(Courtesy: Hope Dos Santos)
On Aug. 28, community members gathered at Flemington Public School for a back-to-school charity event after Douglas and his friend Pius Adu Adarkwa walked from Toronto to Niagara Falls, N.Y. earlier this month and helped raise over $46,000 for back-to-school supplies.
“I couldn’t have done this alone. I just want to thank all the single supporters that gave me on GoFundMe,” Douglas told The Brandon Gonez Show.
Several community members and organizations joined together to support the charity event, including Toronto’s Mayor Olivia Chow. “He just kept pushing and kept pushing. It’s that belief in what is possible,” Chow told The Brandon Gonez Show at the event.
“It’s so precious to have a dedicated young man to not just dream, but act on the dream, to set the goal, not just $10,000, we can do more,” Chow added.
Douglas said he increased his goal to $50,000 to meet the surge of demand from youth in his community that need help.
“A lot of parents can’t afford backpacks and just the fact that I’m able to provide around like 300 plus backpacks, 180 pairs of sneakers for the kids, that takes a financial burden off the parents,” Douglas said.
In addition, he said he’s partnered with Unison Health and Community Services throughout the year and together they’ll work to help as many kids as possible through various youth-focused programs and activities.
“In these communities, we do not want something for two weeks, four weeks, we want something generational every single year and the youth need it,” Douglas said.
Chow also said she’s going to find some donors that are willing to help his GoFundMe and even hinted that each year $45,000 could be raised for his initiative.
Douglas says he hopes for more community involvement and events like these, including attendees who expressed that they agreed.
“They deserve it and we’re willing to do more, you know, this is just the beginning,” Ahmed Adan an attendee said.
“Kids need mentorship, leadership – that’s a mentor and leader right there man,” Scott Villar added.
In addition, several organizations came out to support such as Toronto Community Housing, the City of Toronto, Unison Health and Community Services, Mind On Strength, Humanize The Hood and Hope & Hustle Heights.
“These organizations were instrumental in providing food, shoes, clothes, and school supplies to youth and children from the Lawrence Heights community.”
Douglas also said, given the high demand of school necessities he purchased additional backpacks and plans on distributing them on August 30 during a basketball event that he’s hosting in his community. Furthermore, he will be giving out grocery cards on Labour Day to families in need.
