The Fund was originally formed to guarantee that the Parish would have funds for church outreach at a time when total church income barely met our operating costs. Fortunately, it has now grown through donations and investment to about $175,000 and hopefully will soon reach our target of $200,000, at which time we should be able to double charitable donations from St. Olave’s.
Over the years we have supported many worthy causes at home and abroad:
- Diocese of the North.
- South American Mission Society for building churches in Bolivia.
- Moorelands Camp for Toronto’s inner-city children.
- Wycliffe College Student Bursary Fund for assistance to Anglican Theological students.
- Hundreds of bedkits for Sleeping Children Around the World.
- Relief for tsunami earthquake and Ethiopian starvation victims.
- Food and clothing banks in Toronto.
- Numerous other worthy causes.
St. Olave’s also supports children in developing countries such as Ethiopia and Sri Lanka (through the Christian Children’s Fund of Canada) so that they may be able to attend schools and get a decent start to life.
All our projects are screened by our committee and only those with little or, in some cases, zero administrative costs are selected to receive funds. Legacies and memorials donated to the Fund are kept intact as memorials, and only monies derived from the investments’ interest, together with regular parish donations, are spent on missions.