Employer-Supported Volunteering Helps Build Welcoming Communities
December 23, 2024
By Fei Tang, Senior Manager, Strategic Initiatives, Access Alliance
Holiday celebrations are more than just festive meals. For the communities we serve – newcomers facing poverty, racism, and countless other hardships – these gatherings are opportunities to foster joy, connection, and belonging. They remind us that even in the face of adversity, there’s immense power in coming together.
As an annual tradition, in this festive season, our community hubs in the west and east hosted community holiday dinners. Some of our programs also hosted separate holiday dinners for their clients. In all these events, corporate employer-supported volunteers work alongside our staff and community volunteers.
Volunteers as Ambassadors
Employer-supported volunteering is a two-way street. Volunteers represent their companies, displaying values like compassion and dedication, but they also serve as ambassadors for the nonprofit sector. By witnessing the challenges faced by our clients firsthand, they help amplify the voices of those on the front-lines of social issues.
For over a decade, a bulk of these holiday dinners have been supported by BMO employee volunteer groups, especially the ones held at our east-end AccessPoint on Danforth. The signature BMO blue has been blended harmoniously with the red and green colours of the festive season.
Access Alliance works with under-resourced newcomer communities that face historical disadvantage with resiliency. The reality facing our clients is often worlds apart from the offices of our corporate volunteers. When BMO employees don their bright blue shirts and step into our bustling community centres, they bridge those worlds. They showcase first-class teamwork and professionalism while immersing themselves in the realities of our clients’ lives.
A Tale of Two Groups
Among the many groups we’ve hosted, the two BMO volunteer teams this season stand out with their unmatched energy and their personal connections to these holiday events at AccessPoint on Danforth.
The first group came to support AccessPoint on Danforth’s annual holiday community celebration – a sit-down dinner for over 300 clients. The group was made up of nine branch managers led by their regional retail banking Vice President. With the community hall overflowing, we had to organize two rounds of seating to ensure everyone could enjoy a meal. BMO volunteers took this challenge in stride, running plates and balancing drinks with such grace you’d think they’d been professionally trained to wait tables. One senior client, grinning from ear to ear, commented, “I don’t even remember the last time someone served me a meal so attentively. It felt so good.”
The second group, comprised of BMO Pride Canada volunteers from various back-office departments, supported a smaller dinner for our Among Friends program, which serves 2SLGBTQI+ refugees. This event, attended by about 50 clients, had a gentler pace. Besides serving dinner BMO volunteers had time to mingle with clients, help with gifts, and keep everyone entertained while helping the evening flow smoothly.
For many clients, the holiday season can be a time of isolation. These gatherings bring people together, even creating a family reunion-like atmosphere. Our clients enjoyed interacting with the volunteers, many wanting a photo to be taken with our volunteers as a souvenir of the warm and welcoming time spent together. In smaller, one-on-one interactions, the divide of class, race, and income started to dissolve, replaced by a shared humanity.
The Pillar of Continuous Support
BMO’s history with AccessPoint on Danforth is deeply rooted. Fifteen years ago, BMO was one of the key corporate supporters that transformed a tattered suburban warehouse into the vibrant community hub it is today, serving over 12,000 clients annually. They also funded a remarkable capital project to turn the hub’s 6,000-square-foot roof into a lush, community-run ecological garden. For more than a decade, they’ve financially supported our annual holiday community dinners at this hub, making them a cornerstone of our celebrations.
The continuous support certainly has gone beyond the financial. Over the years, countless BMO volunteers have come to the hub to contribute their time and talent. They are like the perennials in our rooftop garden, coming back year after year to enrich our communities.
For many BMO volunteers, the connection runs deep.
Take Saad Ali, a branch manager from Midtown Toronto. Growing up in Scarborough, Saad participated in Access Alliance’s after-school program and later volunteered as a youth mentor. He found his first job through the Hub’s employment services. Reflecting on his experiences, he said, “The programs and community support they provided helped shape the person I am today, instilling in me the importance of community and giving back.”
Then there’s Thomas Stratton, Team Captain of last week’s group. He returns every year. Even during the pandemic, when our sit-down dinners pivoted to curbside holiday meal box pickups, Thomas and his colleagues braved the cold to distribute boxes, stepping indoors only for brief relief.
Andrew James, the volunteer team captain from BMO Pride, has been volunteering for Danforth holiday dinners since 2012. This year, when he heard the main holiday event was already “snatched” by another team, he was thrilled to find the Among Friends program was also hosting a holiday event and jumped in with his team right away.
Volunteering is a Gift, and It’s Addictive!
Volunteering is truly addictive.
Like Andrew, Michael Kirouac has been volunteering at AccessPoint on Danforth’s holiday dinners since 2012. “I wish there were more events like this,” he said. The holiday event had not finished yet, and he was already excited about coming back in the summer to support our Pride community picnic.
Eric Safaryan, who dressed as the Gingerbread Man and delighted the children, is already eager to return. Dale Willems, another volunteer, has signed up to be a regular mentor in our programs. In fact, as the evening drew to a close, our staff member recruiting volunteer mentors had gotten quite a few names in her notebook.
Volunteers often tell us they feel fortunate for what they have and are grateful for the opportunity to give back. Many also find the experience deeply rewarding – a fun team-building activity that fosters camaraderie and gratitude.
As one volunteer put it, “Volunteering is a gift.”
Volunteer With Us in 2025
While BMO is our largest corporate donor, they are not alone in their support. Year-round, we welcome employee volunteer groups from a diverse range of companies. Connected through United Way Greater Toronto, many corporate volunteer groups came to us for the signature Day of Caring activities. These volunteers, along with our regular community volunteers, are the soul and heart of our sector. They are the “voluntary” in the voluntary sector. They play an indispensable role in building welcoming and inclusive communities.
As we wrap up 2024 and dive into 2025, the opportunities for Employer-Supported Volunteering are immense. Year-round, our community hubs, both East and West, are busy, buzzing with events and activities. To meet the growing needs of our community, we welcome all the steady and adaptive support.
If your company’s employees are inspired to join us in building welcoming and inclusive communities, contact us at Volunteer@accessalliance.ca.