Community Involvement
Skids for Kids 
Foundation
Developed by Paramount Pallet in September 2009, the Skids for Kids Foundation works with charitable organizations that directly support children and child‐related illness.
“The Paramount team deeply cares about the well‐being of children,” says Jim Mitrakos, President & COO of Paramount Pallet, and advisor for the Skids for Kids Foundation. “Skids for Kids is committed to making a difference in as many children’s lives as possible.”
The Skids for Kids Foundation’s mission is to better the lives of children and to help create awareness around critical areas of need and illness.
Projects currently underway include;
Through a partnership with the Toronto Community Foundation, the Skids for Kids Foundation is proud to support the Vital Toronto Fund. The fund is a community endowment that is focused on contributing to and partnering on strategies to tackle Toronto’s most pressing needs and issues. Two projects receiving support are Beyond 3:30 and The Toronto Sport Leadership Program.
Beyond 3:30
There are large concentrations of students living in poverty and therefore have less exposure to mainstream cultural, recreational and enrichment programs than those in more affluent neighbourhoods. Beyond 3:30 addresses this disparity.
This innovative program is designed to provide a safe, stimulating place for middle school students in high‐needs inner city and inner suburb neighbourhoods, to gather between the hours of 3:30 and 8:00 pm. Available at no cost, the program reestablishes schools as the hubs of their communities by keeping them open and offering quality programs for students and their families.
After‐school programs make a critical difference in the safety and social development of children in Toronto’s priority neighbourhoods. By engaging students and their families, this program is helping to remove the likelihood of involvement in gang‐related or delinquent behaviours, or students becoming victims of crime.
Toronto Sport Leadership Program
The first of its kind in Canada, this program is providing young people in diverse and vulnerable neighbourhoods with the opportunity to gain skills, certification and jobs as sporting coaches and instructors. These valuable experiences are helping young people find the confidence, skills and experience to obtain employment and lead their communities.
In four years, more than 400 young Torontonians have graduated from the program, gaining transferrable, marketable skills and forming a diverse roster of qualified sports staff for public and private employers. The Sport Leadership program is a practical way to engage those disengaged and send a strong message about who can be role models and leaders in our communities.
For more information on these programs, see www.tcf.ca 