Building for Belonging: Growing Our Impact

We are grateful to share an exciting update: we have raised  $2,575,179 million, exceeding our parish campaign goal! Our campaign Ambassadors have met with and shared the vision of St. Thomas’s with 73 people and families! 

You may wonder: why is the parish goal portion of the campaign $2.5M when the overall project cost is $8.12M? Our parish campaign goal was conservative, based on the results of the Planning Feasibility Study. We have $1.5M in reserve from OHIOF and we anticipate that the remaining funds needed for the project will be financed through a line of credit from the Diocese of Toronto as our fundraising continues in the coming years, expanding beyond the parish to the community at large and grantmaking institutions.

These goals connect directly to good stewardship. The more we raise through the campaign, the less we will need to borrow through a line of credit from the Diocese. A smaller line of credit means less long-term debt, enabling us to grow our ministries such as our free children’s choir, our concert series, and the Friday Food Ministry, which serves more than 80 guests every week. 

And we are not finished. In the weeks ahead, we are continuing to reach out to every parishioner, friend and neighbour of St. Thomas’s to share this invitation to support the campaign—with your gifts of time, talent, prayer, and finances. If you have already made a gift or pledge, thank you. If you are still discerning, please know that every additional gift raised now reduces borrowing in the short term—and strengthens what we can offer in the long term.