A gift in their name
Give a gift in someone's name
To donate in someone's name, you make the gift yourself, add their name to it, and the charity lets them know. At Engage and Change, $50 helps build a winter survival kit for someone sleeping outside in the GTA, and a free eCard from CanadaHelps tells the person you are honouring that the gift was made in their name12.
Each kit holds 30+ new items, including a sleeping bag and a backpack, and goes out through one of more than 200 front-line agencies across the GTA1.
How it works
What you do, step by step.
Donations to Engage and Change go through CanadaHelps, which takes the payment, sends the eCard and issues the tax receipt12.
- Tap "Give $50 in their name." Our page on CanadaHelps opens in a new tab.
- Choose $50 or another amount, and pick the Project Winter Survival fund.
- Under "Give in honour or send an ecard," tap "Add a Dedication."
- Choose "In Honour Of..." or "In Memory Of..." and type their name.
- To let them know, choose "Send an eCard," then add their name, their email, your message and a card design.
- Tap "Add your Dedication," then "Add to Giving Basket," and check out. The eCard goes out when the donation is complete2.
CanadaHelps sends eCards only and does not mail paper cards2. If you want something to hand over at dinner, write the same message inside a card of your own and put it beside their plate.
Because the eCard sends when you finish, the day you give is the day it arrives. For Christmas morning, give on Christmas morning, or give today and tell them yourself over the holidays.
What the gift does
A kit for someone sleeping outside this winter.
$50 helps build one Project Winter Survival kit. Each one starts with a sleeping bag, a winter hat, a scarf, gloves, socks and hand warmers, then adds a towel, soap, a toothbrush, water, a snack and the rest of 30+ new items, all packed into a sport bag or knapsack1. We buy at wholesale, so the money goes further than it would at a store1.
Company teams pack the kits in a single day each January, and more than 200 front-line agencies across the GTA, including shelters and outreach programs, hand them to the people they already work with1. The next pack is January 16, 2027. Since 1999, nearly 95,000 kits have gone out1.
Kits carry no names. The person who gets one will not know who gave it, or in whose name.
Before you give it
Who this gift suits.
It suits the person who has asked for nothing, and the person who already cares about people sleeping outside: the parent who tells you every December to keep your money, or the friend who runs a sock drive at work every winter.
Some people say a donation in their name feels like being preached to. If that is the person on your list, get them the present they asked for, and give to us in your own name if you want to.
In memory
Giving in memory of someone.
The steps are the same. Choose "In Memory Of..." on the form, type the name of the person who died, and send the eCard to someone in their family if you would like them to know2.
If you give anonymously, CanadaHelps still passes the name you entered on to us with the gift2.
If the family asked for donations in lieu of flowers and named another charity, please give there.
Your own occasion
Asking for donations instead of gifts.
For your own birthday, or a holiday party where nobody needs another candle, you can start a fundraiser for Project Winter Survival on CanadaHelps and send the link to family and friends in place of a wish list1. Each person who gives gets their own tax receipt from CanadaHelps, in their own name13.
Questions people ask
The short answers.
How do I donate in someone's name?
Is a donation a good gift for someone who has everything?
For someone who has asked for no gifts, or who already cares about the cause, yes. Here, $50 helps build a winter survival kit with a sleeping bag and a backpack for someone sleeping outside in the GTA1. If they would rather have a present, get them the present.
Who gets the tax receipt when I donate in someone's name?
Can I choose the day the eCard arrives?
The eCard goes out when your donation is complete2, so give on the day you want it to arrive.
Can I donate in memory of someone?
Yes. Choose "In Memory Of..." on the CanadaHelps form and type their name. The eCard has its own recipient name and email, so you can send it to someone in their family if you would like them to know2.
Will the kit have their name on it?
No. Kits carry no names, so the person who receives one will not know who gave it. CanadaHelps passes the name you entered on to us with your gift2.
Sources
- Engage and Change. Project Winter Survival kit list and program figures, donation and fundraising details, engageandchange.org (project-winter-survival, donate, get-involved), as of October 2026; totals (nearly 95,000 kits since 1999) as confirmed by the board, October 11, 2026. Donate.
- CanadaHelps, donor help: "How do I make a donation in memory or in honour of someone?" and "How do I send an e-card with my donation?" help.canadahelps.org.
- Canada Revenue Agency, Sample official donation receipts (required elements, including the name and address of the donor). Date modified December 1, 2021. canada.ca Sample official donation receipts.
Sources checked October 11, 2026.