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.