"all homeless people are a-holes", he said, as he stormed into the kitchen.

not a great start to our week, i thought.

you see, a team from the states and i were serving at one of my favourite spots in toronto, st. francis table. minutes before starting time, i had divided them into two groups: front of the house (servers) and back of the house (coffee makers, dishwashers etc). this particular gentleman, lets call him david for privacy reasons, nervously volunteered to serve in the front.

that didn't last long, if you couldn't tell. it took all of five seconds for david to label every single 'homeless person' an 'a-hole' based on one uncommon and unkind interaction. (unfortunately, this isn't uncommon; we're all guilty of labelling people from time to time based on one experience or assumption.)

part of my role as project serve team lead with youth unlimited is to prevent this from happening by doing what i can to break down the stigma attached to homelessness through pre-trip meetings, various service projects, and post trip discussion ...

but i can't do it alone.

some of you know that in order for me to do this full-time (in addition to my role on staff at the church in regent park), i need to fundraise my salary (whose idea was it to put the word FUN in FUNdraise). thanks to a whopping 34 generous donors, i have hit the 25% mark and am able to work for youth unlimited for ten hours a week. (THANK YOU SO MUCH.)

the 'scary' part is, i have until january to make it to the 40% mark before they decide whether or not i can continue to work for them at a sustainable rate. the good news is, i am only $900/month away from my target, which, if you break it down, means that i would need 30 of you to commit to $30/month, my '30 @ $30'.

for $30/month (or a donation of your choice including one time/end of the year gifts), you will:

- get a tax receipt
- receive handwritten letters from yours truly
- have the assurance that you are being prayed for (though you don't have to give financially for me to do so lol)
- be investing in the next generation
- be helping me break down the stigma attached to homelessness and those on the margins of society
- help many non profits downtown toronto continue to do the same by providing the volunteers they need to keep going (ministry profiles coming soon), among other things.

so ... what do you say? will YOU consider being a part of my team?

if so, you can write cheques (do they still exist?!), call our office, or donate through Canada helps [canadahelps.org - search youth unlimited (toronto YFC) - scroll down to donate monthly (or donate now) and under "apply your donation to a specific fund set up by this charity", click my name (number 09)] and BOOM - you're not only helping me, but many, many others.

any questions? holla for paula. i would love to sit down with you and chat over a glass of egg nog or lunch.