By Jasmine Makar

Juggling the hustle of being a forward on the Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU) Bold women’s soccer and a fourth-year criminology student doesn’t stop Aalayah Lully from going the extra mile to provide for her community. 

Lully hosts a community drive four times a year, providing unhoused people in Toronto, specifically the downtown core, with food, clothing and seasonal essentials. 

The initiative called ‘My Brother’s Keeper’ first started when Lully’s older sister was diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder eight years ago, when she was 14-years-old. 

“My Brother’s Keeper started with helping out young people at the hospital who were admitted,” said Rochalee Hall, Lully’s mother and founder of the community drive. “There were a lot of kids who came in who were off the streets or from foster care, runaways who didn’t have any clothes.”

While the drive started at Oakville Trafalgar Memorial Hospital, it shifted to the downtown core when Lully started university. 

“I know everyone has a hard time but to see people just on the street and people walking over them as if they didn’t exist, that was really heartbreaking for us,” said Hall. “That’s how we shifted from doing it at the hospital to doing it downtown.” 

“Let them know that they are loved and prayed for, that they are not forgotten”

As of fall 2024, there are an estimated 15,418 people unhoused in the city of Toronto, according to the 2024 Street Needs Assessment survey. This is over a 50 per cent increase from the 2021 figure of 7,300 unhoused individuals. 

Although they started with giving out $5 Tim Horton’s gift cards at the hospital, they have since expanded, giving out “blessing bags,” which always have two pairs of socks and other important items catered towards that particular season, like aloe vera in the summer to prevent sunburn and Vaseline in the winter to prevent frostbite. 

“There’s also a handwritten note that’s always inside of each one, just to show that someone actually took time out of their day to write this note to them,” said Hall. 

Some of these notes include many personalized heartwarming messages, including sentiments like, “overflowing with hope, happiness and new opportunities, please remember that your journey is far from over, and you possess extraordinary resilience and are forever cherished.”

The operations of the community drive have also expanded, which initially only involved Lully’s family. As she began her first year, friends she met started joining, with one of her close friends consistently coming to help her mother and donate clothing.

“All my friends who do come out often donate something. They won’t come empty-handed. They will always bring something to give to the drive or help out in any particular way that they can.”

“It reflects a lot of how she treats people in her life”

With the drive taking place four times a year, Lully said, “After one drive finishes, you kind of move on to start collecting for the next one.” They never stop taking in donations, with every item of clothing being washed, buying all the stuff for the blessing bags as well as organizing everything for a seamless distribution day.  

Groundswell Church in Burlington, Ont., also helps with cooking meals and providing other helpful items.

The name “My Brother’s Keeper” originated from the scripture of Proverbs 17:17 that reads, “A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity.” Lully and Hall added that a friend is typically loyal, but a brother or sister is there in a hard, difficult time. 

During their route, the team of distributors, including Lully’s family and friends, usually target specific areas of the city, such as Toronto Metropolitan Church, Allan Gardens, George Hislop Park, Barbara Hall Park, The 519, and other stops off route. 

With this past Thanksgiving distribution, My Brother’s Keeper was able to distribute food to approximately 510 people, according to Lully and Hall. 

Hall also added that the objective of the drive is to “let them know, we always say that, to let them know that they’re loved and prayed for, that they’re not forgotten and to let them know that…even though they’re going through something difficult and hard, something beautiful can come out of it.”

Being a full-time criminology student and a varsity athlete, it is often hard for Lully to find time for the drive but she always makes sure to contribute in one way or another. 

“It’s hard, especially in soccer season, because we train every day and then most weekends we do travel…and there are some days where I’m out or do soccer stuff or have to do school work,” said Lully. When her school commitments get the best of her, at the very least, Lully will  “always try to make a financial contribution.”

“After one drive finishes, you kind of move on to start collecting for the next one”

Although her schedule can fill up in the days leading up to distribution, Lully will do all that she can to ensure the drive is ready. “I’ll stay up and help out or wake up extra early, [specifically] the morning that we go down. I make sure stuff is done.” 

Second-year interior design student and Bold women’s soccer forward Natalie Moynihan said that Lully was immediately a welcoming figure on the team when she first joined in 2024 and has always been “a wonderful teammate to have.” 

Moynihan also added that involvement in the community drive “definitely reflects her commitment to her relationships…It reflects a lot of how she treats people in her life.”

Fuelled by care and compassion, Lully and My Brother’s Keeper are leaving a lasting impact on many throughout the city.