On Thursday, November 22, we had a great two hour information session. Our guest speakers came from Volunteer Toronto which is a United Way Agency promoting voluntarism in Toronto. They have offices where anyone interested in becoming a volunteer or recruiting volunteers can visit and be assisted, and they also have a website, very friendly and easy to navigate, where those interested in volunteering can find hundreds of positions. The Salvation Army is one of many services and agencies that advertise their volunteer needs on this website, so it is a great tool for two sides of the volunteer connection.


Carol Gamble from Volunteer Toronto and Carol Pratt, a volunteer, elicited from the audience the many benefits of being a volunteer and added many more points which made a great case for becoming a volunteer. Several of our own volunteers came as guests and everyone who is a volunteer received a button that says “Volunteer”. Everyone who is a volunteer was invited to speak about what they do in that capacity. Many of our students spoke, our volunteers spoke, our staff spoke and we saw how varied and interesting and rewarding volunteering can be.

Refreshments were prepared by “volunteers” Gabriel Saucedo and Melva Brown, who both also spoke of their other volunteer work – Melva prepares food at the 614 cafe and Gabriel volunteers for five different organizations and he’s been in Canada only four months!


After our well received sharing session, Carol, using an internet hook-up and a large screen showed how easy it is to navigate the Volunteer Toronto website; you can enter your interest, or your geographical location to find something suitable, for example. There were lots of volunteer opportunities at The Salvation Army, we were pleased to see.

Papa Joseph thanked our speakers and presented them with a small gift. Everyone was very grateful for the information shared and went home with a better understanding that “ We Can Help Ourselves by Helping Others”.

Skill testing questions:
1. How many times does the word “ volunteer” appear in the above story?
2. Volunteer and volunteers have two different meanings – what are they? ( see answers below)

1. The word "volunteer" appears 14 times in the article.
2. "volunteer" is a verb, a noun and an adjective volunteers is the plural of the noun and also the third person singular form of the verb in the simple present tense; "volunteering" is the present continous form of the verb and also a gerund; "voluntarism" is a noun; "voluntary" is an adjective; "voluntarily" is an adverb Volunteer must be one of the better words in the English Language!

Conversation Class is making field trips to various sites in Toronto.

Our beginners' class visited Allen Garden with joys and funs. Students and teachers are envisioning and planning for more activities such as newcomers' barbeque, potluck, picnic, musuem tours, etc. in this summer.

Fairwell to Julia Corpeno - ESL and Program Coordinator

It is with regret that IRS bids farewell to our ESL & Program Coordinator, Julia Corpeno. Julia is leaving to pursue ministry opportunities within her church denomination.

Although Julia has only been with us since August, she has made her mark on our services.

ESL and enhanced language programs have been raised to a new level. Julia has used her expertise to add courses most desired by our clients, including English writing and conversation.

Under Julia’s leadership, IRS held its first Volunteer Forum on February 22nd. Volunteer instructors were welcomed with a luncheon. Florence Gruer and Major Holly Patterson gave summaries covering the past and current realities of IRS. Then, the volunteers were encouraged to give feedback on their experience with us and to help us plan for the future.

The results of the meeting were encouraging, and future forums are being planned.

Julia writes in her own words:

“One Sunday, my Sunday School Teacher taught us about giving for the Lord’s work. She told us a little story about a little boy who became aware that a missionary was coming to his church, and that an offering was going to be collected for him. The little boy however, was very sad because he had nothing to give. Nevertheless, he told the Lord that because he had nothing to give, he gave himself to be used as a missionary. At that point, I recall my Sunday School Teacher raising a black and white picture of an offering plate and the little boy in it. That same Sunday, I also asked the Lord to make of me a missionary. The years have passed and every time that I’ve had to make an important decision in my life, the image of Toby in the offering plate has flashed before my eyes. I know that it has been God reminding me that He took my request to be a missionary seriously. 25 years have passed since that day, and my longing to be a missionary is as great now as it was then.”

We wish Julia God’s blessing on her new ministry. We are grateful for all her hard work for IRS.