Toronto’s corporate citizens lead rapid-fire #YSMRelay, raising over $345,000 for Yonge Street Mission in under two weeks

Operating costs for Yonge Street Mission’s food bank services have been covered for the next few months thanks to #YSMRelay, led by Toronto’s real estate industry and corporate community that has raced around the city, raising $346,500 in less than two weeks.

“When you’re in the midst of a crisis, it’s an intense experience across the organization. Everyone is all-hands-on-deck right now, and we’re adapting on-the-fly to new challenges every day. It’s an extraordinary strain on staff,” says Angie Peters, President & CEO, Yonge Street Mission. “We’re so grateful to everyone who participated in this relay – because of you we’ve been able to feed people who otherwise would have had nowhere to go.”

The relay began April 28th, when Toronto developer Capital Developments learned about how the COVID-19 crisis has impacted Yonge Street Mission. Demand for the local non-profit’s food bank services had increased by 205% in just a few weeks and continues growing at an unprecedented rate every day. Due to increased demand for food and essential services, Yonge Street Mission faced an immediate shortfall of $330k.

“As city builders, we felt like we had the ability to make a real difference, so we launched #YSMRelay to challenge our industry and city to raise money and help sustain Yonge Street Mission’s critical work,” says Todd Cowan, Co-Founder and Managing Partner, Capital Developments.

Capital Developments kicked off the relay by ‘picking up the baton,’ donating $30,000 to cover one week’s shortfall, then they ‘passed the baton’ to their peers. Before they knew it, major companies such as EllisDon, Woodbourne Capital Management and Metropia were also chipping in. By the time the relay hit its 11th day, #YSMRelay had raised $346,500, exceeding its original $330,000 goal

“The symbolic ‘passing of the baton’ showcases how person-to-person, company-to-company, we came together to do what we could to help our local communities deal with the devastating impact that COVID-19 has had on our neighbours,” says Jordan Dermer, Co-founder and Managing Partner, Capital Developments.

As the largest food bank in the Downtown East, the agency is facing an unimaginable increase in demand for their services amidst social distancing and closure of nonessential services. If you’re interested in learning more about their work and ways you can help, visit ysm.ca.

Full list of donors to-date:

• Capital Developments
• Woodbourne Capital Management
• St. Thomas Developments
• Metropia
• Westdale Properties
• Reserve Properties
• EllisDon
• Baker Real Estate
• OneClose
• Westmount Guarantee
• Diamond Kilmer Developments
• CentreCourt
• Clark Construction Management
• Graywood Developments
• Phantom Developments
• Donald K. Jackson Family Foundation
• Sobeys
• PLATFORM Insurance
• Green for Life
• Minto Communities