Not to get to personal or sentimental, but community is deeply personal and important to me. Bare with me as I bare my heart with you for a moment.
I grew up in a family shaped by poverty, disability, illness, and loss. There were times when community resources weren’t just helpful, we depended on them. Food banks helped put food on our table. Subsidized housing gave us somewhere to live. Healthcare workers, charities, and community programs helped my family through circumstances we couldn’t have managed alone.
I also learned very young what it meant to care for other people. After losing one of my parents, I spent much of my childhood helping care for my surviving parent, who lived with a disability. Those experiences shaped me in ways I’m still dealing with (positivity and negatively) today.
I’ve had difficult chapters of my own since then, including struggles with my physical and mental health. I’ve known what it feels like to need help, and I’ve been fortunate that help existed when I needed it.
That’s a big part of why giving back matters so much to me now.
The organizations below aren’t here because I needed a list of charities for a website. Some have directly helped me or the people and animals I love. Others work on issues that have touched my life or protect the communities, wildlife, and places I care about.
I know firsthand that sometimes a meal, a safe place to live, compassionate medical care, an accessible program, or simply knowing someone hasn’t forgotten about you can change the course of a person’s life.
I won’t ever be able to repay every person or organization that helped my family and me along the way. But I can carry some of that kindness forward.
These are a few of the organizations doing work that means something to me. I hope sharing them helps a few more people discover the good they’re putting into the world.
✧ Close to Home
Canada is home to so many organizations doing meaningful work in healthcare, food security, disability support, conservation, advocacy, animal welfare, and community care.
Some of the organizations below helped my family through incredibly difficult times. Others protect the animals, communities, and places I care about. All of them are here for a reason.
◇ Multiple Sclerosis (MS) Society of Canada
Multiple sclerosis has been part of my family’s story for a long time. The support available to families navigating disability and illness can make an enormous difference during already difficult circumstances, and this is an organization that remains very meaningful to me.
Learn more: https://mscanada.ca/
◇ London Health Sciences Centre (LHSC)
LHSC cared for my dad and supported my family through one of the hardest chapters of our lives. I’ll always be grateful for the compassion shown to us and the work of the healthcare teams who care for patients and their families every day.
Learn more: https://www.lhsc.on.ca/
◇ Food Banks Canada
Food banks were there for my family when we needed them. Food insecurity can happen to people for countless reasons, and everyone deserves access to food without shame. Food Banks Canada supports food banks and communities across the country while advocating for longer-term solutions to food insecurity.
Learn more: https://foodbankscanada.ca/
◇ Simba’s Cat & Kitten Rescue
This one has two particularly furry reasons for being here. Simba’s helped save Edgar and Maude after they survived a brushfire as newborn kittens. Small animal rescues do an incredible amount of work behind the scenes for animals who might otherwise have nowhere to go. Storm Cat wouldn’t have two of its current team members without them.
Learn more: https://www.simbas.ca/
◇ Moose Hide Campaign
An Indigenous-led movement working to end violence against women and children. I’ve carried a moose hide pin for years, and it often opens important conversations about healing and justice.
Learn more: https://moosehidecampaign.ca/
◇ Canadian Wildlife Federation
If you’ve spent more than a few minutes around Storm Cat, you’ve probably figured out that I really like the creatures in this world too. The Canadian Wildlife Federation works in conservation, habitat protection, education, and helping Canadians connect with the wildlife and wild spaces around us
Learn more: https://www.cwf-fcf.org/en/
◇ OutRight International
As a queer person, global LGBTQIA+ advocacy is close to my heart. OutRight works directly with local organizations worldwide to support safety, rights, and community resilience.
Learn more: https://outrightinternational.org/
✧ Around the Table
TTRPGs have brought an enormous amount of creativity, friendship, storytelling, and joy into my life. I especially love seeing that community use something as wonderfully nerdy as rolling dice together to do some good in the real world.
◇ Andrea’s Adventurers
Andrea’s Adventurers brings together TTRPGs and fundraising in support of the Canadian Cancer Society. One of my favourite dice sets is from here. It’s exactly the kind of thing I love about this community: people gathering around a table, telling stories, having fun, and turning that experience into something that can help others.
Learn more: https://andreasadventurers.ca/
◇ Critical Role Foundation
Critical Role became an unexpected source of comfort and connection for me during a particularly isolated time in my life. The Critical Role Foundation takes the incredible community that has grown around tabletop storytelling and uses it to support charitable organizations and humanitarian causes around the world. It’s a lovely reminder that imaginary adventures can sometimes create very real good.
Learn more: https://critrole.com/foundation/
✧ Ways to Give Back (Only if you’re able)
You never need to donate to any organization because you saw it mentioned here.
Money is only one way of helping, and sometimes it simply isn’t something we have to spare.
You can volunteer. Share a fundraiser. Learn about an issue. Support a small rescue. Donate supplies. Advocate for accessibility. Pick up litter. Help someone in your community. Share the work of people doing something worthwhile.
Sometimes giving back is much smaller than we imagine.
And sometimes you’re the person who needs the helping hand.
That’s okay too.
Community works because, at different points in our lives, we all have different things we’re able to give and different things we need.
Do some good where you can. Let others do some good for you when you need it. ♡
