From the time he was very young, Sid Stevens was passionate about helping others in Montreal. In the early 1950s, he co-founded Sun Youth, which today provides a network of community services to ensure individuals and families have their basic needs met. He also started Quebec’s first food bank and introduced the Crime Stoppers program to Montreal.
Stevens died on Aug. 17. He was 85.
“For more than seven decades, he devoted his life to helping the most vulnerable, building what would become one of the most important and respected community organizations in Quebec, Sun Youth,” Quebec Premier François Legault said in a statement to The CJN. “This founding gesture was only the beginning of a life dedicated to generosity and mutual aid.”
Stevens was born Sid Stavitsky in 1940 in Montreal’s Plateau-Mont Royal. “He always wanted to be a hockey announcer that’s why he made his name shorter – ‘Stevens,’ his brother Ted Stavitsky told The CJN.
His father Sam arrived in Montreal from Poland in 1929 and became a tailor. His mother, Doris, was born in Montreal to Polish immigrant parents. “All my mom’s family lived in the area, and all my dad’s family were nearby,” Stavitsky said.
“Sid was very protective of me when we were growing up. When I was at school, he made sure that nothing happened to me. My brother would come home at noon for lunch and often the school janitor would call him and say, ‘we need you to help take people across the street’ and Sid would return to school to help.”
Stevens also helped at the school with community initiatives. “There were activities at the school and one of them was bike safety. The school invited politicians and hockey players from the Montreal Canadiens to come, and the police would do bike safety tests. Sid would help.”
When he was 13, Stevens decided to raise money to buy sports equipment for neighbourhood children. Along with his friend Earl De La Perralle they created a hand-written newspaper, The Clark Street Sun.
“He came up with the idea of a newspaper so everyone would know what was happening,” Stavitsky said. “Our cousin showed them how to set it up. The Clark Street Sun started as a little paper about all the boys and girls in the area and their activities and sports. If someone had a bar mitzvah, they’d put it in the paper. If someone had tonsillitis, they put it in the paper. He would go around the neighbourhood and rent out a copy of it for two cents and then they would pass it on to another person. Then somehow The Montreal Star found out and decided to do a story about them.”
The story led to a new typewriter and a job for Stevens with National Typewriter company in Montreal.
He used the funds the paper raised to purchase sports equipment for neighbourhood youth. This evolved into Sun Youth.
Today, Sun Youth supports approximately 30,000 Montrealers with food, clothing, financial aid, youth programs and emergency services including a kosher food program. Its budget grew from $500 in the 1950s to more than $8 million today.
In 1978, Stevens was elected to Montreal’s city council under mayor Jean Drapeau. “He spent one term in politics,” Stavitsky said. “He always had a vision that somehow, he’d be going into social work. He came back to this all the time. He had the idea for Sun Youth, but I don’t know if he ever thought it would be this big.”
“Coming from Montreal’s Jewish community, he proudly carried the values of solidarity and mutual aid and put them at the service of Quebec society,” Legault said. “He was a model of generosity and community engagement.”
Stevens presided over the community Basketball Federation, establishing leagues for young people across the city, and collaborated with the Montreal police installing first aid facilities at Mont-Royal Park’s Beaver Lake. He introduced the Crime Stoppers program to Montreal and in 1981 created the province’s first food bank through Sun Youth. He helped develop a home delivery service for Montrealers with reduced mobility and he also spearheaded relief efforts for flood victims in the Saguenay in 1996 and for those affected by the 1998 Montreal ice storm.
He worked with the Montreal Police Service (SVPM), to create youth divisions in two police stations and to increase safety in the city’s parks, community centres and arenas.
In a moving tribute, two officers from the SVPM’s ceremonial guard and two mounted officers paid tribute to Stevens at his funeral, approaching his coffin and saluting as the service began.
Police chief Fady Dagher told The CJN, “Mr. Stevens’ dedication to the most vulnerable and his unwavering commitment to the Montreal community have left a lasting mark on our city. His legacy of compassion, solidarity and hope will continue to inspire future generations.”
In 2022, Stevens received the Ordre National du Quebec, the province’s highest distinction that recognizes exceptional individuals’ contribution to Quebec.
“It is an honour for me as a Montrealer of Jewish origin and a second-generation immigrant to receive the Order,” Stevens said when he received the award. “I will wear this medal on behalf of the whole Sun Youth family and in memory of my friend, Earl De La Perralle, without whom I would not have been able to fulfill my dream of making a difference in the lives of Montrealers.”
Stevens is survived by his brother Ted Stavitsky, and many cousins. He is predeceased by his partner Freda Kopyto who volunteered at Sun Youth for more than 20 years.
