Celebrating the Volunteers Who Made Summer 2026 Possible

From Training to Leadership: Celebrating the Volunteers Who Made Summer 2026 Possible

When we began our summer program, we knew we had limited resources and a very large community need. What we did have was something equally important: young people willing to learn, families ready to participate, volunteers prepared to serve, and partners willing to open doors.

By the time we gathered for our Volunteer Recognition Day, we were not simply celebrating the end of a summer program. We were celebrating the beginning of a community leadership pathway.

It Started Before the Summer

One of the important building blocks came through our collaboration with the City of Toronto.

Through the city's recreation-to-employment training opportunity, more than 40 young people completed training and certification before our summer programming was fully underway.

For us, the value of this partnership went beyond receiving a certificate.

Some of the young people who participated in that training came back and volunteered with our own summer programs. They supported children, recreation activities, registration, families, and our team while gaining practical experience alongside their training.

That was exactly the pathway we hoped to create:

Training → Volunteering → Experience → Leadership → Employment

Then the community showed up.

Throughout the summer, our Fair Club recreation activities and Tutoring & Tigrinya program brought together children, parents, instructors, coaches, and volunteers.

Our young volunteers were right in the middle of it.

They helped us deliver soccer, running, volleyball, basketball, and other recreation activities. Others supported tutoring, registration, communication with families, and the many small tasks required to keep a growing community program running.

This was especially meaningful because our summer program grew far beyond what we initially expected.

We were serving a large number of children and families with limited resources. Volunteers were therefore not an addition to the program—they became an important part of how the program worked.

And something exciting began happening along the way.

Young people who initially came to receive training were beginning to become the people helping us deliver opportunities to the next group of children.

From Volunteers to Licensed Coaches

Perhaps one of the most encouraging outcomes is that two of our young people are now licensed coaches.

Think about what that means.

They did not simply participate in an activity and leave. They moved through a pathway of training, experience, and leadership—and they are now positioned to help us continue programming into the fall.

This is the model we want to strengthen.

We want a young person who participates today to have an opportunity to volunteer tomorrow. We want the volunteer to receive training and certification. We want the trained volunteer to become a coach, tutor, or mentor. And wherever possible, we want that experience to become a pathway toward meaningful employment.

This is why partnerships such as our collaboration with the city matter so much. When community organizations and public institutions work together, a certification opportunity can become much more than a one-day training session. It can become the first step in a young person's leadership and employment journey.

Volunteer Recognition Day: Celebrating What We Built

At the end of the summer, we came together for our Volunteer Recognition Day.

It was our opportunity to say something that can sometimes get lost when everyone is busy delivering programs:

Thank you.

Thank you to our youth volunteers.

Thank you to our instructors and coaches.

Thank you to the people who registered children, communicated with parents, carried equipment, organized activities, and stepped in wherever something needed to be done.

And thank you to our partners and city staff who helped create opportunities that our community could build upon.

But our message to the young people that evening was also very clear:

Please don't consider this the end.

We want you to stay involved. We want your ideas. We want you to continue your training. We want you to become our future tutors, coaches, mentors, and community leaders.

The Summer Ended. The Pathway Continues.
As our summer activities came to an end, we were already thinking about fall.

Our basketball programming has been confirmed at Ellesmere Community Centre, while we continue working to secure opportunities for soccer, running, and volleyball.

And now, two newly licensed coaches who grew through this journey can help us move that work forward.

That may be one of the most important outcomes of Summer 2026.

We started the summer needing volunteers to help us serve a growing number of children.

We ended the summer with young people better prepared to lead the next program themselves.

That is the kind of community development we believe in.

We are not simply asking:

“How many children can we serve?”

We are also asking:

“How many young people can we prepare to serve and lead the next generation?”

Our Volunteer Recognition Day celebrated an incredible summer—but more importantly, it celebrated the people who will help us build what comes next.

From participant to volunteer.
From volunteer to certified leader.
From certified leader to coach.
From opportunity to employment.

This is only the beginning. 💛

MyInLaw / East Africa Community Hub Society