Learn Why Canada’s Oshawa Is a Global JustServe City

A community-wide commitment to service has earned Oshawa, Ontario, Canada, the designation of a global JustServe city.

On Friday, August 22, 2025, representatives from the online community volunteer platform visited Oshawa to thank Mayor Dan Carter for his leadership and vision.

Downloadable SOTs and B-roll

“I can’t thank you enough,” Mayor Carter said. “We’re so proud. [This designation] really represents who we are and what we believe. We are very much customer-centric, and JustServe reminds us each and every day to serve.”

JustServe’s global manager, Heath Bradley, praised the mayor’s commitment.

“When we were looking at our JustServe cities [and asking] who’s doing an outstanding job at not just doing service but talking about the principle of what it means and how important it is, your name came to the top of the list,” Bradley told the mayor.

Mayor Carter said he believes the city’s success comes from its people.

“We’re lucky,” the mayor said, “because we are a community that really has a social conscience. And I think that what’s happened is people are seeing where they can serve. It’s about volunteerism, it’s about fellowship. It’s about inspiration. It’s about hope. It’s about bringing communities together.”

He shared that his own past challenges fuel his passion to serve. As a recovering alcoholic and drug addict, his personal journey from homelessness to mayor gives him a unique perspective.

“I lived on the streets, and 34 years later, I’m a mayor of a city. Who could have ever imagined that?” he said. “I'm so blessed. I’m a living example of people that have been compassionate and kind for no other reason, except for they saw someone that was broken and lost and was living in darkness.”

JustServe’s Millionth Volunteer

In addition to Oshawa being a global JustServe city, the millionth JustServe user is from the city. His name is Gregory Waclawek and he works for A Greener Future, an environmental nonprofit that cleans up litter along the shores of Lake Ontario.

On Thursday, August 21, Waclawek and other JustServe volunteers spent the afternoon picking up trash on Frenchman’s Bay.

“[JustServe is] a great way to reach out specifically to people in different communities,” Waclawek said. “We’re trying to reach out to people of varying demographics. JustServe makes it easy to show where things are happening and have people know about them.”

Community-wide Service

At a local congregation of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (JustServe’s sponsor), children assembled boxes for other children in the hospital.

“The boxes have activities for the kids to do,” said Lisa Whitsitt, a local Church leader. “It helps fill their time while they’re in the hospital. I think it’s wonderful to see the children serving other children, and it warms my heart that they’re excited about it.”

Whitsitt loves JustServe because it brings people together. “It’s when you volunteer with an organization and with other people that you are able to form friendships and be able to support that organization in their work,” she said. “It definitely brings communities together because you’re doing something that is helpful, whether it’s uplifting another person or a group of people.”

Elder Levi Miller, a missionary of the Church of Jesus Christ who was in Oshawa for the service project at Frenchman’s Bay, also spoke of the joy of service. “Coming from Alberta, being Canadian myself, I’m so happy to serve the people of Ontario and truly show them the love of God and the love that He has for everyone by serving and just even cleaning up a beach,” he said.

Laying the Groundwork for Service

Alex Walcer, president of the Church’s stake in Oshawa, believes that tools like JustServe are more than just a program.

“I think that the Lord establishes programs to teach us how to think and see things,” he said. “But I don't think at the end of the day it's the program that saves souls. I think it’s where our hearts are centred.”

President Walcer concluded that extending JustServe to more locales around the world “lays the groundwork for how to think, how to serve, how to act in ways that are going to be helpful to those who have the greatest needs.”

JustServe launched in 2012 and is now in 17 countries and accessible in five languages. 

Visit JustServe.org to learn more about service opportunities in your community.

Additional Resources

• JustServe.org
• JustServe Projects in Your Area
• How JustServe Is Helping Create Community-Connected High Schools