Andy Kim Christmas Special Raises $190K For Charity

By FYI Staff

The fundraising figures are in for last month's Andy Kim Christmas Special, and they're impressive, thanks to a $100K donation from the Slaight Family Foundation. Overall, the holiday charity event raised over $190,000 for the three recipient charities, Crew Nation, CAMH Gifts of Light, and Food Banks Canada. Co-presenter Air Miles gave viewers the chance to donate Miles towards rewards that directly benefited Food Banks Canada and that raised over $40,000 of the total. 

Long-established as one of Toronto's most popular seasonal shows, the Andy Kim Christmas Special was forced to go the virtual route last month. The 16th annual edition was nationally aired on December 19 and December 24 on Citytv and Citytv.com.

Performers who donated their time and cachet included Andy Kim, Barenaked Ladies, Broken Social Scene, Buffy Sainte-Marie, City and Colour, Glass Tiger & Roch Voisine, Jully Black, Kardinal Offishall, Ron Sexsmith, Sam Roberts, Sarah McLachlan, Serena Ryder, and William Prince.

In a press release, Kim stated “Work is just work unless there is The Purpose. I’m lucky and blessed to have been alongside the inspired who understood helping those in need was paramount during the 2020 Christmas and Holiday Season. Every artist I asked to donate their time and perform a song for our Christmas Special said yes because of the idea of helping others. Whether we do this again or not, I’m thankful to everyone for their time and commitment, and to everyone watching the show at home."

The two-hour music special, broadcast from Toronto’s El Mocambo on December 19, reached over 2.5 million viewers and re-aired on Christmas Eve with over 2.3 million Canadians tuning in.

The special was hosted by Sportsnet host and Juno-nominated musician, Tara Slone as well as Cityline host Tracy Moore.