ShareLife

It was in January 2005 that I began my role as Executive Director of ShareLife. Early on, I realized that if I was going to promote the work of these agencies, I needed to know them firsthand.

A scholarly immersion into the life of the late Toronto Archbishop Philip Pocock (1906-1984) has convinced Dr. Peter Meehan of his place as one of the greatest unsung figures in archdiocesan history.

As ShareLife celebrates 50 years, the Archdiocese of Toronto’s charitable fundraising arm is honouring its storied past while ensuring its mission of "faith in action" continues to meet growing community needs.

It didn’t take long for a young Mickey Conlon to get the who, what and why of ShareLife. And as in so many of my early lessons, it was a hard one to learn.

Fifty years since Archbishop Philip Pocock’s Declaration on Behalf of Life launched ShareLife, its communications team is offering a rich historical dive into its half century with a special campaign-launching initiative.

For the first time, the ShareLife campaign eclipsed the $15-million benchmark en route to an eye-popping $15,671,786 sum on behalf of over 40 social service agencies in the Greater Toronto Area.

With a few weeks to go, ShareLife finds itself 86 per cent of the way to its $14.5 million parish campaign goal.

Through ShareLife, Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Toronto (CCAT) and with the generosity of two anonymous donors, Canada’s largest Catholic community is embarking on its biggest effort yet to tackle the ever-prevalent food insecurity crisis.

As summer gets into full swing, the ShareLife parish campaign has amassed $8.83 million, 60 per cent of its record-high $14.5 million target.

The Archdiocese of Toronto’s annual ShareLife parish charitable appeal accrued an all-time-high sum of $14,433,674 in 2024, surpassing the 2023 record by more than $200,000.