Manulife Volunteers

Manulife volunteers take part in “A Community’s Journey” at Rose Avenue Public School.

Surrounded by apartment towers in one of Toronto’s poorest neighbourhoods, Rose Avenue Public School is a special place for many St. James Town families. It’s a place where children go to school and parents participate in various community programs. The school is also a focal point of Manulife’s community efforts in St. James Town.

On Thursday, November 20, 2008, Manulife volunteers from head office travelled to Rose Avenue Public School to participate in brightening the schoolyard and celebrating Manulife’s four-year partnership with the school.

Manulife volunteers attached colourful wooden art tiles created by Grade 1 and 2 students to fences surrounding newly planted trees. They also helped with the finishing touches on a mural that was unveiled later that day.

The large-scale mural, “A Community’s Journey”, is a visual representation of the neighbourhood’s people and places, caring and sharing and community stories and will be affixed to the three portables adjacent to the playground. Together with Inner City Angels artist Marsha Stonehouse, Manulife Employees and children from Grades 3 to 6 worked for weeks on the mural, from project development and design to the final brush stroke.

In addition to the mural and trees, Rose Avenue Public School welcomed a new playground this fall with equipment funded entirely by Manulife and labour provided by the Toronto District School Board. The playground was officially handed over to the children at the community event and is already very popular with students during their breaks and after school.

J-F Courville, President and COO of MFC Global Investment Management, spoke at the unveiling and applauded the exceptional efforts of the community. “Together we have achieved a lot,” said Courville. “We look forward to being a partner on the community’s journey in the years to come.”

New principal Marguerite Campbell thanked everyone for coming and emphasized the importance of partnerships. “A true community school is supported by parents, staff and other partners...It is through vibrant community partnerships that all stakeholders are able to share their resources and experiences that enrich the learning environment for children.”

The community event and unveiling of “A Community’s Journey” was covered by CBC Television and aired as part of their “One Million Acts of Green” series on CBC Newsworld. The video is also posted on the One Million Acts of Green website.

Manulife Employee donations also make a difference

During the past four years Manulife employees at head office have donated thousands of items for the yearly book and clothing drive. Since 2005, more than 10,000 books have been donated to the school and hundreds of coats, hats, socks, mittens, boots and other needed clothing items have been given.