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Winnipeg Free Press - PRINT EDITION

Jingle Bells chime for charity

By: Staff Writer

Posted: 12/11/2008 1:00 AM | Comments: 0 (including replies)

SO what Winnipeg charity will get the Metric money?

MacDonald Youth Services could be the biggest, oldest youth charity you've never heard of. It does a lot of things. It runs an eight-bed emergency shelter for youths aged 12 to 17. It maintains five intensive-care homes, a crisis-intervention unit, and a drop-in resource centre where struggling kids can get a meal, help with their resumé, or just a supportive ear. And that's just the beginning.

And yet, MYS spokesman Sean Crawford knows better than anyone that the organization is not well known to Manitobans. For that, he says, you can credit MYS's focus on privacy.

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"We wanted to be careful that our youth weren't targeted. I think we're learning that we can still promote what we do without identifying the people who use our services."

Relevant facts about MYS: It's celebrating its 80th anniversary in 2009. Last year, the organization helped 5,700 youths at its Mayfair Avenue shelter, as well as at satellite locations in Thompson and The Pas. It costs $1 million a year just to keep MYS's shelter and attached youth support centre running; in recent years, lack of funding has threatened to close the space.

Into that daunting financial need, the expected donation from the Metric concert ($1 per ticket sold; the Burt's capacity is 1,646) will be a drop in the bucket. "But it's an important drop," says Crawford. "We're really happy that they found us. It shows some awareness of the agency."

Though the concert money has no specific earmarks, Crawford anticipates it will go towards the immediate needs of the shelter: Food, clothes and hygiene products. And with Christmas nearing, shelter staff like to support the youth who come to MYS with a little extra TLC, like stockings filled with gift cards and small presents.

"We try to have something at the shelter to acknowledge that it is Christmas in some way," says Cynthia Drebot, MYS co-ordinator. "We don't want to try and replace a family celebration, but just acknowledge that there may be very different reasons why someone comes to a shelter on Christmas Eve. We try and make sure we have a gift for youths that stay overnight on those days, or try to have a dinner that's a little more than what the usual food is."

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition December 11, 2008 E5

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