A Year-End Message from
President and CEO Marco DeVuono
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It’s the holiday season, with a new year just around the corner. I’d like to take this opportunity to reflect and share some of the highlights from 2023 with everyone in the
Villa Charites family.
The Villa Charities Italian Canadian Immigrant Tribute project continued to move forward. The Tribute sculpture, “Tomorrow: Il mio paese, la mia casa, il mio futuro (My Country, My Home, My Future), a symbol of optimism and hope, approaches completion and will be ready for the next step of casting in bronze. A spectacular banner on the exterior Columbus Centre wall facing Lawrence Ave. was installed earlier this year, to showcase the future home of the Tribute project installation. Another highlight of the project was our collaboration with International Chef and Executive Producer, David Rocco, on a social media video campaign. If you haven’t become a Tribute Project donor yet, there’s still time to honour your family’s Italian immigration journey with the gift of a customized name plaque on the Tribute Project installation, just in time for Christmas.
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In honour of long-time Villa Charities supporters the Ciccolini family, the Columbus Centre main entrance seating area was dedicated and unveiled as the Ciccolini Family Lounge. The recognition event included a reception at Ristorante Boccaccio where the Ciccolini family and Masters Insurance Ltd. presented a very generous donation to the Foundation. | |
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Villa Charities was certified as a Great Place to Work® after a thorough, independent analysis conducted by Great Place to Work Institute® Canada. This was a significant achievement that validated Villa Charities’ ongoing commitment to creating an inclusive, positive and engaging workplace for our staff.
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Young Artist Grant
In August, Villa Charities announced the launch of the Young Artist Grant, a national grant program established to support young Italian Canadian artists in their creative endeavours in the fields of literature, music and film. The aim of the Young Artist Grant is to provide financial support to emerging artists, while ensuring that young Italian Canadians are engaged with Villa Charities, and the Italian Canadian community at large. The three winners to receive a $5,000 grant will be announced early in the new year.
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Cultural Activities and Events
During the past year, Villa Charities presented over 143 cultural programs, bringing together Italian art, culture, history, film, literature, special events and unique culinary experiences.
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Our popular series of Cultural Tuesdays illustrated talks continued, with curated themes focusing on a broad range of topics. Patrons were educated while socializing with the Learn Italian by Doing Italian language workshops and at our sold-out Pasta Making Classes, they learned how to make regional handmade pasta specialties from scratch.
Music was the theme of many of our cultural events. We presented concerts with acclaimed Italian Canadian performers and groups across many musical genres, including Coro San Marco, Columbus Concert Band, Tafelmusik, The Trio Kings and more. Specially themed music series featuring jazz ensembles and opera were popular with our patrons. There was also an appearance by ‘the King’ himself, at our Elvis tribute concert featuring Bruno Nesci and The Dreamers Show Band.
We introduced our ‘Retro Dance Parties’ this year, which transformed the Joseph D. Carrier Art Gallery into a night club where guests danced to the hits of the ‘70s, ‘80s and ‘90s.
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With support from the Government of Canada’s New Horizons for Seniors program and in partnership with the Italian Canadian Benevolent Seniors Apartment Corporation (ICBSAC), Villa Charities was able to host a variety of programming and events to engage the seniors in our community. Programs included our free weekly Ballo Liscio social dancing nights, our Ferragosto Celebration in August, and our Sagre (festivals). Seniors, families and the community at large came together to enjoy these joyful celebrations featuring Italian food and traditions including tomato-sauce making, roasted chestnuts, sausages, porchetta and panettone.
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Villa Charities proudly celebrated Italian Heritage Month in June 2023 with month-long programming dedicated to Italian culture and heritage. Highlights included the photography exhibition and book launch of “Calabria Mia, Borghi Antichi: A Photographic Journey” by Marcello Tarantino, and “Wish You Were Here - My Secret Venice”, the fourth season of the behind-the-scenes video series exploring nature and the arts in Venice. | |
The holiday season was commemorated with a festive Christmas market, Italian Christmas Baking Contest and joyful music concerts by Coro San Marco and Columbus Concert Band. We also have the annual exhibition of ‘Mostra dei Presepi’, the beautiful display of nativity scenes curated by our partner Centro Scuola until January 5th. | |
At the Joseph D. Carrier Art Gallery, the works of premier visual artists were on display throughout the year. Art exhibitions included “Youth, Truth & Imagination,” “Bring Me the Horizon” by Fabrizio Sclocco, “Chiarandini – From Then to Now” and more. | |
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Child Care
Columbus Early Learning Centres continued to offer high-quality child care at our Casa Del Zotto and Centro Abruzzo centres, along with our Before and After-School programs at St. Raphael, Regina Mundi and St. Charles Catholic schools. We also introduced Canada Wide Early Learning Child Care (CWELCC) funding, made available to families with children under the age of six years in all our programs.
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Columbus Event Centre
Numerous weddings, social and corporate events were booked at the Columbus Centre throughout 2023, welcoming thousands of guests to our venue to celebrate their special occasions.
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Columbus Centre
The Columbus Centre welcomed patrons of all ages who participated in our many classes and workshops including art, music, dance, camps and athletics.
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DanzArts Toronto, the Columbus Centre’s
highly regarded school of dance, had another successful season offering Recreational and Competitive dance programs for students ranging from beginner level to pre-professional.
Their Advanced company of dancers were invited to Toronto Kids Fashion Week in New York City in December, where they performed their
award-winning 2022/23 season routine
“Source of Conflict”.
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The Columbus Centre School of Music welcomed returning and new students, as did
our Art Programs, which included our popular Artista Painting Workshops and our
Less Defined Landscape Workshops, taught by professional artist and multi-award recipient Sam Paonessa.
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Funded in part by the Government of Canada’s New Horizons for Seniors Program, the Columbus Centre Athletic Club introduced “Supporting Seniors Through Mind & Body Awareness”, a new 33-week program with a variety of free classes that focused on mobility training for participants ages 50+. | |
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Our athletic facility also launched new specialty group fitness classes including Pilates, Judo, TRX® and Fascial Maneuvers and a new purpose-built spin studio for members opened in November. The club’s aquatics, racquet sports and tennis programs saw increased membership levels for 2023 as well.
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Summer Camp at the Columbus Centre returned in 2023 with camps for kids ages
4 to 13. From general camps to specialty camps in sports, dance, and kitchen camps, hundreds of young campers enjoyed high-quality programming in an inclusive and inspiring environment.
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Villa Charities Foundation
Villa Charities Foundation continued with their efforts to raise much-needed funds in support of programs and services at Villa Charities.
The 16th Villa Charities Giro Cycling Fundraiser on Sunday, May 28th at the Veneto Centre was a great success. As a result of incredible support and generosity, this year’s Giro ride raised approximately $125,000! Mark your calendar for next year’s Giro event on Sunday, May 26, 2024, or register now!
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In May, the 2023 Villa Charities Scholarship Program was launched for post-secondary undergraduate and graduate students. The fourth year of this national program was open to students of any heritage who demonstrated how they further Villa Charities’ mission to enrich lives through experiences and services that honour Italian culture and heritage. Our 2023 program received the highest response to date, with 283 applications submitted. Since launching the scholarship program in 2020, more than $240,000 in scholarships have been awarded to 66 students across Canada. | |
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Villa Charities is very grateful to Pizza Nova and the entire Primucci family for selecting our organization as the beneficiary charity of the Pizza Nova 26th Annual Charity Golf Tournament, which was held on Monday, June 5th at Station Creek Golf Course. An impressive $61,500 was raised at their premier event, which will go towards supporting key strategic priorities at our Villa Colombo Toronto long-term care home.
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Partnerships
Villa Charities continued to support and work with other organizations and events. In 2023, this included sponsorships and event partnerships. Some of the wonderful collaborations are highlighted below.
We partnered with TLN Television and Caffe Cinquecento to present hit comedies under the stars with “Cinema all’Aperto” all summer long. Villa Charities also sponsored the “Italy at Home” Film Festival on TLN TV, a specially curated month-long TV event in June.
Villa Charities was the Presenting Sponsor of the North American Premiere of “Diabolik: Ginko Attacks!”, on Sunday, July 2nd at the 12th edition of Italian Contemporary Film Festival.
Our partnership with the Italian Chamber of Commerce Canada included a sponsorship of the inaugural book in their IdentITÀ series on visionary Italians in Canada, which profiled the Honourable Consiglio Di Nino, one of the Founders of Villa Charities.
Other partnerships included our Carnevale celebration with Leonardo Da Vinci Academy and Accademia dei Ragazzi, the 5th edition of Librissimi – Toronto Italian Book Festival with Comites Toronto, and our Heritage Centre sponsorship of Mississauga talfest. Returning in 2023 was the on-site public ceremony to honour the Italian Fallen Workers at the Memorial Wall on our campus, which was unveiled in 2016 in collaboration with the Committee for the Italian Fallen Workers Memorial Project.
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Facility Upgrades and Renovations
Villa Charities completed the much-needed repairs to the hydro vault room servicing the Columbus Centre in May 2023. At the same time, new paving stones were installed above the hydro vault room and walkway. The Athletic Club Membership Office was renovated for a fresh and modern look, and a few existing rooms were transformed including two new dance studios in the lower level and the new spin studio on the 2nd floor.
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Independent Seniors’ Apartments
In partnership with Strong Play, Villa Charities hosted Gentle Movements for Seniors fitness classes for the residents of our three apartment buildings. Our seniors also enjoyed other activities, funded by the Government of Canada’s New Horizons for Seniors Program, including Piazza Dancing nights, Seniors Day and Resident Appreciation events, and holiday parties.
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Looking Ahead
We are very excited as we look forward to our upcoming projects. Our long-term care home, Villa Colombo Homes for the Aged Inc. (Villa Colombo Toronto), will be our primary focus for the next several years. Villa Charities is currently in the planning stage for the upcoming renovation of the 266 Class B beds in the Fusco wing, which will be upgraded to meet the legislated Class A standards required by the Ministry of Long-Term Care.
As President and CEO, I am committed to raising the level of excellence we deliver in all our programs, and as a team we will strive to make your experience with our organization better every day. Our campus is also enhanced by our wonderful tenants including Academy of Realist Art, Centro Scuola, CIBPA Toronto, Leonardo Da Vinci Academy and TLN Media Group.
Finally, my sincere appreciation goes out to our staff, management, Board, residents and patrons, who continue to support our organization. On behalf of the Villa Charities Executive team, I wish you and your families all the best this holiday season and a happy New Year!
Sincerely,
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Marco DeVuono
President and CEO
Villa Charities Inc.
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Our Mission:
Enriching lives through experiences and services that honour Italian culture and heritage.
Our Vision:
Inspiring people to explore the Italian in all of us.
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901 Lawrence Ave W, Toronto, ON, M6A 1C3 I About Us
Villa Charities Foundation Charitable Registration Number: 89337 0767 RR001
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