Événements passés
Cliquez sur l'une des images ci-dessous pour en savoir plus sur nos événements communautaires passés !
Intéressé à sponsoriser l'un de nos futurs événements ?
Cliquez ici pour les opportunités de parrainage ou
Envoyez un courriel à maria.speare@neighborlink.org
We Love Willowdale est une bannière sous laquelle nos événements communautaires sont organisés. Il a été lancé après la tragédie de Yonge St en 2018 et a été intégré à NeighbourLink North York en 2020.
Year of 2025
Taste of North York 2025
Neighbours everywhere were invited to join us for the third Taste of North York, a three-day Community & Food festival celebrating everything that makes North York such a special place to live! Celebrate our community's diverse cultures including Korean, Chinese, Persian, Ukrainian, Latin, Italian, Tamil, Japanese, Caribbean, Indian and more! The festival featured even more delicious food, live entertainment, artisans, fun activities by local businesses and representation from dozens of local organizations!
Year of 2024
Christmas Market 2024
Thousands of neighbours came together to kick off the holiday season, shop 50+ vendors, drink hot chocolate, enjoy hundreds of performs and light a Christmas tree.
Funds were raised to help NeighbourLink continue its programs through the end of 2024.
Thank you to all who attended and the 100+ volunteers who made the event possible!
Taste of North York 2024
Taste of North York is a cultural and community celebration that supports NeighbourLink's programs to alleviate poverty and social isolation. Neighbours joined us for the second Taste of North York, a three-day Community & Food festival celebrating everything that makes North York such a special place to live!
The festival featured even more delicious food, live entertainment, artisans, fun activities by local businesses and representation from dozens of local organizations!
Yard Sale Day 2024
Yard Sale Day hosted a total of 75 YARD SALES ACROSS WILLOWDALE!
Thank you to the 50 vendors that participated at the Spring Garden Church market, and the 25 home vendors that participated from their driveways across Willowdale!
A huge thank you to Spring Garden Church for providing us with FREE pancakes, coffee and iced tea and a space to host our market!
Meet Your Neighbour Week 2024
June 15th-23rd was our 4th Meet Your Neighbour Week! An opportunity to get to know the people of Willowdale! We encouraged Willowdale community members to participate by inviting neighbours to host a small meet up on their front lawns or in a local park.We also invited local businesses, organizations and clubs to host some sort of Meet Your Neighbour Activity. These activities were then added to a calendar and was shared widely!Meet Your Neighbour Week began with Willowdale Fun Day concluded with our annual Willowdale Yard Sale Day. Click them to learn more!NeighbourLink is also proud to have hosted a Tech & Tea on Tuesday, June 18th at Willowdale Manor! A big thank you to the volunteers from Best Buy who provided tech support for anyone needing assistance.
Let's Move, Willowdale 2024
We partnered with the North York Seniors Centre on our 3rd Move-a-thon & BBQ on Saturday May 4th! Hundreds of neighbours came together to raise funds for our community care, friendly neighbour and mobile food program to support seniors, neighbours with disabilities and single parents!
The event included a 4km walk, run, and 8km bike ride from the park through the Finch Hydro Corridor followed by a BBQ featuring delicious food. There were plenty of free components including live entertainment, a caricature artist, kids activities, giant bubbles, milk tea and more!
Year of 2023
Christmas Market 2023
Thousands of neighbours came together to kick off the holiday season, shop 60+ vendors, drink hot chocolate, enjoy hundreds of performs and light a Christmas tree.
Funds were raised to help NeighbourLink continue its programs through the end of 2023.
Thank you to all who attended and the 100+ volunteers who made the event possible!
Taste of North York 2023
Over 40,000 people joined us for the first ever Taste of North York! This three day cultural festival celebrated everything that makes North York such a special place to live! There was delicious food, live entertainment and representation from dozens of local organizations!
Yard Sale Day 2023
Meet Your Neighbour Week concluded with Willowdale Yard Sale Day on Saturday June 24th. Despite the rain, the event was a huge success because vendors and volunteers rallied together to pivot and make the best of a soggy situation! Some vendors wondered if anyone would come to shop but before 9am there was a line up of a hundred people outside! The line up was steady for 3 full hours!
Year of 2022
Christmas Market 2022
Thousands of neighbours came together to kick off the holiday season, shop 60+ vendors, drink hot chocolate, enjoy hundreds of performs and light a Christmas tree.
Funds were raised to help NeighbourLink continue its programs through the end of 2022.
Thank you to all who attended and the 100+ volunteers who made the event possible!
Cultural Celebrations 2022
Community Building is one of the two main pillars of our organization and events that bring us all together are our favourite way to do that! We were thrilled to be part of two big cultural events this year in partnership with the City of Toronto and the councillor's office. They were the Lunar New Year Celebration at Mel Lastman Square and the Nowruz Celebration at North York Centre!
Hundreds of neighbours celebrated the Year of the Rabbit with beautiful dance, drum, K-Pop and singing performances along with skating, crafts, and hot chocolate. The event concluded with a traditional lion dance. Our Executive Director Maria Speare joined Councillor Cheng and Trustee Pei for the eye dotting ceremony.
At the Nowruz Event in March, neighbours gathered at North York Centre to celebrate the Iranian New Year. The community enjoyed Persian Tea, calligraphy workshops, yoga classes, live music and dancing. After such a difficult year, seeing the Iranian community come together and share their traditions with the entire community was really powerful.
Honouring traditions and experiencing new cultures was a beautiful experience for all who participated in these two events!
Student-Led Summer Events 2022
Our Youth Volunteer Coordinators worked with students across Willowdale High Schools to plan and execute drop in community events!
These events were free and open to all ages as opportunities for neighbours to get to know each other! The students learnt about event coordination and developed leadership skills!
The events were a:
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Pain & Sip Night
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Zumba/Dance Class
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Upcycled Arts & Crafts Night
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Senior Program 2022
In 2022, NeighbourLink received the New Horizons for Seniors Grant to hold intergenerational events in our community. We decided to focus our program on 175 Cummer, also known as Willowdale Manor, a low-income senior home in the neighbourhood. In the spring, we went door to door with a survey and muffins to get to know the seniors better and learn about what they would like to see happen in their building. We heard from them that for two years, all programs had stopped due to the pandemic, and they were feeling more isolated than ever.
Our Summer Event team used the survey to create a program of events. Many of the residents speak Cantonese, Mandarin, Farsi and Russian, so we brought in student volunteers who speak those languages to get to know the residents. This also helped the different cultural groups connect.
Willowdale Yard Sale Day 2022
25+ Yard Sales took place at homes across the neighbourhood and there were also 45+ yard sales, mom2mom sales and artisan vendors at our Spring Garden Market!
Willowdale Donut Day 2022
After weeks of planning, we finally hosted our annual Krispy Kreme Donut fundraiser on Wednesday July 13th! It took place at Willowdale Presbyterian Church at 38 Ellerslie Avenue.
We raised $2700 by selling 350 boxes of original glazed donuts to neighbours from our community. These proceeds will go towards our 415 food bank and other community care programs!
Thanks to the generosity of neighbours who donated dozens of donuts, we were able to make deliveries to consumers at The Canadian Helen Keller Centre and Youth at our local Toronto Community Housing Complex!
We want to thank our wonderful staff, dedicated volunteers, and every single person who bought donuts! Special thanks to Willowdale Presbyterian Church for having us, Krispy Kreme Scarborough (4411 Kingston Rd) for the donuts, and the People's Church for their printing support!
Meet your Neighbour Week 2022
June 18th-25th was our 2nd Meet Your Neighbour Week! An opportunity to get to know the people of Willowdale. We invited neighbours to participate in our Tic-Tac-Toe challenge.
Mother's Day 2022
Thanks to the generosity of the community, on Saturday May 7th 88 single moms in North York received baskets of encouragement that included flowers, treats, grocery gift cards pampering products and more!
Our Community Care Worker Miriam did an incredible job with the logistics and making this special day come together!
Let's Move, Willowdale 2022
We partnered with the North York Seniors Centre on our 4th Move-a-thon & BBQ on Saturday, May 3rd! The event included a 4km walk, run, and 8km bike ride from the park through the Finch Hydro Corridor, followed by a BBQ featuring delicious food. There were plenty of free components, including live entertainment, a caricature artist, kids' activities, giant bubbles, milk tea and more!
In a city as big as Toronto, finding the right help at the right time can be overwhelming. That’s why NeighbourLink North York and North York Seniors Centre came together to raise funds for two essential programs that will make a real difference:
Willowdale Virtual Winterfest 2022
It was all smiles at Willowdale Winterfest on Sunday January 30th as we beat the winter blues with Neighbours! We welcomed over 130 attendees into our cozy Zoom room and enjoyed beautiful musical performances, inspiring poetry, uplifting stories, wonderful half-time stretches and mind blowing magic!
Thank you to everyone who attended! It was incredible to see our community come together!
One attendee said: “It was the perfect night we didn't know we needed. Our whole family loved the entire night, seeing everyone's faces, having the chance to converse with people in the breakout rooms, and to celebrate the incredible diversity of our community”
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Year of 2021
Christmas Hampers 2021
Last year, with the help of our community, we delivered Christmas gift baskets to over 100 households across North York. This year we were able to deliver almost 200 Christmas Hampers!
Hamper Facts:
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Almost 200 Hampers Distributed
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15 Volunteers (significantly scaled back due to Omicron)
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20 Spreadsheets
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18 Drivers
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374 kids received toys
A message from Miriam, Community and Social Service Worker:
I was awestruck as I watched these gorgeous and full hampers fill the space... It’s times like these that show the support, care and love that exists within Willowdale and North York. It was incredible to witness.
Thanks to all the generous sponsors, volunteers and drivers who braved the snow to help us deliver these packages of community love for our neighbours. Special thanks to Wellspring Worship Centre for graciously providing us space!
Click Here to read more about my reflections.
We Love Willowdale
Christmas Walking Parade & Market 2021
We along with Willowdale Church Coalition hosted our first annual "We love Willowdale Christmas Walking Parade & Market" on Saturday, December 4th at Willowdale Presbyterian Church at 38 Ellerslie Avenue! It was a wonderful time hosting a free admission event to spread joy and Christmas cheer in our community with our neighbors since the lockdown.
1000+ neighbours were in attendance, they shopped from 40 local vendors including artisans and small businesses. Everyone had a joyous time as they enjoyed hot chocolate, Christmas Zumba with Sairah WF, performances from Caitlin Ryan, Sarah Murley-Hauser and her students from the Willowdale School of Music.
Santa made an appearance at Willowdale Presbyterian Church and lead our neighbours through a joyful walking parade throughout Beecroft Rd, North York Blvd, Yonge St, and Churchill Ave. Santa brought the parade back to Willowdale Presbyterian Church for some chili.
As our neighbours enjoyed the chilli, they shopped more from the local vendors, heard speeches from Councillor John Filion and MP Ali Ehsassi. As the night was coming to an end, everyone enjoyed watching musical performances from Matt Gerber, Santa and OurChurch band.
Because of the generosity of our community, we collected 1500 non-perishable food items and toiletry from this event and Toronto Miracle collectively! This food will be going right back into the community through our 415 Food Hub
Virtual Yard Sale 2021
From Nov 1st to Dec 7th we partnered with Karrot to host a Willowdale Virtual Yard Sale fundraiser in our community!
Karrot is a new secondhand marketplace app focused on creating a safe and local buying/selling experience!
Neighbours supported our work in the Willowdale community by selling or giving away their unwanted items on the Karrot app throughout the fundraiser
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Halloween Donut Day 2021
We hosted our second Donut Day on Friday October 29th! Our Krispy Kreme Pop Up took place at Willowdale Baptist Church at 15 Olive Avenue!
400 boxes of original glazed donuts we're sold to neighbours across Willowdale which helped us raise $3000 for our food bank and other community care programs!
Donuts that were purchased by neighbours to be donated to the community were brought to the residents and staff of Community Head Injury Resource Services (CHIRS) and the shelter Eva's Place!
Because of the generosity of our community, we were also able to collect non-perishable food items for the food bank at the event!
Thank you to everyone who purchased donuts and donated! Special thanks to Willowdale Baptist Church for having us! Their Family Fall Fest that evening was a blast and despite the rain it was so much to see so many neighbours in costume!
Let's Move Willowdale 2021
On October 2nd 2021, NeighbourLink participated in Ride For Refuge to call attention to the needs of the most vulnerable in our community and support the work that we're doing.
Neighbours walked, ran, rode bikes to raise funds and move the dial on poverty and social isolation!
While we couldn't host a large event due to the pandemic members of our Let's Move Willowdale Team did their activities on their own throughout the neighbourhood! This included DUCA Credit Union team walking through the neighbourhood to fundraise!
Our friends at the local running group We Run North York participated in the event as well! They ran 5km, 12km and 24km heart shaped routes throughout Willowdale! You can find the routes below! Special thanks to Joyce Law for organizing this and creating the routes! Follow them on Instagram @werunnorthyork to join the group!
Our local F45 North York, located on the second floor of Empress Walk also supported us in this event! Sean Heffernan and the other coaches led a boot camp fundraiser where all the participants donated to NeighbourLink to participate! They got their sweat on for a good cause and we are very grateful!
Community Clean-up Day 2021
Throughout the summer of 2021 our student mobilization worked hard to keep our community clean by picking up litter across parks in Willowdale
The summer culminated with Willowdale Community Clean-Up Day on Saturday September 4th. 13 parks were cleaned including Bishop Park, Northtown Park, Mackenzie Parkette, Willowdale Park, Lee Lifeson, Hendon Park, Edithvale Park and many more!
We're so grateful for the 50+ volunteers who spent the Labour Day Weekend making our community a cleaner place to live. Special thanks to Belinda Ngai for hosting!
Meet Your Neighbour Week 2021
August 14th to the 21st was Meet Your Neighbour Week August! A full week of connecting with all of the amazing residents that make Willowdale such a special place!
The week consisted of a series of meet ups in our neighbourhood organized for neighbours by neighbours!
Hosts registered and received a Meet Your Neighbour Kit with posters and activity ideas. They went on to invite neighbours for barbecues on their driveways, get togethers in parks and lemonade and freezies on their front lawns!
Willowdale Yard Sale Day
Meet Your Neighbour Week culminated with Willowdale Yard Sale Day on Saturday August 21st! It was an opportunity for Willowdalers to treasures and shop the neighbourhood before the end of the summer.
25+ Yard Sale hosts registered for free to host sales on their front yard and driveways across Willowdale. We used the information they provided to us to create the Willowdale Yard Sale Map to advertise the event. It ended up getting 5,000 views.
Over 30 neighbours registered to be vendors for the Willowdale Trunk Sale that took place at 70 Hilda Avenue on Saturday August 21st. Many of them were condo dwellers who aren't typically able to host a yard sale.
Neighbours were able to shop from trunk to trunk and purchase new and used items, artisanal goods and delicious food!
Bread and Batteries 2021
Meet Your Neighbour Week culminated with Willowdale Yard Sale Day on Saturday August 21st! It was an opportunity for Willowdalers to treasures and shop the neighbourhood before the end of the summer.
25+ Yard Sale hosts registered for free to host sales on their front yard and driveways across Willowdale. We used the information they provided to us to create the Willowdale Yard Sale Map to advertise the event. It ended up getting 5,000 views.
Over 30 neighbours registered to be vendors for the Willowdale Trunk Sale that took place at 70 Hilda Avenue on Saturday August 21st. Many of them were condo dwellers who aren't typically able to host a yard sale.
Neighbours were able to shop from trunk to trunk and purchase new and used items, artisanal goods and delicious food!
Willowdale Donut Day 2021
Friday June 25th 2021 was We Love Willowdale Donut Day!
We sold 365 dozen donuts and distributed them at Wellspring Worship Centre to neighbours from across Willowdale with all of the funds going towards the development of a local food hub and our other summer programming.
Due to the generosity in our community we were also able donate over 50 boxes to incredibly deserving places like The Canadian Helen Keller Centre, Willowdale Manor Senior Home, Cummer Lodge Senior Home, the Mitchell Field Vaccination clinic and the Willowtree TCH community!
Thank you to everyone who participated and stay tuned for our next donut day!
Single Mom's Day 2021
We were able to deliver 74 baskets to single moms across
North York with cookie decorating kits and flower bouquets
that were donated!
Thank you to the local businesses that made those contributions
and of course thank you to the amazing moms in our community.
Year of 2020
Christmas Hampers 2020
Thanks to all that contributed!
118 Christmas Hampers were distributed in 2020 with $1800 in grocery gift cards.
"My husband lost his job due to COVID this year, and we were really struggling as a family. This Hamper program gave us the opportunity to feel the spirit of Christmas with all the food that we were able to put on our table, and the kids were able to open presents from our generous North York Santa! I hope this will continue every holiday season. We are so grateful!”
- 2020 Christmas Hamper Recipient
"When I was younger, I was a recipient of an initiative similar to this, and I've always wanted a chance to give back and be a donor myself. I was really glad to have found out about the Christmas Hamper initiative because it was exactly what I wanted to do, and I'm grateful for your organization of this initiative. I was really happy to make someone's Christmas a little easier and happier especially in these uncertain time.
- 2020 Christmas Hamper Sponsor
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