Where do I start?

At the end of December 2026, MJKO will close our permanent full-time facility in South Parkdale.

But this is not the end of MJKO.

In 2027, we are going back to our roots: bringing MJKO directly into schools, community organizations and the places where young people already are, while maintaining a weekly home in Parkdale.

After 18 years, we have learned something important: some of our greatest impact was never created within the four walls of our Champion Centre, hitting the heavy bag.

It was created in communities — providing mentorship, fitness and consistency, showing up week after week, and building relationships with young people over years rather than weeks.

And when I think about why we are making this change, I think about the twins, Mychalea and Mychealynn.

Mychalea and Mychealynn were in Grade 4 when we met them through their schools, Downtown Music Academy and Ryerson Public School. MJKO attended their school weekly alongside Toronto Police 14 Division School Watch officers during lunch, with funding from the Ontario Trillium Foundation.

There were no commuting issues for families because we came to them — with bags of gloves, snacks and excitement about making a difference.

And my team could focus entirely on the 30 kids in front of us.

We kept coming back, week after week and year after year, and those kids became part of the MJKO family.

We watched Mychalea and Mychealynn grow from Grade 4 through Grade 8. We went to their school plays and watched them sing their hearts out in Annie. When their mom — their sole caregiver — passed away when they were only 12 years old, we provided rides, support and love.

I helped with period talks and education. Eventually, we were helping them with driving school. And then, somehow, we were standing at the back of the stadium watching them graduate.

These beautiful girls had to overcome something many of us cannot comprehend. They moved multiple times, gave up their dog, left friends behind and changed schools.

But we made sure they didn’t have to give up MJKO.

That first summer after their mom died, I made a deal with their aunt who became their caregiver: if she drove them one way from Vaughan to our summer camp in Parkdale, I would drive them home.

We stuck to that deal.

Over the years, the twins completed CPR and First Aid training, Level 1 boxing coaching certification and Fundamental Movement Skills training. They worked for us during COVID and volunteered whenever they could.

Both went on to receive full-ride scholarships and have maintained nearly perfect grade point averages. This past year, they both landed co-op placements with RBC — and crushed them.
During my time in and out of the hospital, they still found time to visit, message and call.

And this summer, Mychalea, as Project Manager, successfully ran an Elm Coding Class for our MJKO Champs.

 

That is MJKO.

The young person who starts as a participant and grows into a volunteer, employee, mentor, donor, leader — and sometimes even a board member.

That is the legacy we created outside the walls of the Champion Centre.

And the twins are just one example.

Beginning in 2027, MJKO will focus primarily on delivering programs through host sites and community partners rather than operating a permanent full-time facility.

We will also maintain something very important to us: a weekly home in Parkdale.

MJKO plans to continue at 186 Cowan Avenue for a short block on Saturday mornings. The program will look different. There will be no permanent boxing ring and likely no heavy bags, but we can continue providing consistent weekly programming using portable equipment, our existing curriculum and, most importantly, the relationships we have already built in the neighbourhood.

We are not leaving Parkdale.

We are changing the way we serve Parkdale — while creating the capacity to bring MJKO into more communities again.

And we are going to do it gradually.

We have moved MJKO three times within Parkdale over the last 11 years. We survived the pandemic, funding challenges and more — and all of that was before my health collapsed.

The last three years have brought two left knee surgeries, one spine surgery, multiple basal cell skin cancer removals and surgery, iron so low I couldn’t breathe and, through it all, perimenopause that left my estrogen lower than a man’s.

My health is not the reason we are closing the facility.

But it does affect how we rebuild.

I am still actively recovering and learning to walk again. I cannot return to the pace or workload I carried before, and I don't want MJKO's next chapter to depend on me doing that.

So we aren't going to try to recreate everything overnight.

We are going to build sustainably — one program, one partner and one community relationship at a time.

We have 18 years of experience behind us.

We know what works.

Now we have the opportunity to build around it.

Our boxing ring will remain an MJKO asset, but instead of sitting in storage after the full-time facility closes, it will head to Jamaica to support the Jamaican Boxing Board of Control and its Gloves Over Guns community initiative.

The program works with young people from priority neighbourhoods, using boxing as a tool to steer youth away from violence and create positive social change.

Our relationship with this work isn't new. MJKO has supported it before, we have already donated a boxing ring, and in 2020, Miranda, Jimmy and Sophia travelled to Jamaica to help open a gym in Montego Bay.

Now, the Jamaican Boxing Board of Control is launching its first in-school programming.

Sound familiar?

It closely mirrors the model MJKO is returning to here in Toronto.

The building may be closing, but the ring, the knowledge and the relationships MJKO has built will continue creating impact.

We have also made a large equipment donation to Weston Boxing, run by Mohammed Syfweheliye.

We met Mohammed and his four young children about eight years ago, shortly after they lost their mother. We fell in love with the family.

Years later, hearing that MJKO helped inspire Mohammed to open his own boxing club and create social change in the Weston Road community means more than I can put into words.

Even better, his kids still have their MJKO boxing gloves and fond memories of their time with us — and now they want to give back in their own communities.

We are also making several other equipment donations to local community organizations, schools and aftercare programs.

Because if MJKO's equipment can keep helping kids, it shouldn't be sitting in storage.

Some people may look at closing our permanent facility and see something sad.

Some may even see failure.

And sure, in 18 years, we never created an Olympic champion.

But do you know what we did help create?

Doctors. Electricians. Police officers. Members of the Canadian Armed Forces. IT specialists. Teachers. Bankers. Moms. Dads.

And, most importantly, good community members.

Our goal was never simply to create boxing champions.

Our goal has always been to create Community Champions.

And after 18 years, I can look back and say with absolute certainty:

We are doing exactly that.

MJKO is leaving the building. We are not leaving the community.

Stay tuned. There is much more to come.

Lots of love,

Miranda and Family

OUR MISSION

MJKO is a youth charity with our center of operations in South Parkdale, Toronto.  We use leadership training to promote positive, healthy lifestyle choices for children and youth. With certified coaches, MJKO builds Community Champions by focusing on the needs of the whole person through two streams: non-contact (recreational), and contact boxing (competitive) which includes physical training (skipping, shadow boxing, defensive moves) and mental skills training (visualization and meditation). Our programs allow students to develop an appreciation for physical fitness, inclusive communities, mindfulness, healthy eating, and volunteerism.

  To learn more about volunteer opportunities with Mentoring Juniors Kids Organization (MJKO) or to donate please visit http://www.mjko.ca