Relax, Recharge, Renew

Relax, Recharge, Renew is Destination Toronto’s signature social responsibility initiative, providing a much-deserved break to local parents or primary caregivers of children with complex special needs. Working in partnership with the tourism community (hotels, restaurants, attractions, etc.), Destination Toronto facilitates a gifted weekend package for these caregivers to experience Toronto.

The weekend package includes a limousine pick up, a two-night hotel stay, tickets to museums or other attractions, and meals at local restaurants. Participating families are identified by one of several high-quality, provincially-funded respite care centres.

The Impact

For many participants, it’s the first time in years that they’ve taken a pause from 24/7 childcare and many describe the weekend as transformative to their mental health.

Thanks to our community's support, over 30 families are scheduled to experience a weekend getaway in 2025, adding to the more than 650 families who have received respite since the program began in 2008.

“Incredibly grateful to all your sponsors for supporting this perfectly named ‘Relax, Recharge, Renew’ weekend. Raising a child with challenges cannot be done alone and this weekend creates the possibility that families will take time for themselves and surrender to the idea that their child will be ok without them, and might even thrive without them for a short time." - Toni

“I feel completely grateful to have gotten this opportunity. It is wonderful that organizations like yours and all the ones we encountered this weekend can give a single parent such as myself a little getaway from the regular hustle and bustle of raising a child with special needs. It's had a huge impact on my outlook. As much as I missed my little girl, I feel ready this week to tackle any obstacles we may endure.” – Kelly-Anne

“Thank you so much for putting together a wonderful itinerary! If our children could understand, they would say "thanks for doing something so nice for our mom and dad." It takes a village to raise a child, even more so a child who has special needs. Thank you for being a part of our bigger village. Thanks for filling our tank for the next stretch of the journey!” – Michelle

Recognition

In its years of operation, Relax, Recharge, Renew has been recognized by a variety of prestigious local and international organizations for exceptional corporate social responsibility. Awards and recognition include:

Power of A Silver Award – ASAE (U.S.-based association)
Commitment to the Community Award – IMEX (presented in Frankfurt, Germany)
CSR Award for Community Affairs – PR News (presented in Washington, D.C.)
Tourism Innovator of the Year – Tourism Industry Association of Ontario
Destination Champion – Destination Marketing Association International

If you wish to make a contribution to the program either in kind (providing hotel rooms, tickets, restaurant meals) or a monetary donation, we would love to hear from you. Please contact program manager Annie Ewing at aewing (at) destinationtoronto.com.

THANK YOU!

We could not do this without the many generous contributions from our partners. Thank you to the 2025 donor partners below:

Amsterdam Brewhouse
Arcadia Earth
Bennington Worldwide Chauffeured Transportation
Canadian Opera Company
City Cruises
City Sightseeing
Delta Toronto
Distillery Restaurants Corp.
Exhibition Place
Fairmont Royal York Hotel
Global Allure Management Inc.
Gray Line Tours
Gusto 54 Group
Hidden InSite Tours/Haunted Walks
Hilton Toronto
Hockey Hall of Fame and Museum
Holiday Inn Downtown Toronto Centre Hotel
Hyatt Regency Toronto
InterContinental Toronto Centre Hotel
Little Canada
Marriott City Centre Hotel
McMichael Canadian Art Collection
Omni King Edward Hotel
PAI
Park Hyatt Toronto
Ripley's Aquarium of Canada
Royal Ontario Museum
Sheraton Centre Toronto Hotel
Sutton Place Toronto Hotel
The Westin Harbour Castle Toronto
Yorkville Royal Sonesta Hotel