Michael Kirkpatrick has been giving to the Ottawa Mission since he was 20 years old.
“It dawned on me that the mission does good things, and I thought I could do something to help improve homeless folks’ lives,” said Kirkpatrick, now 31.
A Harris-Decima survey released yesterday found that the majority of Canadians believe it is important to personally give back to their communities.
The Ottawa Mission recently launched a mobile giving program, where cellphone users can text a $10 donation to the shelter.
“We think that will reach younger people,” said Ottawa Mission spokeswoman Shirley Roy.
Kirkpatrick said many young people he knows want to support a charity.
Many charity events, like Hope Volleyball, Movember, and events that he’s helped organize, like the Ottawa charity ping pong tournament and a basketball tournament in Lowertown, where he lives, are fun and interactive and targeted towards younger people, he said.
