On Thursday September 16th, employees of AGF Ottawa gathered in their yard to hear a special announcement presented by Catherine Gendron, General Manager of the AGF Group Foundation.
Catherine indeed proudly announced that the AGF Group Foundation will be committing $10,000 per year over the next 3 years to Restoring Hope, an organization that helps young people aged 16 to 24 who are homeless, are marginalized and/or exploited.
It is thanks to Jason Pino a former worker of AGF Ottawa's shop team that we heard about that charity. Jason originally opened the shelter while working with us.
Jason and Valerie Bruyere were present to accept this extraordinary gift for the shelter. And after the cheque presentation, everyone celebrated with an outdoor meal catered by Lou's Fast Food Truck.
AGF Ottawa has been supporting this charity as early as 2015, the first event being a bake sale raising money for the shelter. Over the years, AGF Ottawa has done numerous fundraisers including food donations, clothing drives, toiletries drives and 50/50 raffles.
It is because of Jason Pino's dedication and involvement that inspired the Foundation to further contribute to this cause. What started as a shelter that was only able to open one night a week has evolved to being able to open five nights a week. Approximately 20 to 25 youth visit and benefit from this shelter every week.
Now with the Foundation's generous contribution, Jason and his team are looking for a larger location and to expand their services to include: youth withdrawal management programs, a safe house for woman exiting human trafficking, and a day program for woman experiencing sexual exploitation.
We wish the team at Restoring Hope all the best with their next steps helping the youth of Ottawa.
