Each year, as an Association we participate in #GivingTuesday — an annual tradition and day to celebrate and encourage global charitable giving.
"Giving back to our communities is very important to AMCTO members and the Association. On behalf of the Board of Directors and staff, I am proud to announce our 2024 conference charities of choice on this Giving Tuesday: My Friend's House and The Blue Mountain Watershed Trust Foundation (the Watershed Trust)."
- Stephen O'Brien, AMCTO President
My Friend’s House is a violence against women (VAW) crisis shelter serving women and children who have experienced abuse or who are at risk of experiencing abuse. The organization offers an eight-week program with the goal of finding women and children safe and affordable housing and connecting them with wrap-around services that support their needs as individuals or as a family.
My Friend's House residents have access to crisis workers, a therapeutic counsellor, child and youth workers, a wellness coordinator, and a transitional housing and legal support worker. The organization also provides outreach services in the instances where they have a full house, in order to continue to support and connect those who call with skilled program staff. The My Friend's House crisis line is available 24-hrs. and crisis workers are always there to listen and safety plan with those who call.
My Friend's House continues to advocate for equity for women and children in the South Georgian Bay area who are experiencing gender-based violence and abuse.
The Watershed Trust, Ontario’s first watershed trust, was formed in 1994 to protect natural areas in Collingwood and the Blue Mountains from development pressures of many kinds. Since then, the Foundation has been instrumental in preserving and protecting the region's remaining wild places.
The Watershed Trust is an all-volunteer independent grass-roots organization supported by donations and fundraising. The Watershed Trust's area of interest is composed of independent watersheds, collectively ‘the Blue Mountain Watershed’ that originate in the Niagara Escarpment, a United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) World Biosphere Reserve. The watersheds drain directly into Georgian Bay and include Silver Creek, Black Ash Creek, Townline Creek, Pretty River, Batteaux River, Indian Brook, various fringe creeks, and the Beaver River. The area totals approximately 50,000 hectares and encompasses the municipalities of Collingwood and Town of Blue Mountains. It is bounded by Thornbury to the west, Nottawa to the east, Georgian Bay to the north, and extends up onto the highlands of the Niagara Escarpment to the south.
Since its incorporation in 1995, the organization has helped to halt or substantially alter over a dozen planned developments. They have influenced the way that ski resorts manage their slopes to safeguard cold water fish creek habitats and have controlled phragmites in sensitive areas. Together with its over 500 members, the organization has advocated on issues from pesticide legislation and testing to land use planning and has brought wetlands conservation into the consciousness of thousands of minds, young and old.
As part of our annual commitment to give back to the communities we serve, AMCTO will be making a donation to each charity today on #GivingTuesday and throughout 2024 on behalf of our 2024 conference and Forum speakers. We also encourage you, our members, to give and support these organizations that are providing essential services in the Zone 2 region.