Eyes Of Hope

New site! Have you noticed the website hasn't been updated lately? We're in the process of updating the site for you! For now, please visit our temporary site for updates on upcoming events at: eyeshope.wordpress.com Updates 2010-2011 Eyes of Hope has been very busy this year! Just a quick recap: - Habitat for Humanity has been a big theme this year. We've co-hosted Habitat Week as well as a Talent Show to raise over $600 for HFH. And of course we went on a build too. - Umbrella Painting has been another big theme for EOH this year. It has been running weekly to interact with street-involved youth in Toronto. We had a chance to show off the artwork at the Skule Arts Festival as well! - We hosted five Sandwich Runs this year, with more to come this summer. - Six fundraisers (that included pizza, waffle, bake and raffle sales and bucket collections) raised much money for HFH, World Vision, and Free the Children. Our latest fundraiser for the Japan relief was very successful: through pizza and raffle sales and very generous donations, we raised $501, with donations going towards World Vision. - Four visits to Scott Mission and a visit to the Daily Bread Food Bank to make a local impact. - Seven Leadership Development sessions were held for those interested in learning more about being a leader. - And several socials rounded off the busy year! Thanks to all the volunteers who came by to help with events - we couldn't have done it without you! And those who came by the events - you're equally as important! Hopefully everyone had an enjoyable year. And good luck to those with exams coming up! Eyes of Hope Goals and Accomplishments EOH's main goals have been to help alleviate poverty in both the local and international community, while developing leadership skills and having fun! Currently and these past few years, we've been active in community-helping events through: A. Affordable housing via UofT Habitat for Humanity Campaign - sponsor a UofT house and then build it! B. Helping children a) Free the Children - fundraised to build a school in Sierra Leone b) World Vision - sponsor two children; fundraised for Sichuan earthquake relief C. Homeless outreach a) Sandwich Runs - make and give out sandwiches, while understanding and destigmatizing homelessness b) Homeless shelter and food bank volunteering c) Umbrella Painting - painting umbrellas with homeless youth as art therapy and to use as homelessness awareness D. Projects that members wish to propose and lead! To highlight a few of EOH's accomplishments: Free the Children school - Through building a school and education, we hope to end the cycle of poverty. We've now all raised and donated enough money ($8500) to build our school in Sierra Leone! A gigantic THANK YOU to all who made this possible! Habitat for Humanity house - We're over 20% of the way done with our UofT house! We've fundraised over $22,000 of the $80,000 to build this home. This seemed like an overwhelming project when we first started, but it's definitely doable; let's finish this! Getting Involved in Eyes Of Hope The purpose of Eyes Of Hope is to allow members to develop their leadership skills by organizing/participating in events that help the community. We want to have an environment where people can initiate new ideas and have the group support them. If you would like to join Eyes Of Hope, you can add yourself to the mailing list or our facebook group (Eyes of Hope - University of Toronto) If you would like to be an executive then you are welcome too. Executives are members who attend meetings, help organize events and volunteer at events. Feel free to send an e-mail to eyesofhope@utoronto.ca if you have any questions. Eyes Of Hope reaches $32 000 mark! As of March 2011, Eyes of Hope has raised $32,000 for charity! Since the summer of 2007, we've raised $8650 for Free the Children (school in Sierra Leone); $3830 for World Vision (2 sponsored children, Sichuan 2008 earthquake, 2011 Japan earthquake); $17900 for Habitat for Humanity; and $1200 for our sandwich run program! Thank you to all who have helped out in the past four years :) About Us 1. Leadership Development 2. Community Involvement (helping children, helping the homeless, provide affordable housing - Habitat for Humanity) 3. Having Fun Our purpose is to allow members of the UofT community to develop their leadership skills, help create positive change in the community, and to have fun. Leadership, communication and teamwork skills are important life skills, but are not necessarily taught in the classroom. We believe in giving our members the opportunity to develop these skills by initiating and taking charge of events. Any member (even new members) is welcome to take charge of their leadership development and organize events. As members of the UofT community, there are many things we can do to help the community, and we should help others where we can. There are things that we can't do but there are many things that we can do to help make the world a better place. The events we organize and the frequency of the events are based on our members, what they want to do and what they can do. We will help the community as much as we can. Many of our events focus around one of three themes: helping children, helping the homeless, and providing affordable housing (Habitat for Humanity) Finally, people join campus clubs to meet new people, make new friends and have a good time, and Eyes Of Hope is no exception. The events we organize are meant not only to help people develop their leadership skills and to do something positive in the community, but they are also an opportunity for people to meet each other and have a good time. A list of events that we have organized in the past can be found on our events blog: <click here> Photos of our events can be found on facebook: facebook.com/uofteyesofhope If you have any suggestions of new event ideas or you want to get involved to help organize events, please feel free to contact us! New members are always welcome to join us and take charge to organize new/existing events. In Memory of Davis Doan After a valiant struggle with cancer, Davis Doan passed away on Thursday night, May 20, 2010. Founder of Eyes of Hope and current PhD student of U of T's Civil Engineering Department, he was also a great son and friend. He was a big dreamer and a gentle soul with a desire for helping others and tried to inspire change in the world even in just little ways, motivating others to help to the best of their abilities. Keep his memory alive. Our hearts go out to family and friends. We will miss him deeply. ------ Donations For those who have been asking about a way to donate and help support the charities that Davis helped through Eyes of Hope, here are three possible methods: 1. Click here to donate online to Habitat for Humanity and directly support the UofT Habitat for Humanity Campaign, of which Eyes of Hope is a supporter. <Click here> for more information about this ongoing project. Habitat for Humanity can issue tax receipts for donations over $20. 2. Donate, in memoriam, to World Vision. Click here to donate online. Click here for the form to donate via mail. <Click here> for more information on how Eyes of Hope supports World Vision. 3. Click here to donate online directly to Free the Children. <Click here> for more information on how Eyes of Hope supports Free the Children by advocating eduction. Free the Children can issue tax receipts for donations over $10. Please send any questions to eyesofhope@utoronto.ca. Thank you! ------ His loss is shocking and deeply saddening, but those of us who have worked with him are determined to keep up his legacy. EOH will continue! Contact Us / Facebook / Mailing List Questions? Comments? Interested in taking action to help make the world a better place? E-mail us at eyesofhope@utoronto.ca Find us on facebook! Eyes of Hope - University of Toronto Join our mailing list: Click here . Sponsors University of Toronto Engineering Society University of Toronto Department of Civil Engineering University of Toronto Engineering Alumni Association NOTE: Eyes Of Hope obtains sponsorship and support from organizations within UofT Engineering, but we have and do welcome all members from the UofT community to join, contribute and participate.