By Tracey Tong
A lot of people may be wearing the same toque these days and it’s for a good cause.
Last Tuesday, Ryerson students from almost a dozen student groups and course unions sold toques in an effort to raise money for the homeless of Toronto.
The minimum donation for a toque was $5, but many people gladly gave more.
The 1,500 toques were sold as part of Raising the Roof, a Canada-wide charity that tries to combat homelessness in Canada.
“We had three times as many toques as last year,” Ryerson community food room coordinator Yashmi Mistry said. “So our goal for this year is to make $10,000.”
College and university students are not free from the threat of being homeless because increased tuition and the loss of rent control has made it increasingly difficult to afford food and shelter, Mistry said.
“Projects like Raising the Roof are important because they bring awareness to the community and to the public,” Mistry said. “We can work toward finding a solution and helping the homeless before it gets out of hand.”
Ryerson has been Raising the Roof for three years now.
“Toque Tuesday was a lot of fun,” Mistry added. “Ryerson is an urban university and homelessness is a problem that’s very close to us. Raising the Roof is a great opportunity for students who want to help but aren’t sure how.”
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