PROFILE: Tropicana Community Services (St. Ignatius of Loyola)

First established in 1980 by Robert brown along with co-founder Derrick McLennon, Tropicana Community Services is a non-profit organisation dedicated to serving its community by offering culturally supportive programs in childcare, education, personal development, employment and settlement services, with a central focus on the Black, African and Carribean communities of Toronto. With their summer camp located at St. Ignatius of Loyola on 2350 McCowan Road, there’s never a dull moment for Tropicana Campers!

Campers showcase their artistic abilities!

At Tropicana, campers, counsellors and supervisors alike don’t allow a little bit of rain to stop them from having fun. They turned grey and gloom into their own personal brand of fun and sun! On a rainy day, campers begin with morning greetings, free gym time, a quick snack, and then back to the gym for some all-hands-on-deck counsellor-facilitated games and activities, where despite the weather, the energy remains phenomenally high. From there, campers take another quick break to prepare for the walk to Tropicana’s main office, where they eat lunch and participate in a multitude of arts and crafts activities and more games, before finally returning back to St. Ignatius of Loyola for some cool-down activities at the end of the day.