Some business executives in Toronto slept outdoors in very cold weather, recently, to raise money for young people who don’t have homes.
Business people and other well-known people in Toronto gathered near Ryerson University with cardboard boxes and sleeping bags, to spend the cold night outside.
It was part of a fundraiser called “Sleep Out: Executive Edition,” by Covenant House Toronto, a shelter for homeless youths.
The executives left Ryerson and went to different parks and other locations, like subway shelters, where they spent the night.
Participating in the fundraiser were Patrick Nangle, the president of shipping company Purolator, Toronto police chief Bill Blair and a vice-president at a major bank.
According to Covenant House, on any given night up to 20,000 young people are without a home and have to sleep outside in Toronto.
Seventeen other cities in North America are doing similar fundraisers.
Covenant House hopes to raise more than $800,000 in Toronto.
CURRICULUM CONNECTIONS
By Jonathan Tilly
Writing/Discussion Prompt
Empathy is a character trait that allows someone to feel the emotions of another. To be empathetic means to walk in another’s shoes.
When have you felt empathy? Who do you know that is empathetic?
Reading Prompt: Responding to and Evaluating Texts
Why do you think The Covenant House specifically asks executives to spend one night living in the same conditions as homeless youth?
Brainstorm 4-5 possible reasons. Share and compare your ideas with a friend’s.
Junior
Make judgements and draw conclusions about the ideas and information in texts and cite stated or implied evidence from the text to support their views (OME, Reading: 1.8).
Intermediate
Evaluate the effectiveness of both simple and complex texts based on evidence from the texts (OME, Reading: 1.8).
Language Feature: Hyphenated Compund Adjectives
A hyphenated compound adjective is a descriptive word that is formed by joining two words with a hyphen. Today’s article includes one very common hyphenated compound adjective: “well-known.”
How many compound adjectives can you name? Take turns with classmates providing examples. Last person standing wins.
