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Our Purpose, History & Partners

For over 70 years, we’ve cared for kids, shaped leaders for tomorrow and helped generations of people come together to find support, get healthier and make friends for life.

  • OUR PURPOSE

    BREAKING DOWN BARRIERS

    We’ve been getting children with disabilities off the sidelines and onto the field since 1945. Through sports, fitness, training, and skills development programs, we break down barriers to participation and foster accessibility and inclusiveness for kids and their families across our province.

  • OUR HISTORY

    Variety International – the girl that inspired a movement

    Christmas Eve, 1928. In the Sheridan Square Theatre in Pittsburgh, an infant was discovered with only a note pleading for her safety. With no way to track down her mother, the members of the Variety Club took little Catherine in and funded her living expenses and education.

    Something had to be done to help disadvantaged children, and this one selfless act helped the world realize it. Catherine’s story made front-page news across the United States, inspired a feature film, and grew a small collective of show business managers into a multi-national children’s charity with 52 chapters in 14 countries around the world.

    Variety International is now active in Australia, Barbados, Canada, Channel Islands, France, Great Britain, Ireland, Israel, Japan, Mexico, The Netherlands, New Zealand, South Africa and the United States. Over 14,000 members and volunteers have raised over US $1.5 billion to give children of all ages a chance to thrive.

  • Variety Ontario – breaking down barriers to accessibility

    In 1945, Variety – the Children’s Charity of Ontario was born. What started as a vocational school built in 1949 became our flagship location in Toronto. Our modern-day Variety Village location opened in 1981 as a world-class indoor sports facility built to nurture competitive spirits, and empower children with disabilities to be ambassadors for change in their communities.

    Today, Variety helps Ontarians see ability differently with our trailblazing programming in reverse integration. Variety Village is one of the few places where able-bodied family and friends can get involved in a game of wheelchair basketball. Entire schools get the chance to try specialized equipment, feel a braille book, use a sports wheelchair and learn about communicating with a person who is deaf.

We’re just getting started.

We’re on a mission to bring inclusive programming to every child waiting on the sidelines.

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OUR PARTNERS

We’ve come a long way and we’re still going strong.

Thanks to our community, corporate, foundation and government partners, we’ve given many thousands of children a place where they can feel included and participate.

Our partners appreciate that every child deserves a better life, regardless of their physical or intellectual abilities. They commit funds, time and resources to programming that helps children thrive into adolescence and adulthood.

Will you join us?

CORPORATE GIVING

GOVERNMENT FUNDED PROGRAMS