Karolina Walczak
A&E Reporter

The third annual Tea for Teens event and fundraiser aims at raising $10,000 to provide gifts to teenagers just in time for the holidays.
Organized by the Junior League of Toronto, Tea for Teens was held at Lakeshore’s Assembly Hall Nov. 28, while donations are still being accepted.
President of the Junior League of Toronto Elisa McFarlane said the Women’s Habitat Shelter inspired the fundraiser.
“We discovered in the past when we were putting together holiday hampers for them there were lots of gifts for the young children but very little for the teenagers. So they are kind of the forgotten group and we thought this was a great way to honour them.”
Proceeds will go to shelters in the west end.  Tea for Teens chair Kathy Jacques said this event is important for the teens in the local shelters.
“We all thought that there were a lot of teens, in these shelters in particular, that weren’t looked after during the holidays and that there was a lot of gifts going to the young children,” Jacques said. “We hope we are filling that gap a little more.”
Event attendees were asked to bring an unwrapped gift, a gift certificate, or make a donation for a gift.  More money was collected through selling raffle tickets and a variety of small shops set up at the Assembly Hall featuring anything from jewelry to personalized pajamas.
“I think the most fun thing here is the unique boutique,” McFarlane said. “You won’t find these things at any other shop so the recipient will be delighted by the fact that they’ve got the only one of that.”
After all the shopping was done  customers could sit down and have a snack and a cup of tea.  The event also featured musicians from the Kingsway Conservatory of Music.
Kingsway executive Sharon Burlacoff said the event was a great opportunity for some of her students to show off their musical talents and it’s also one she is proud to support.
“The Junior League does a lot of work with women and children and being in the music business we deal a lot with children,” Burlacoff said. “It’s a great cause for us to come out to support something that has to do with the well being of children.”
McFarlane said she hopes to surpass last year’s revenues by the Dec. 21 close. “It looks like, by preliminary count, that the total value of gifts, gift certificates and cash will total more than $11,000.”