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Welcoming Arms celebrated for 20 years of community support

October 22, 2026   ·   0 Comments

After they first came together in 2006 with a common mission to help community members in need, they said their mission will have been successful when people no longer need their services.

Community growth and a rising level of need might keep the ultimate goal of Welcoming Arms just out of reach, but the community itself came together on Thursday night to celebrate 20 years of the ecumenical organization feeding the bodies, minds, and souls of Aurora residents who need them the most.

Welcoming Arms, an ecumenical organization that offers meal programs, fellowship, and much more to local residents, celebrated its 20^th anniversary last week at a special reception held at Our Lady of Grace Catholic Church, one of six community faith groups that came together at the beginning, recognizing a need, and devoting resources to make a difference.

“This is a very special occasion to celebrate 20 years of benevolent, kind-hearted service to the community, to help people that are somewhat less fortunate than others,” said Aurora-Oak Ridges-Richmond Hill MP Costas Menegakis at the October 15 reception, recognizing Welcoming Arms’ “tremendous contribution to our community.”

These words were echoed by Aurora-Oak Ridges-Richmond Hill MPP Michael Parsa, who saluted the organization on “20 years of making a difference in the lives of so many people, especially some of the most vulnerable members” of the community, the Province, and the country.

Also on hand to celebrate the organization was Mayor Tom Mrakas, who said the organization holds a special place in the hearts of many, and exemplifies “the best of what a community should be – one that gives back to those who need it the most, whether it’s a warm meal or a listing ear.”

“What makes Welcoming Arms so special is that so much of its work is carried out by volunteers, those that give their time and resources to support others. That’s something worth celebrating,” said Mrakas. “It makes me so proud that we live in a community where we have so many residents who care so deeply about the welfare of others.

“Today, as we celebrate 20 years of Welcoming Arms in our community, it’s really time to thank every single person who has given their time to this wonderful organization. Thank you for reminding us every single day that what makes this community great isn’t just the place we call home, but the way we look after one another.”

Welcoming Arms’ 20^th anniversary was both a celebration of how far they’ve come as well as where they are headed with outstanding support from the community.

One person who has seen the growth of the organization first-hand was founding member Susan Lanthier-Doyle, who received special recognition from Mayor Mrakas. She said that while it was, on the one hand, a celebration, it was also a “recognition of the cooperation, commitment, and support of so many from the local community and beyond to those in need.”

The idea for Welcoming Arms, she shared, stemmed from discussions that began in the early 2000s by Our Lady of Grace and Trinity Anglican Church. These initial talks were focused on ways to “jointly continue what each church had been doing separately in the area of benevolence.”

“It was believed working together would enable the churches to offer more in assistance, services, resources and support, as well as providing information and connections to other community-based groups,” she said. “After discussions with clergy in several of the Aurora churches, a core group of four agreed to meet to examine and explore this joint ministry effort.”

Discussions continued, other faith groups, such as St. Andrew’s Presbyterian came on board, and they formally met for the first time under the Welcoming Arms banner on October 11, 2026.

“A large number of those in attendance became the original volunteers at Welcoming Arms. It is very fitting that we are gathering in this room today as this was the room in which that seminar was held in September,” said Lanthier-Doyle of being back at Our Lady of Grace. “Our first day of operation served three people in an informal setting that provided our visitors with a warm greeting, a caring and listening ear, encouragement and hope wrapped in a sense of dignity.

“For 22 months, our doors were open Monday, Wednesday evening and Thursday for 10 hours a week. It was not long before our numbers increased greatly and at times doubled from one month to the next. Visitors were initially offered food vouchers, bus tickets and emergency assistance for utilities and rent, as examples. All was provided from the monthly financial commitment made by the pastors in each church at the formation meetings as well as from fundraising events that began immediately.”

Operations eventually moved to Trinity’s Rectory, and programs – and numbers – continued to grow.

“Our core of volunteers increased through information seminars and particularly when Aurora Cornerstone Church and Community Bible Church, the campus, joined the original four in 2009 and 2010 respectively,” she continued, noting the addition of Welcome Table and Martha’s Table meal programs coming under their auspices. “In the 2010 years, Welcoming Arms expanded committees, developed a five-year strategic plan, held numerous workshops to support the volunteers, established a constitution and obtained a charitable number.”

“Since Day One, our volunteers in all our programs have been dedicated, compassionate, empathetic, caring, and willing to give so generously of their time and varied talents above and beyond expectation. A debt of gratitude to all over the past 20 years for the hundreds, no, thousands of hours that you have given to those in need,” she said.

Guests at last week’s reception were welcomed by Welcoming Arms Executive Chair Doug Steele – Aurora’s 2026 Citizen of the Year – and Executive Director Sally Freitas.

Freitas has led the organization for nearly three years and said volunteers are at the heart of the organization and make all of what we do possible.

“Twenty years is a wonderful milestone and it’s a testament to the community and generosity of so many people,” she said. “None of it would have been possible without you, and you are the absolute heart of this organization. 175 active volunteers is what we have right now and that’s an incredible number – that’s 20,000 hours-plus per year that our volunteers put into our six programs now. 20,000 is a huge number and we do a lot with those 20,000 hours, that’s for sure.

“When I came in, we had three programs: we had Bridging the Gap, which is our drop-in program, mainly grocery gift cards or going out to families who sort of can demonstrate that there is a need there. We had two community meals [with] no barriers, our dinner and our lunch –Welcome Table and Martha’s Table. More recently, we started Meals Plus, which is a frozen meal program and there’s sort of a means test on that one, but that program has done incredibly with an incredible new team that came together, and Rise and Shine, an outreach ministry of Aurora United Church, has just come under our umbrella.

“I want to impress how vitally important it is that each of you make that commitment. That you come out and you love what you do. All of us feel it…whether we’re on staff or it’s volunteers, or it’s our guests and visitors. We’re all doing it because we really want to. It’s an absolute passion, I think, for most of our volunteers.”

For more information on Welcoming Arms and its programs and services, visit: www.welcomingarms.ca.

By Brock Weir
Editor
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

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