The Angel Foundation has laid out a week of charitable offerings to Toronto Catholic schools to raise funds to feed hungry students and assist youth with the cost of essentials such as groceries and clothing.

On May 5, coinciding with Catholic Education Week, the foundation is launching Believe in Angels Week where the Toronto Catholic School Board and its partners are being asked to help the Angel Foundation in its mandate to assist those in need within the board.

Founded in 1987 to serve as the official charity of the board, the Angel Foundation has evolved over the years to meet the ever-changing needs of students.

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“When it was originally founded, there wasn't such a thing as formal nutrition programs, and so our early founders recognized that need among families, needs for financial relief and signs of hope from a charity in the Catholic community that could give them a temporary leg up on things,” said John Wujek, the  executive director of the charity.

“That sentiment of helping people in need, especially students and their families, is part of our Catholic tradition, to say the least. It was easy to convey and bring people on board, especially employees. Their involvement through donations, events, activities and fundraising participation has helped support this need tremendously.”

Believe in Angels week contributes to the charity's four pillars:  meeting crisis situations,  student nutrition programs,  awards and bursaries and  youth leadership support.

The week kicks off with Movie Monday, where schools are invited to a movie afternoon or evening, with proceeds from ticket or snack sales at each event going to the foundation. Tuesday, a Star Wars-themed civvies day is being advertised as the "May The 4th Be With You" fundraiser.

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Schools are encouraged to walk and/or wheel to school on Wednesday, or host a walk around the school/neighbourhood to ask families who can afford to do so to make a small donation to the Angel Foundation. Thankful Thursday gives staff the opportunity to thank their Student Nutrition Program volunteers, before Believe in Angels week wraps up on Friday with the Angel Foundation for Learning’s Spring Fling Pub Night on May 9.

As Wujek reflected on this year’s festivities, he drew on the theme of the ongoing Jubilee year and the similarities between the charity's long-standing initiatives and being a true pilgrim of hope.

“I was looking at the first paragraph of the Jubilee prayer, and it is this interesting triad of theological virtues, isn't it? It talks about the faith through the Son, it talks about our mission as people of God to be conveyors of hope in our journey and then it calls on the Holy Spirit for hearts of charity,” he explained.

“That’s what we are getting at here at the Angel Foundation through this gentle invitation to take part and Believe in Angels Week, to remind and call on people to their obligations to the poor and think about doing something charitable in their school communities during this time.”

The timing was also deliberate: a  cross-pollination of initiatives aimed at  uniting school communities in their awareness of each other.

“ As we get closer to the summer, there's a heightened sense of crisis in some families because, for so many of the students, the school is a home for them. We have to prepare for that coming up, and that is just a small example of how we have to adjust to the ebb and flow of the school year,” he said.

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“Hopefully, as always, Believe in Angels week on Catholic Education Week will be there to help combat that.”

For more, visit Angel Foundation online.