The holiday season is a time to come together and support the people, places and programs that make Toronto shine. Residents, businesses and community organizations can give back in ways that make a meaningful difference.
Explore the opportunities below to help make the season brighter for everyone.
Give back to those in need this holiday season. Connect with an agency near you that supports individuals who are at risk of or experiencing homelessness. Each organization has listed the items they need most like warm winter clothing, gift cards and hygiene products, along with information regarding drop-off.
Donate Items on the Holiday Wish List
New, unwrapped toys and gift cards can be dropped off at any Toronto Fire Station for the Toronto Professional Fire Fighters’ Association annual toy drive. Toronto’s 84 fire stations are also collecting winter essentials such as hats, gloves, coats and boots, and accept non-perishable food donations for the Daily Bread Food Bank year-round.
View Map of Fire Station Locations
The City operates 10 long-term care homes, caring for some of Toronto’s most vulnerable individuals. Your donations will help provide some extra special enhancements that improve resident quality of life such as hosting live entertainment in-house, as well as outings to local attractions and events. Learn more about how the City supports Toronto Seniors.
Connect with community agencies serving refugee claimants in Toronto. Find an organization near you helping to ease challenges, from isolation and loneliness, to financial and housing impacts.
You can make a meaningful difference by donating to Toronto Animal Services. Your support enables lifesaving care for animals in our city: from urgent medical treatment and specialty surgeries, to spay/neuter programs and micro-chipping efforts for pets whose owners face financial barriers. In fact, 100 per cent of your donation goes directly to benefit animals in the shelters and the community.
By giving today, you help support:
Your kindness helps create second chances and supports animals on their journey to a better life.
Your donation can help enhance High Park’s animal display by upgrading the Deer Pen Road trail, adding seating, shade structures, gardens and new trees — with the first $50,000 matched by a generous gift from the Honey Family Foundation.
Toronto’s Japanese flowering cherry trees (Sakura) and its groves, in parks across the city, are enjoyed by a multitude of visitors every year during their spring blossom. The trees also contribute to the urban forest canopy and provide important habitat. This holiday season, your donation will support the health and continued enjoyment of our cherry trees.
Toronto’s bees and butterflies need our support. This holiday season, your donation to PollinateTO will help create habitats, protect pollinators and inspire community stewardship. A small gift can make a big difference—bee a donor today.
The City of Toronto Archives acquires, preserves and shares the historical records that tell Toronto’s story. This holiday season, your financial donation can help make more of our city’s history accessible — from letters and photographs to maps and architectural plans. Your support strengthens conservation work, digitization projects, exhibitions and educational programs that bring Toronto’s past to life for everyone.
Your gift to Toronto Public Library Foundation can help accelerate and innovate the programs and spaces that keep Torontonians connected all year long. At the Library, stories aren’t only found in books—they’re found in every person who walks through library doors: a senior gaining digital confidence, a child falling in love with reading, a newcomer finding community. Give today and your donation will be matched until December 31 (up to $200,000), doubling your impact.
If you’re not sure which cause to support, you can make a powerful impact by giving to the City’s Area of Greatest Need. Your donation allows the City to direct funds where they’re needed most — including urgent situations and essential programs that support our most vulnerable residents. It’s a simple, meaningful way to help ensure your generosity makes the biggest difference possible.
The City has developed a process for directing donations to the area(s) of greatest need wherein donations may be accumulated until the total reaches $5,000. At which time the funds are allocated by Social Development leadership in support of an immediate, acute emergency situation as defined by the City of Toronto Emergency Plan, relief of an ongoing emergency, budget to continue a priority program or budget to enhance programs that address urgent needs.