchandise is lovely! Our clients are so lucky to have these wonderful warm goods, toiletries, etc., made available to them. The amount was so plentiful, I was even able to provide some of the items to a newcomer agency in Peterborough! Your delivery drivers were lovely too! Thank you so much. The Needlework Guild is a great community partner.”

QUOTE FROM NEW CIRCLES

From: Philip Groff, Executive Director

Date: November 6, 2023

“Your very generous donation arrived this morning.  Thanks so much to the entire Needlework Guild!”

QUOTE FROM SCARBOROUGH VILLAGE RESIDENCE

From: Camille Winchester, Activities Organizer, Scarborough Village Residence City of Toronto Shelter, Support and Housing Administration Division Homelessness Initiatives and Prevention Services

Date: November 2, 2023

“This morning we received the bags and boxes filled with toiletries, underwear, slippers, mitts, hats, and scarves! Thank you for making a difference. We wish to acknowledge your thoughtfulness, generosity, hard work and time pulling this all together AND delivering it to us! It is so very much appreciated by the clients and staff.

Please pass along a special thank you to the clever, creative people who spent their time and energy to make these beautifully hand-knitted and crocheted items for the residents at Scarborough Village Residence. With help like yours, the seniors at Scarborough Village Residence are able to make a smooth transition back into the community.

Your donations provide much needed assistance to the less fortunate members of our community. Every little bit of kindness goes a long way and helps out during this challenging time in their lives. We are sure that the men and women will all appreciate receiving these items. On behalf of all of the staff and residents at Scarborough Village Residence, we thank you for your support.”

QUOTE FROM HAVEN TORONTO

From: Michailah Lingham, Stakeholder Relations, Manager

Date: November 2, 2023

“On behalf of Haven Toronto, I want to express our gratitude for The Needlework Guild of Canada – Toronto Branch’s in-kind donation. The cold weather snuck up on us this year and this donation will be truly appreciated by all the members. Thank you again for coordinating the drop off. Wishing you a happy and healthy week.”

QUOTE FROM THE ABIONA CENTRE

From: Xeena Jawad, Volunteer Coordinator

Date: November 2, 2023

“We received our first delivery of donations today, and I just wanted to say THANK YOU! I was so pleasantly shocked with the wonderful items. We have been really struggling to provide our young mothers with donated hygiene items and this makes the world of a difference. Also, the drivers who delivered the donations were so lovely!  Thank you so much to the Needlework Guild.”

QUOTE FROM FAMILY RESIDENCE

From: Sophia Pottinger, Supervisor Social Assistance City of Toronto Shelter, Support and Housing Administration Homeless Initiatives & Prevention Services

Date: November 2, 2023

“One driver arrived today and the items are beautiful.  Thank you so much for these donations – we already have families that the donations have been provided to and they were very thankful. Kind regards.”

QUOTE FROM THE YONGE STREET MISSION

From: Angie Peters, President and CEO

Date: October 26, 2023

“It is wonderful to hear from the Guild and we are so grateful for your ongoing support. Thank you so much!  Your gifts are so very special because they are handmade and such a clear demonstration of God’s love. Blessings.”

QUOTE FROM THE LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR OF ONTARIO

From: Elizabeth Dowdeswell

Date: November 21, 2017

I was delighted to join you at the Needlework Guild of Canada Toronto Branch’s annual packing day at the Yorkminster Park Baptist Church.

It was heartening to witness the continuing and generous support that members provide to the GTA. The energy and camaraderie of those in their nineties is a clear indication that the benefits of the guild are reaped by volunteers as well as recipients of the clothing and supplies donated each year. Congratulations on celebrating your 125th anniversary.

Thank you for the lovely gift of the knitted doll. Please accept my best wishes, for a wonderful holiday season.

QUOTE FROM LAMP COMMUNITY HEALTH CENTRE

From: Therese Stewart Subject: Happy New Year!

Date: January 2, 2018

Happy new year and may 2018 be filled with happiness and health!

I wanted to write to everyone and let you know how you impacted the Toy Room and the families that use the program.

A big thank you to the many staff at LAMP who ensured that their families in need were signed up for the Toy Room. Your assistance helps to make this program run smoothly and allows us to properly gather statistics on the numbers that we serve. Another thank you to the staff who jumped in and helped pick up, unload and sort donations as well as your assistance on distribution day.

I am also grateful for the assistance of Campbell’s Soup who sent a crew of staff on Tuesday afternoon to turn our large community room into an amazing Toy Room that was ready to greet parents Wednesday morning. On distribution day, we had eighteen wonderful volunteer elves throughout the day. Their enthusiasm and good spirits made the event a fun and dignified one for all our participants.

Last, but definitely not least, because without our donors, we wouldn’t have the gifts to redistribute to our families in need. The kindness and generosity of over twelve individual and ten business/groups are what make the Toy Room a possibility. For each child that was registered, their parent/guardian was able to pick 4 items (a main gift, a smaller stocking stuffer, a book and a knitted item). Thank you for all the efforts that you have made in order to make this holiday season a happy one for so many families.

It is an honour to be a part of this program and see so many participate to ease some of the financial pressures that exist for so many of LAMP families. Thank you to all for everything you’ve done. On behalf of the 206 families and their 404 smiling children, thank you, thank you, thank you.

All the best for 2018 and I hope to see you on board for Toy Room 2018 which will run on Wednesday, December 12, 2018.

Sincerely,

Therese Stewart

LAMP Community Health Centre

QUOTE FROM YORKMINSTER PARK BAPTIST CHURCH’S NEWSLETTER

Date: December 1, 2017

November 2017 at least fifty volunteers from the Toronto Needlework Guild, hosted by our own Dorcas Group, had arrived to begin piling their hand knitted winter accessories on table after table in the Heritage Room for their 125th Annual Distribution Day. This year there were 40,000 hand-knit scarves, gloves, toques, blankets and sweaters – all for the needy of our city. The handiwork was so colourful and beautiful!

QUOTE FROM SISTERING

From: Patricia O’Connell, Executive Director

Date: December 5, 2017

Members of The Needlework Guild of Canada

Local community support means the world to us! Giving is rooted in kindness – thank you for caring and for being a part of our Sistering family in such a meaningful way. Your generosity ensures that Sistering is meeting the needs of our clients.

Beautiful handmade mittens and hats and sweaters are labors of love and resonate with messages of compassionate care and warmth on a cold winter’s night and comfort when we are cold. There is nothing quite like the joy and comfort a new pair of pajamas can bring. New clothes are vital for women’s and children’s health, warmth, and dignity, especially during this most difficult time in their lives.

The families who will receive these beautiful items will most certainly feel the love and goodness of spirit that your creative members have poured into them. Many of the women who come to Sistering consider the community of friends and support they find here to be the closest symbol of home they have experienced in a long time.

The holidays can be a challenging time for at-risk, socially-isolated women in our community. Many are without family and friends and experience firsthand the impact of marginalization and poverty. At Sistering, we are driven by one simple truth: all women, regardless of circumstance, deserve to be treated with dignity and respect. Your donation of exquisite handmade quilts helps to remind them that their lives matter and they haven’t been forgotten.

Thank you for your kind and generous heart at this time of year. You help ensure every woman who walks through the Sistering doors finds a special sanctuary for connection, security, and support – a place where her heart finds home.

With heartfelt gratitude and best wishes…

QUOTE FROM NEW CIRCLES

From: Dyan Girard, Store Manager, GLOW

Date: November 21,2017

Thank you for joining our efforts to help newcomers and refugees meet their basic clothing needs through your charity donation. Because of you, more people will have appropriate winter accessories this season.

As many of our clients arrive in Toronto with only the clothing on the backs, the GLOW (Gently Loved Outfits to Wear) clothing bank is sometimes their first stop. The items you have donated are exactly what our families’ need for their children to face Toronto’s unpredictable weather.

Thanks to all of you, we can provide quality clothing to some of the 4,600 children who use the GLOW clothing bank each year. With your donation, these children will be able to get to school and go out in the community with dignity and comfort.

QUOTE FROM MASSEY CENTRE

From: Ekua Asabea Blair

Date: November 21, 2017

Thank you so much for the ongoing and generous support of the Needlework Guild of Canada.

The layettes and the bags of winter wear and other items are most appreciated because the young moms need them and enjoy receiving them. Thank you for continuing to bring joy to our young families.

Massey Centre is honoured by your partnership – you are helping to change young lives.

QUOTE FROM THE DORCAS GROUP,YPBC NEWS, (Yorkminster Park Baptist Church)

The Needlework Guild holds its Distribution Day at Yorkminster Park each November and if you go to the Heritage Room early on that day you will think you have wandered into a warehouse. Around three sides of the room will be tables piled high with articles of clothing for all ages. In the centre of the room chairs will have been arranged to form bins. A sign at each ‘bin’ will show the name of the social agency. It is DISTRIBUTION DAY indeed for the Needlework Guild! Members of groups and individual members who are part of NGC have delivered the work they did in the past year.

Soon volunteers will arrive. Each will be given a card with the name of the agency and a list of items they are to receive. The volunteer will go from table to table gathering up the required items and placing them in the appropriate ‘bin’.

What is the Needlework Guild and what does it have to do with the Dorcas Group. In 1882 Lady Wolverton of Dorset, England, in response to a mining disaster in Wales, invited the ladies of the area to tea at the Manor, asking each to bring two items of new clothing for the orphaned children. This action led to the founding of the Needlework Guild whose mission continues to be to provide new clothing to meet needs resulting from disaster or hardship. The concept spread and similar groups were formed in England, Bermuda, the Bahamas, the U.S.A. and Canada.

The Toronto Branch is a registered charity that has operated continuously since 1892 on a voluntary basis. All the items donated to the Guild must be new (hand-made or purchased). Monetary donations are used to purchase items that can’t be made, e.g. coats, underwear. The agencies which receive the items must not sell them for fundraising.

Our Dorcus Group donates minimum of 200 items each year. On Distribution Day we serve tea, coffee and cookies to the volunteers when they need a break from their shopping. By 1 p.m. the tables have been cleared; the bins emptied; the agencies have come for the items needed by them. There’s just the last minute clearing up and another busy Distribution Day will by over.

Written by Joyce Wood

Agencies that NGC supports clearly identified the significance of our support…

CHRISTMAS MARKET

“It allowed nearly 900 families in our Christmas Market to receive food baskets, clothing, toys and gifts. ‘These clothes are new,’ whispeed one mother in awe.’ This is our first year in Canada. We could never afford this.”

“Thank you to the Needlework Guild of Canada, Toronto Branch for their very generous donation of handmade hats, gloves and afghans as well as other clothing for the women who come to us for service. Your clothing donations will be divided up between the clients who stay in our residence and those who live in the community.”

ROBERTSON HOUSE

“On behalf of staff and clients, we would like to thank the Needlework Guild of Canada, Toronto Branch for supporting our organization again this year. The wonderful articles of clothing you gave us were distributed to a number of our programs and will be given to client families in need.”

“Thanks to the Needlework Guild of Canada, Toronto Branch for the wonderful items they supplied. The baby layettes will be distributed to newborns in need and the knitted hats, mitts and scarves will be distributed through our sharing program. Thank you for all your efforts throughout the year and for your commitment to helping make Toronto a caring community.”