Kids Up Front Foundation Toronto

TORONTO
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What's New? ______________________________________________________________________________________________ Kids Up Front Toronto Annual Report 2009 Kids Up Front Toronto is pleased to present its 2009 Annual Report. _______________________________________________________________________________________________ Winter 2009/2010 Thank you Kids Up Front from the students at Chaminade! Here's the YOU TUBE link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=He2Y_F0xyA0 ______________________________________________________________________________________________ Fall 2009 At Kids Up Front we believe all children deserve to experience the magic of the theatre or the excitement of a hockey game. It is our business to make sure children and their families affected by poverty, abuse, illness as well as newcomersto Toronto gain exposure to our community through the distribution of tickets. Our program, with your support, means: 1. Children benefit from developing a sense of belonging; feeling included; gaining exposure to “normal” childhood experiences 2. Parents benefit from feeling valued; having the means to give their child a special experience; re-connecting with their child in apositive way 3. Families benefit from sharing constructive leisure activities; encouraging positive social interaction between parents, children and siblings; healing and strengthening relationships 4. Communities benefit from having engaged citizens; strengthening of community values; inspiring future leaders “Thank you so much for giving us this special day of fun and joy. Thank you to everyone who made this experience possible.” We have reached more than 75,000 people made up of children and families in need in less than 4 years but the demand for our unique service continues to grow. Your support will help us to alleviate challenges for more families and thereby improve the welfare of more children in our community. Help us give kids the place they deserve…Right Up Front! Donate through CanadaHelps at http://www.kidsupfront.com/TO-donate.htm ______________________________________________________________________________________________ Check this out! Kids Up Front wins Reader with a Cause award through Today's Parent. ReaderWithaCauseAward20001 _______________________________________________________________________________________________ Summer 2009 Thank you again TD for donating the BEST seats at the Rogers Centre to Kids Up Front! ________________________________________________________________________________________________ Spring 2009 Kids Up Front Foundation (Toronto) is very pleased to announce that we have been awarded a $105,000 three year grant from the Ontario Trillium Foundation to further increase access to educational, cultural and recreational community events for children and their families in Toronto. The Ontario Trillium Foundation is an agency of the Government of Ontario. For over 25 years, the Foundation has supported the growth and vitality of communities across the province. OTF continues to strengthen the capacity of the volunteer sector through investments in community-based initiatives. For more information, please visit www.trilliumfoundation.org. Andy Barrie interviews Kids Up Front Executive Director Lindsay Oughtred on Metro Morning. CBC Radio Interview - Tickets for Kids Within in 2 days following the interview, we received more than 200 tickets from new donors. Kids Up Front was also recognized by George Stroumboulopoulus on CBC's The Hour: http://stream1.corusent.com/TV/corus/00promos/120004F-5.wmv _______________________________________________________________________________ Winter 2008\2009 Happy New Year! We were very excited to be able to send 40 families to see Ross Petty's Production of *Cinderella* over the holiday. Everyone LOVED the show! My name is Sabrina, and I want to say Thank You to Kids Up Front, for giving me tickets for me and my brother Bruno to go watch the show Cinderella. We had a great time, we took the subway to downtown. We had dinner at the food court in the Eaton Center and then we went to watch the show. The show had lots of songs, and it was really funny. Cinderellas step sisters and step mother were very ugly and very funny, and they looked like boys dressed up. I had lots of fun. Thank you! Sabrina _________________________________________________________________________________ Other familes enjoyed the Christmas classic - The Nutcracker ___________________________________________________________________________ And already in 2009 we have had a record numer of youth out to Leaf and Raptors games many in corporate suites! ___________________________________________________________________________ Fall 2008 TELUS presents Kids Up Front at the Lorraine Kimsa Theatre for Young People is back! On Saturday, November 15, 2008 hundreds of Kids Up Front families will enjoy the LKTYP production of You're a Good Man Charlie Brown as well as other fabulous activites including face painting, tattoos, snacks and a visit from Toronto's super heros - Team Epic. Thank you once again TELUS for supporting Kids Up Front at the Lorraine Kimsa Theatre for Young People. ___________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________ Summer 2008 It's shaping up to be a busy summer for Kids Up Front Toronto! In June, we had the opportunity to bring 50 children to sit field level at a Blue Jays game - and Global News followed their adventure - http://www.canada.com/globaltv/ontario/features/making_a_difference.html We were also able to provide 200 kids with the chance to see "Walking with Dinosaurs", a world-class production at the Air Canada Centre. We're very happy to say that thanks to our generous donors, we can continue to provide these incredible opportunities for children, youth, and families in Toronto! Kids Up Front child leads the 7th Inning Stretch at a Blue Jays game June 7th. _____________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________ Kids Up Front partners with Toronto's new and hot soccer team - TORONTO FC! Kids Up Front has once again been receiving tickets to each home game as well as a food voucher and a lunch bags (thanks to Danone) for each child who attends. Thank you Toronto FC and, once again, Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment for your generosity! _____________________________________________________________________________ Spring 2008 March was a fabulous month for Kids Up Front Toronto - we celebrated our second birthday and distributed more than 3000 tickets! Kids Up Front would especially like to thank everyone at the new AMC Theatre at Yonge and Dundas for opening their doors to us on March 22nd and 23rd for two very special screenings of “The Great Debaters” and “Alvin and the Chipmunks”. Hundreds of kids got the opportunity to visit the brand new theatre for a movie and snacks even before it opened to the public! ______________________________________________________________________ Happy New Year! 2007 was a fantastic year for Kids Up Front! We have now distributed more than $1,000,000.00 worth of event tickets to kids and families - that's more than 40,000 tickets that otherwise would not have been used. 2007 Highlights: Kids Up Front made sure wheelchair accessible seats were used at the shows we attended Youth in Toronto enjoyed front row seats Cirque du Soleil, Colin James, Ross Petty’s production of Peter Pan and the Barenaked Ladies 115 families, new to Canada, enjoyed the Wizard of Oz and more (a pre-show party) thanks to the TELUS Toronto Community Board Families experienced for the first time: the ROM; the Toronto Zoo; the Ontario Science Centre; Casa Loma; Ontario Place, the AGO and Medieval Times Young sports fans saw their heroes live with courtside Raptors tickets, Leaf tickets, Captain’s Crew at the Toronto Marlies, Argos tickets, Jays tickets and Toronto FC tickets ________________________________________________________________________________ On November 11, 2007, thanks to TELUS Community Board, 400 people made up of families from 12 of our partner agencies enjoyed the Lorraine Kimsa Theatre for Young People production of "The Wizard of Oz". Before the show the kids enjoyed getting tattoos and their face painted while listening to music by the famous James Funny Hat. _____________________________________________________________________________ We are very proud to announce that "A Morning with the Stars" raised $50,000 for Kids Up Front Foundation (Toronto) and SickKids Foundation. Thanks to generous ticket donors, Kids Up Front had more than 300 people made up of families from our agencies attend the show. They had a ball! Check out the details at www.dancingstars.ca _____________________________________________________ HAPPY FIRST BIRTHDAY KIDS UP FRONT FOUNDATION (TORONTO)! In one year we have seen more than 22,000 children and youth attend some incredible events in Toronto. Kids Up Front kids have enjoyed: front row seats at Cirque du Soleil, Blue Man Group, Lord of the Rings, Alladin and the Barenaked Ladies corporate suites and great seats at the Toronto Maple Leafs, The Toronto Raptors, The Toronto Blue Jays and the Toronto Marlies games days with their families at the ROM, The Toronto Zoo, Olympic Spirit and the Harbourfront Centre film screenings, art shows and orchestras musical productions at The Hummingbird Centre and Roy Thompson Hall many productions including Hana's Suitcase at the Lorraine Kimsa Theatre for Young People gala screenings at the Toronto International Film Festival and The Sprockets Film Festival for Children skating with the Toronto Marlies breakfast with the Toronto Argonauts We know we are making a tremendous impact in our community! As one child said in his thank you note; "It was the first time we went anywhere really fun as a family. My Mom loved the music so much she cried. Me and my brothers got our picture taken with the real characters and it is taped to our wall." _________________________________________________________________________________
www.trilliumfoundation.org Kids Up Front Foundation (Toronto) is very pleased to announce that we are receiving a one year grant from the Ontario Trillium Foundation to increase access to educational, cultural and recreational community events for children and youth in Toronto. The Ontario Trillium Foundation, an agency of the Ministry of Culture, receives $100 million annually from Ontario's charity casino initiative. On behalf of the thousands of children and youth we work with - thank you OTF! Read a thank you note - click here Nutcracker _______________________________________________________________________________ It has only been 8 months and we have already seen over 12,000 kids attend events (valued at more than $400,000) - and most of them for the first time! Not Fit for Print (a photography exhibit in conjunction with L'Oreal Fashion Week) took place at the Drake Hotel on October 17, 2006 in support of Kids Up Front. Youth from Youthdale, St. Christopher House and the Griffin Centre attended the "Kids Only" preview show prior to the event. They had a wonderful time chatting with the photographers. One youth said; "I actually got to speak to the photographer which was really neat because I have never spoken to one before. She showed me a photo she did without all of the fancy gear and told me I could do the same. I want to be a photographer." After 8:00pm the adults came to check out the show and support Kids Up Front by bidding on the photographs. Thank you Brady and Not Fit for Print for choosing Kids Up Front as your recipient charity. Kids Up Front would also like to thank the Rotary Club of Toronto Eglinton for their generous donation of $1000. _________________________________________________________________________________ On Thursday, October 19, 2006 a group from Horizons for Youth and a group from The Down Syndrome Association of Toronto had the "once-in-a-life-time" experience of attending an intimate, final run-through rehearsal of the Barenaked Ladies before they started their tour the following day. The youth and their agency reps even got to chat with the entire band after the show. Thank you Jim Creeggann, Craig Finley and all of the Barenaked Ladies for letting this happen! _________________________________________________________________________________ Kids Up Front Foundation (Toronto) is now 6 months old. See what we've been up to. _________________________________________________________________________________ March 1st, 2006, Lindsay Oughtred was hired as the first Kids Up Front Foundation (Toronto) Executive Director. Within five days, the Foundation provided 47 wonderful opportunities valued at $6,191. That's 47 magical experiences that wouldn't have happened -- six days ago! The board of directors and staff wish to thank Corus Entertainment for providing us the incredible gift of office space and services. Corus' belief in Kids Up Front and their compassion for the cause continues to set new levels of philanthropy in the community, through their in-kind and cash support (in Calgary and now in Toronto). Thanks too, to the Conn Smythe Foundation and Borden Ladner Gervais LLP for their support.