Caledon Community Services receives $5,000 from Amazon

Written By ALYSSA PARKHILL

“Amazon is proud to support local organizations in Ontario to do our part in providing assistance and food to families who were negatively impacted by the pandemic,” said Director of Amazon Canada Operations, Sumegha Kumar. 

Amazon announced last week that it would be donating $400,000 to six Ontario organizations who have worked tirelessly amid the COVID-19 pandemic to ensure their communities were served, and well taken care of. 

“This donation is reflective of our commitment to support Ontario communities in which we live and work, and we're honoured to partner with organizations that are making a difference,” said Kumar. 

Among the six organizations is Caledon Community Services (CCS). Also benefitting are the Mississauga Food Bank, William Osler Health, Ottawa Food Bank, Feed Ontario and the Daily Bread Food Bank. CCS will receive $5,000, which will go towards supporting the various programs and services the organization provides to the community. 

CCS says it is grateful for the support from Amazon and excited to put their donations towards the programs and to support local families and residents who are in need. 

“It helped us address the growing need we are seeing as more families find themselves unexpectedly in vulnerable positions due to loss of income or increasing expenses,” said Donna Cragg, Director of Communications at CCS. “The donation will support clients through programs and services offered through The Exchange, including Food Support Program, Community Care Coordination and Family Supports.” 

Other programs and initiatives that have been ongoing amid the COVID-19 pandemic to best serve the community includes: Senior Assisted Living, Transitional and Respite Care, CCS Transportation, Employment and Training and English Language training.

“Our programs managed to pivot quickly to provide uninterrupted services safely by adapting processes or developing virtual formats,” explained Cragg. “We held our Annual General Meeting on June 24 virtually for the first time. Evolve stores closed to donations and shopping, which decreased revenue available for other programs and services delivered to residents in need.

But it's the help from donations, the community and other organizations that have allowed CCS the opportunity to continuing serving the public as best they can. 

“The help of organizations like Amazon and other businesses and the generosity of individuals throughout Caledon has been heartwarming during this pandemic – being a front facing agency – serving people, the biggest challenge experienced was how do we continue to provide the services that people so desperately need,” said Cragg. 

She added, “Transitioning to work from home was a challenge, adapting new technologies was a challenge, as was learning to adjust to volunteer absence and missing our volunteers and coworkers.”

Alongside Caledon Community Services, two other organizations in Peel region, Mississauga Food Bank and William Osler Health, both received donations from Amazon of $50,000 each. Specifically, the money being invested here in Caledon will help CCS as it works towards reopening in the near future. 

“Amazon's donation allows for purchasing that supports our re-opening. Costs are quite prohibitive for a charity and we're going to do it right with safety being the first, second and third priority! CCS has maintained its services through local generosity, this community has been absolutely extraordinary!” said CEO of Caledon Community Services, Monty Laskin. 

 For more information, visit ccs4u.org.