By : Joyce Chew – ISFS Senior & Volunteer and Food Collaborative Volunteer
TNO – United Way Day of Caring with DG Group
Mother’s Day High Tea
On May 13, 2025, 30 Seniors from TNO’s Integrated Services for Seniors (ISFS) were selected as lucky draw winners to attend the TNO–United Way Day of Caring: Mother’s Day High Tea.
Elaine Tountas and Prasanta Bhunya (ISFS staff), coordinated the event, and together with their dedicated team, delivered a memorable experience. The mouth-watering spread of appetizing scones, tea sandwiches, samosas, fruits, jams, and tea added a flavourful touch to the festivities. This Mother’s Day High Tea event was attended by DG Group as volunteers supporting anchor agencies hosting ‘United Way – Days of Caring’ to celebrate mothers and mother figures in our lives. High Tea could be celebrated with its traditional practices but on this day it was a special moment to recognize and appreciate all mothers within our diverse community.
Though the auspicious event looked like the work of a professional event caterer, it was thoughtfully and creatively executed by TNO’s own staff, with food catered by the St. James Town Catering Collective.
About 30 DG Group ‘United Way – Days of Caring’ volunteers from various departments participated. The event began with Welcome & Opening Remarks by Mr. Ahmed Hussein (TNO, CEO) and Ms. Ruth Crammond (VP, Community Infrastructure, United Way) at the Thorncliffe Park Community Hub (TPCH). The participants were divided into two groups for tours of the TPCH and the TNO Youth Hub. The participants were then assigned to activities at the Seniors’ Program and Food Collaborative – with each group switching after 45 minutes.
Through weeks of hard work, this special event was exceptionally well-coordinated by the ISFS team. The DG Group ‘United Way – Days of Caring’ volunteers, together with ISFS staff, helped serve guests, offering each person their choice of tea, pastries, and fruit. What an honor and privilege for every guest to just sit down and be personally attended to at our tables?
Which mother or mother figure in our lives would forget an event that features personal memories?
In appreciation of mothers and mother figures, a commemorative memory collage craft was included with this celebration. There was an extensive range of well-thought-out supplies, including photo frames, stickers (with cost-effective, themed images printed in colour), colourful card stocks, personalized bookmarks, glue sticks, and scissors that guests could incorporate to create their family stories. Guests were requested to bring along some cherished family photos. The organizers even anticipated that some guests might not have photos on hand. Hence, they brought along some magazines that guests could browse and find images that reflected their own personal stories. It was a joyful experience and the time whizzed away with much creativity and fun, and concluded with a personal keepsake that guests could take home.
TNO – United Way Day of Caring with DG Group
TNO Food Collaborative
The TNO Food Collaborative clients were also pleasantly served by this big group of helpful, enthusiastic Day of Caring volunteers who volunteered on this day. Mr. Ahmed Hussein also joined in—carting boxes from the de-casing storage.
The Food Collaborative is a busy place that serves about 1500 to 1750 clients weekly and is supported by The Daily Bread Food Bank as an anchor agency, as well as other donors. It operates five days a week and servicing clients from 11.30 am to 6.30 pm, with Saturday mornings for receiving deliveries. Many dedicated volunteers operate at the Food Collaborative with tasks of including scheduling/managing appointments, coordinating deliveries, stocking and shelving, servicing clients, and maintaining a clean and safe environment.
As Food Collaborative’s volunteers are often busy, Nosheen Khan (TNO’s Food Security Coordinator) initiates and strategizes to provide opportunities for them to have some recreation when corporate volunteers sign up for a volunteer day at the Food Collaborative. With additional assistance, it is then possible to facilitate a craft session for the shift’s volunteers who appreciate this rare opportunity to leave their work stations to enjoy a couple of hours of well-deserved recreation.
TNO – United Way Day of Caring with DG Group
TNO Food Collaborative Volunteers
On this Day of Caring, a Food Collaborative volunteer was invited to facilitate a craft session for other volunteers who were relieved of their duties when Day of Caring volunteers assisted with Food Collaborative for the afternoon. This facilitator applied a “Caring” concept, both for the volunteers as well as for the items used. Utilizing an eco-friendly approach, she selected slightly spoiled vegetables from the Food Collaborative that would otherwise be discarded, along with household and natural items like pinecones and leaves, to lead an interesting and creative spring-themed painting craft session.
It was a great 2-hour session utilizing household items, available vegetables and items collected from nature. The resulting paintings the participants created, each one utilizing their own unique style, brought them a sense of amazing pride.
A Day of Caring volunteer assisted throughout the session, helping manage and distribute materials.
This was indeed a spectacular Day of Caring—and one especially meaningful to me, as it followed the birthday of Our Late Mother, on May 12, 2025.
Photo Credit: TNO; Prasanta Bhunya from ISFS; and Volunteer from Food Collaborative
