Volunteers needed!!! Not Just Tourists Toronto , a project of the Foundation, is looking for volunteers who can help sort and pack medicines, pick up donations, or do other work volunteer jobs from their homes. If you’re interested, please contact us at njt@njttoronto.ca or call and leave a message for Lillian at (416) 234 9658. Along with our sister projects in Edmonton, Calgary, and Ottawa, Not Just Tourists Toronto sends donated medicines and medical supplies in donated suitcases to designated hospitals and polyclinics with willing travelers. Travellers carry our suitcases in order to make a difference in people’s health and to have the kind of experience they wouldn’t otherwise have. Patterned after “Not Just Tourists” in St. Catharines, Ontario, established 1997. In 2003, the St. Catharines project sent over 5,000 kilos of medicine to developing countries, particularly in Cuba, the Caribbean & Central America. Not Just Tourists Toronto was formally launched on April 25, 2004 by volunteers from Metro Toronto. It will:

  1. Receive and collect donated medicine and related supplies.
  2. Pack and prepare for shipment ten-kilo suitcases containing medicine.
  3. Arrange for tourists/travellers to transport the suitcase to doctors, dentists, clinics and hospitals.
  4. Arrange for a letter from a Canadian doctor addressed to the recipient of the donated supplies.

The delivery of humanitarian aid is recognized under the law and is a valuable contribution to the people in need. PCWF sees this project as a means of building the global community. How to help:

  1. Doctors, Dentists, Health Care Professionals, Hospitals, Clinics and Medical Suppliers may contact us about supplies to donate to the project.
  2. We welcome Tourists and Travellers who want to carry these donations to their destination. Currently our focus is on Cuba, a country visited by many Canadian tourists that is in great need of medical supplies.
  3. We need suitcases for transporting the medicines.
  4. The project welcomes volunteers who may wish to participate.
  5. The project is sustained by financial support from individuals or organizations. Cheques are made payable to PCWF. A receipt will be issued for income tax purposes for amounts of $25 or more.

Letter from Bob Biderman

Co-ordinator, Not Just Tourists Toronto January 24, 2005.

Greetings.

Since March 2004 several hundred people have transported suitcases on behalf of Not Just Tourists Toronto. You were one of those people. We are pleased to send a copy of our 2005 Annual Report. We hope you will enjoy reading it and that you will share the pleasure we feel in our success and growth. After all, we have done this together. We also want to ask you for your help and support. No, we are not asking you for money. Our costs are quite modest, thanks to donations of space from the United Steelworkers, donations of medicines, medical supplies and suitcase from many sources, and the thousands of hours of volunteer time contributed by a growing number of volunteers.

We do need your assistance in helping us spread the word about NJTT to anyone you know who might be travelling to Cuba. We have a lot of humanitarian aid that we are anxious to get to people in need. Your friends, relatives and colleagues can learn about NJTT on our new website www.njttoronto.ca and contact us through the website or by E-mail or telephone. We also have lots of tasks for those of you who would like to help out. Volunteers are needed to sort donations and pack suitcases, solicit donations from health care professionals and pick up donations from around the GTA.

To read about the experiences of other NJTT travellers or see photos taken while delivering a suitcase go to our website. If you have photos or wish to write something about your experience delivering one of our suitcases please send them to us electronically or by mail. We will consider posting them on our website or putting them in albums that we keep in our depot. Finally, we welcome you to visit our new depot in the basement of 33 Cecil Street, near College and Spadina.

Please call or E-mail ahead though to make sure that one of us will be there before dropping by.

Bob Biderman, Co-ordinator, Not Just Tourists Toronto

 

 

For more information:

Not Just Tourists Toronto
38 Denver Crescent
Toronto, ON, M2J-1G8

T: 416-234-9658 or 1-888-898-8246
E: njt AT njttoronto DOT ca

Please visit our website at www.njttoronto.ca. Travelers can log on, download and complete a form, and e-mail it to us. It’s a quicker and easier way of gathering information and processing requests for suitcases.