From Finding Support to Giving Back Through the Santa Shuffle
How one Gateway community member is helping others find the welcome they once needed.
by Simran Rambhia
D. first came to The Salvation Army’s Gateway in Toronto looking for support. Today, D. returns in a different role: as a volunteer helping raise funds through the Toronto Santa Shuffle for the community that once helped them.
For D., that connection is deeply personal.
“Volunteering to raise funds for the Drop-in meals at The Gateway has been very rewarding,” D. says. “The sense of community that I developed as both a client of The Gateway using the Drop-in and being a volunteer at the Santa Shuffle has been overwhelmingly positive for me. It lets me give back to a community that helped me when I needed help.”
D.’s journey offers a glimpse into what the Gateway Drop-in can mean to the people who come through its doors.
A Place to Feel Welcome
Located in downtown Toronto, The Salvation Army’s Gateway Drop-in provides a warm, inclusive space for community members every Tuesday and Friday. The program offers social connection, harm-reduction support, and meals, along with hot take-away dinners three nights a week.
Over the past year, 2,412 guests visited the Drop-in, and more than 10,400 hot meals were served. But for the people who walk through its doors, the impact can be much more personal.
For J., another Drop-in community member, Gateway offers food, connection and a place where they feel safe.
“People need the Drop-in Program. They are hungry and homeless and don’t have money to buy food. Food is expensive. When I come to The Gateway, I eat lunch, play video games and use the food pantry. I feel safe there.”
For D., that feeling of community is part of what made giving back meaningful. The same kind of welcome they once experienced is something they now want to help make possible for others.
From Gateway to the Santa Shuffle
Each year, the Toronto Santa Shuffle brings people together to raise funds that support the Gateway Drop-in Program. The connection can be seen through volunteers like D., whose experience with Gateway has become part of their reason for showing up on event day.
May Lynne has been volunteering at the Toronto Santa Shuffle for more than 15 years. Year after year, she sees familiar participants return for an event that brings people together while supporting the Gateway community.
“I look forward to volunteering at the Santa Shuffle, as I have for over 15 years,” May Lynne says. “I recognize many of the participants who also return each year to raise money for the Gateway Drop-in Program. It’s a nice start to the Christmas season for all.”
For May Lynne, D. and the many people who take part, the Santa Shuffle is more than a December event. It is one way a community comes together to help ensure that nourishment, connection and welcome remain available to people who need them.
For someone like D., that support can mean much more than a meal. It can mean finding a place to feel connected, supported and safe—and, one day, an opportunity to give back.
Run to give hope. Walk for the welcome. Give for the community.
