A win for the kids

Allan Carswell won’t get a hospital wing or library named after him for his most recent act of philanthropy. Instead, he will get something better: the satisfaction of knowing he might be helping to prevent violence in Toronto in a year that is fast shaping up to be another “year of the gun.”

Carswell, a physics professor emeritus at York University, has donated $606,000 to a program to create more summer jobs for youth in neighbourhoods plagued by gun violence. That will double the money the federal government will contribute to add 105 jobs in recreation programs, day camps and community agencies in troubled communities.

It’s a brilliant win-win for kids in crisis-prone areas. The more young people who are hired, the more room there is for kids to take part in recreational programs that could put them on the right path to avoid gang activities in the first place.

Carswell’s donation could not come at a better time. Already this year there have been 22 deaths attributed to gun violence in Toronto, the total number for the entire year of 2013.

He is to be thanked and congratulated for supporting a program that could create a better future not just for kids, but for the entire city.