The recipients of the Toronto Community Champion Award are announced by the City of Toronto

During an event that took place on March 20 at the Bram & Bluma Appel Salon at the Toronto Reference Library, Deputy Mayor Jennifer McKelvie (Scarborough-Rouge Park) announced the names of 25 individuals who were going to receive the Toronto Community Champion Award.

The Toronto Community Champion Award honors organizations that provided exceptional assistance to Torontonians during the pandemic. It is a component of the Stronger Together initiative that is partially supported by the Canadian government.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, residents were invited to nominate organizations that had a positive and long-lasting impact on their community. The Toronto Community Champion Award gives the city a chance to recognize our communities’ unwavering commitment to supporting one another during some of the most extraordinary times Toronto has ever seen.

A committee of community leaders from Volunteer Toronto, United Way Greater Toronto, Native Child and Family Services of Toronto, and City staff selected the recipients. Community-focused organizations received preference; demonstrated an approach to their work that was creative and inclusive; served weak populaces; and focused their efforts on community service.

Honored organizations include those that helped vulnerable residents, such as those with disabilities, newcomers, the elderly, or communities that deserve equity; worked to get people together more; provided vaccines to residents; and dealt with issues like food insecurity and homelessness.

From the nominations that were received, 22 Honourable Mentions were selected in addition to the 25 winners.

On the Stronger TOgether website, you can find additional details about the Toronto Community Champion Award and Stronger TOgether, as well as a comprehensive list of those who received the awards.

The City of Toronto Culture channel on YouTube (opens in new window) hosts a promotional video for the Toronto Community Champion Award.

Stronger Together is a program that is free and easy to get to. It gives people all over Toronto a chance to think about the COVID-19 pandemic and pay attention to the disproportionately affected communities and those who still have to deal with the effects.

Since the beginning of its vaccination campaign, Team Toronto has administered more than 8.1 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine as of March 9. This includes giving the primary series of the COVID-19 vaccine to more than 2.5 million people in Toronto. The Toronto Public Health Vaccine Dashboard provides access to the most recent COVID-19 vaccine data.