Our Volunteer Staff Team
It is the strong, caring, committed and Christian presence of YU workers among youth in North York that truly helps youth fulfill their life potential and transform their own communities.
Our volunteer staff team includes both Associate Staff, who lead a ministry program, and the many volunteers who serve alongside other staff members within a program, or behind the scenes.
Our Associate Staff volunteers:
Scott Guthrie // “YO” Volunteer Ministry Leader
Scott Guthrie has been volunteering with YU in the Jane-Finch community for over 15 years. He leads a basketball drop-in program “YO” (Youth Outreach) at Beverly Heights Middle School on Friday nights during the school year.
Mike // “Roots” Ministry Leader
Mike has been volunteering with YU in the Flemingdon Park community since 2009. He leads a boys’ and girls’ activities program Roots at a local school every Saturday.
A few profiles of our wonderful volunteers:
Kathleen Jones // Jane-Finch Volunteer Staff
Kathleen is a volunteer in the Jane-Finch community. She currently volunteers at “Sketch & Believe” led by Karen Robinson. The program seeks to provide a safe place for young girls to express themselves through the creative arts while growing in faith.
Nick Kaschuk // Jane-Sheppard “YO” Volunteer Staff
Nick, a lawyer based in Toronto, has been volunteering with YU since 2002. He is a mentor for male youth at the “YO” (Youth Outreach) Friday night basketball program led by Scott Guthrie in the Jane-Sheppard area.
John Toufankjian // Jane-Finch Volunteer Staff
John, a businessman, volunteers in several programs and ministries with community outreach worker Stephen Atkinson at Emmanuel Church of the Nazarene in partnership with YU. He grew up in the Jane-Finch neighbourhood, and is now giving back to his community.
IN-DEPTH VOLUNTEER STAFF PROFILES
About Scott Guthrie:
Scott grew up in Oakville, Ontario. He went to Moody Bible Institute and studied American inter-cultural ministries. He later received a Bachelor of Education degree in Chicago. He currently works as an elementary teacher in the Peel region. He is married and has twins: a boy and a girl. He loves spending time with his family and enjoys sports, reading and being in nature.
How Scott got connected with YU:
Scott was introduced to YU through a woman from his church – Spring Garden Baptist Church in North York. He joined YU as a volunteer in 1994 and has been volunteering for over 15 years! He runs a basketball program “YO” (Youth Outreach) at Beverly Heights Middle School on Friday nights. Each Friday during the school year, around 15-20 high-school boys from the Jane-Sheppard area come to play basketball. After the program many of the guys go to his house to eat and hang out.
What impact has serving youth had on you?
Since his studies at Moody, Scott always enjoyed working with youth, so it seemed natural to get involved. He enjoys spending time with “at-risk” teenagers because according to Scott, they are “fun, open and honest and often talk about God and other things”.
For Scott, the gym is a place for building long-lasting mentoring relationships. In some cases, the impact of this is seen years later, when many participants from the program come back to meet Scott or seek his advice/ help in difficult situations in their lives. One example of this was when a young guy from the program was going through a difficult time ended up living with Scott and his family for 2 years. “It was a positive experience” says Scott, who is now away studying at Brock University in Ontario.
Over his 15 years in ministry, many youth have come and gone but Scott remains committed to serving youth in the Jane-Finch community. Scott does, however, realize the lack of sufficient volunteers and invites those interested to pursue volunteer options. (Check out our volunteer page here if you are interested!)
About Kathleen Jones:
Kathleen was born and raised in a small farming community in Perth, Ontario. She moved to Toronto to pursue post-secondary studies. She is currently a full-time student in her third year at Tyndale University College taking Religious Studies with a major in Youth Ministries. She enjoys working with youth, specifically female youth.
How Kathleen got connected with YU:
Kathleen heard about YU from her pastor in Perth and ever since then wanted to someday be able to work with them. As part of her study requirements at Tyndale, she had to do field education (i.e. community service) and was connected with Benjamin Osei. She was hired as an intern where she became involved in several of the ministries in Jane-Finch.
Two of these ministries were the “Seeds of Hope Summer Day Camp”, where she has worked as a camp counsellor for the past two summers, as well as a girls and boys after-school program “W.A.V.E””—Winners with an Active Voice for Excellence.
She is currently volunteering at Sketch & Believe which began in 2009 under the leadership of Karen Robinson. This program seeks to provide a safe place for young girls to express themselves through the creative arts as well as grow in faith.
What impact has serving youth had on you?
For Kathleen, volunteering has impacted her in a significant way as it has been a blessing to see youth grow in faith and start to live out their faith, knowing that God is and will continue to move in great ways their lives.
About Nick Kaschuk:
Nick was born and raised in Toronto, Ontario. He is currently a lawyer in Toronto, specializing in criminal law. He received his undergraduate degree in Actuarial Science at the University of Toronto and later pursued a degree in Law at Osgoode Law School at York University.
How Nick got connected with YU:
Nick heard about YU through Scott Guthrie. During his studies at York University, he attended a Christian student group where he was introduced to the “YO” basketball outreach program in the Jane-Sheppard area. There was a need for more volunteers, and had a feeling that “they were coming for me” so the very next week he attended “YO”. He has been volunteering at “YO” since 2002.
Why do you volunteer?
Nick volunteers because the “workers are few and the harvest is plentiful.” Nick knew what it was like to grow up without mentors in his life and as a result realized how important they are in a young person’s life and recognized the need for leadership in the community. Also, there is an element of loyalty that according to Nick, “grows over time” which is why he keeps coming back.
What impact has serving youth had on you?
“We have seen guys commit themselves to Jesus and seen their lives change.” For Nick, working with young men at the basketball program has challenged and forced him to learn how to relate and to translate the Gospel into common language to a new generation. He also continues to “re-find” God and discover how God is relevant in lives of these young men and today’s culture.
Nick says that it has been a long journey, where he has seen guys in the program who didn’t listen as much as he wanted them to, but who, when life got difficult remembered who to go to for help. Through these experiences, he has learned the importance of consistency— “just showing up and being there for the guys.”
Nick invites people to come and try it for themselves!
About John:
John grew up in the Jane-Finch neighbourhood of Toronto, Ontario. He studied Business and Business in Human Resources at Humber-Guelph. He currently runs two businesses: a staffing agency in North America and a martial arts/fitness company in the Greater Toronto Area. In his spare time, John trains in martial arts and plays the drums. He also enjoys watching and playing sports.
How John got connected with YU:
John attends Emmanuel Church of the Nazarene (ECN) (located in the Jane-Sheppard area) where YU community worker Stephen Atkinson runs several programs in partnership with ECN. John had already been volunteering in church-run ministries but was introduced to YU through Steven Atkinson. He volunteers as a mentor in the weekly Wednesday and Thursday after-school program, the Friday night community basketball outreach program and youth night, and helps coaching “Upward” (a soccer league) in the summer.
What impact has serving youth had on you?
For John, volunteering is both satisfying and rewarding because he knows at the end of the day, he is making a positive difference in the lives of youth. Volunteering according to John, is not just a kind act or good for a resume, but helps change lives for the better!
He finds that there is no better satisfaction than knowing a child’s life has been affected positively, and seeing changes in them confirms to him that it is in fact the right thing to do. Growing up at ECN, he was blessed by what the church offered him and realizes that it’s time for him to give back to not only his church, but to the community that it serves.
He feels that blaming your neighbourhood should never be an excuse as to why you can’t succeed in life, and that is what he wants to instil in these children.
His challenge: people who have “made it” in life should give back to those who are less privileged.
