TDRC Media Releases

November 26, 2002                             
For Immediate Release

For Immediate Release

FORMER TENT CITY DWELLERS ABOUT TO SEE FURNISHINGS FOR THEIR NEW HOMES

Toronto, November 25, 2002 - Sixty former Tent City residents recently became tenants with apartments but no furniture. That is about to change for the better.

A news conference at 200 Madison Avenue (north of Dupont; west of Avenue Road) on Tuesday, November 26th at 11:00 a.m. will mark the end of an intense two-week collection campaign of furnishings, including sofas, beds, tables, chairs and cleaning products, and the start of their distribution to the new tenants.

The project by an alliance of agencies and corporations is "community at its best", according to Jackie Davies, Executive Director of Chill Out. "We went from making phone calls to getting everything we needed in under two weeks by combining everyone's skills". Chill Out, Project: Warmth, The Furniture Bank, and Woodgreen Community Centre called on their corporate and volunteer supporters for help. 

Goodwill, The National Club, The Park Hyatt and The Fairmount Royal York Hotel are donating beds, furnishings and utensils. Executive Furniture Rentals is donating a complete suite of home furnishings.

Canadian Tire Corporation, Enville Catering, Native Men's Residence and Tippet Richardson are providing the trucks and drivers to transport the donated furnishings to the new apartments of the formerly homeless.

Volunteers from Research Capital, Serve Canada, The Rotary Club of Toronto, The Salvation Army, Christian Resource Centre, Anishnawbe Health Toronto Street Patrol, Street Health, the Toronto Disaster Relief Committee and other community groups will load the trucks at 200 Madison Avenue and move the furnishings into the apartments across the GTA.

Photo Opportunities:

Mark Miller, President of Executive Furniture Rentals, will arrive at the news conference with a complete apartment load of furniture. His truck and drivers will leave from the news conference to deliver the furniture directly to a new home.

"The truck will carry, in addition to the furniture, a sense of possibility, opportunity and hope," states John Andras, Co-Founder of Project:Warmth and President-Elect of The Rotary Club of Toronto.

Canadian Tire trucks will pick up the 60 twin beds donated through the hotel's manager Ian Pullan at The Fairmount Royal York Hotel at 4:00 p.m. Loading docks are on Piper's Lane at the north side of the hotel.

For more information, contact TDRC at tdrc@tdrc.net

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