As Chair of the ShareLife Corporate Campaign, it has been a pleasure over the past year to witness the generosity of the corporate community of the Toronto area.

ShareLife achieved a record Corporate Campaign total of $1,519,000 in 2007, increasing our year-over-year results by almost $200,000 and surpassing the $1.5 million benchmark for the first time. I would like to extend my personal thanks to all those companies and individual business leaders who contributed to this success.

The work of ShareLife’s 30 social service agencies is far from done. Those agencies reached an estimated 206,000 people in the Greater Toronto Area last year with the help of more than 3,900 volunteers. Still there are waiting lists, line-ups and more vulnerable and needy people desperate for assistance.

In an effort to help meet the growing needs of ShareLife’s agencies and build on the growing momentum of the campaign, a new goal of $1.625 million has been set for 2008. I am confident that we, as concerned corporate citizens, can reach this ambitious target if we rally our resources and encourage others to do the same. The ranks of our supporters have grown in the past year, but the list can be much longer with your support and encouragement of colleagues and associates.

To play on the campaign theme for 2008, "because you give ..." our communities are healthier and stronger. I invite you to renew your support of the ShareLife Corporate Campaign this year with a generous contribution.

Once again, I look forward to the challenges facing us in this campaign as we collectively recommit ourselves and our companies to supporting the 30 social service agencies of ShareLife. They can effect positive change in the lives of the troubled, vulnerable and needy around us ... because you give.

Colleen M. Johnston
Executive Vice-President and Chief Financial Officer
TD Bank Financial Group