WoodGreen Community Services is celebrating their 88th year in April 2025. As one of the Toronto’s largest social service agencies, WoodGreen’s Riverside location at 650 Queen St E serves the community with its programs that promote self-sufficiency and overall wellbeing.
In case you missed last week’s feature, we’re putting the spotlight on community services in the Riverside neighbourhood this month — from youth programs to free/affordable resources – leading up to our annual community clean up on April 25th!
Whether you think you or someone you know could benefit from WoodGreen’s programs or are interested in helping the organization’s cause to help Torontonians thrive, here’s a rundown of their key programs of WoodGreen’s location operating in Toronto’s Riverside neighbourhood at 650 Queen Street East:
Food Bank Support
The Housing & Homelessness team runs a weekly food distribution in Riverside on Tuesdays (9:00am-2:30pm), free for low-income and homeless individuals. 6-10 volunteers are needed per session to assist in tasks such as unloading boxes and preparing food for distribution.
First Step to Home – Community Meal Event
This program helps homeless senior men aged 55 and above make a successful transition from living on the street to a stable, healthy lifestyle with community meals on weekdays (Friday preferred, 10am-1pm). A maximum of 10 volunteers are needed to facilitate a meal with 20-25 seniors.
Community Connections – Mentoring + Networking Session
Designed for newcomers in Canada, the program offers mentorship, professional networking, seminars and other learning opportunities to help navigate the Canadian employment market. They are seeking corporations to volunteer to share their experiences, career advice and industry-specific insights (depending on the group size, these sessions can be done in person or virtually).
WoodGreen Financial Empowerment – Tax Clinic Program
It’s tax season! Every year, WoodGreen organizes free tax clinics to help individuals prepare their tax returns and file them on time. Follow @woodgreendotorg on Instagram for updates.
Lunch and Learn Event
For interested coporations, WoodGreen offers a Lunch and Learn session which provides an awareness presentation highlighting the impact of WoodGreen’s programs and how your company can be involved. This can be done as part of an annual meeting or even as an after-work session. WoodGreen can invite an expert on a topic of corporate interest such as housing or food insecurity to come in as a guest speaker.
Other ways companies or individuals can get involved in supporting WoodGreen Services:
- Special occasion events – Companies can participate during events tied in with cultural celebrations like Lunar New Year or Christmas to help serve meals, provide event support and mingle with WoodGreen clients.
- Care packages – You can also make a difference by creating care packages filled with essentials such as food and home items to help ease the lives of WoodGreen clients. Reach out to WoodGreen to inquire about what supplies are needed.
- WoodGreen Community Services tours – See where the magic happens! WoodGreen can arrange facility tours for corporations who want to know more about the programs and meet with key personnel from the organization.
- Financial donation – Donations are always appreciated any time of the year. Monetary donations can be made through cheque or online via the WoodGreen donation page.
For more information on WoodGreen’s programs, how to avail or how to help, send an email to volunteer@woodgreen.org, follow @woodgreendotorg on Instagram or check the WoodGreen website.
Don’t forget to follow @riverside_bia on Instagram to stay updated on new content like this blog!
Photo credit: WoodGreen Community Services