The Weston Lions Club is respectfully seeking $100,000 as it works to wind down its 76 year stewardship of Weston Lions Arena following the termination of its lease by the City of Toronto. The 84 year old service club is at serious risk of bankruptcy as a result of the City's decision to end its stewardship and to this date, the Weston Lions Club has not received support from the City as they work to wind down operations by March 31, 2026.

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The Weston Lions Club built and has operated Weston Lions Arena as a community service project since 1949. The City of Toronto has served the Lions Club with notice of termination of our long-term lease, hoping to enter into a new lease with the MLSE Foundation, removing the ice to operate a multi-sport Launchpad. It is our understanding that no new lease has been achieved to date. However, Weston Lions Arena's final day of operation will be March 31, 2026.

The Weston Lions are an 84 year old volunteer service club dedicated to supporting the community. We raised funds for and constructed Weston Lions Arena for Weston Minor and other hockey leagues. In 1970, the club donated the rink, Weston Lions pool and the recreational lands in Weston Lions Park to the Borough of York (now City of Toronto), leasing back and successfully operating the arena for another 55 years. Our volunteer run snack bar and World Famous Fries have raised thousands of dollars to support the community over the years. In 2025 alone, we donated over $40,000 to Weston Area Emergency Support (WAES), our local food bank.

While Toronto's Hunger Crisis has made WAES a focus of Weston Lions Club donations over the past few years, the Club has also supported:

Our Lions Club members also organize the Toronto Lions/CNE Baseball Tournament every summer, volunteering with other Lions clubs to run the snack bar there to feed players and their families, with all proceeds directed to the tournament and team prizes.

Weston Lions Arena has been our Lions Club home and fundraising base for decades. The Club has successfully operated our board-run arena without tax payer funding received by other City board-run rinks. The City's decision to terminate our Weston Lions Arena lease was neither contemplated nor planned for by our Club and as a result, we face an extraordinary financial challenge in the winding down of the project.

At the November, 2025 City Council meeting, Councillor Stephen Holyday questioned city staff on the notice/timing of the arena termination and closure, and its effect on the Lions Club and arena staff. He tabled a Motion that was immediately passed by Council, stating that, "City Council request Executive Director, Corporate Real Estate Management, to give consideration to the orderly and fair wind down and transition as a result of the City's lease termination, with emphasis on the stability and long term viability of the Weston Lions Club, and on extraordinary or unplanned costs to the organization; and to report to City Council to seek any additional authorities required."

The Lions Club has written to the Executive Director of the City's Corporate Real Estate Management and the office of Mayor Olivia Chow to seek assistance with our extraordinary and unplanned wind down costs, without success.

The City's decision to terminate the lease of Weston Lions Arena and ignore the resulting consequences to the Lions Club may well result in the bankruptcy of our organization, ending over 80 years of service to the Weston community and beyond.

We are respectfully seeking $200,000 to assist the Lions Club in meeting our legal and moral obligations in the wind down of our arena project. We hope that you will consider a donation to allow our Club to end our 76 year stewardship of Weston Lions Arena with dignity. Any excess funds received in this campaign will be donated to the Weston Area Emergency Support (WAES), the Weston food bank.

Thank you for your support.