A Year to Remember: Celebrating the Volunteers & All Our Wonderful Successes of 2024!
Photo of the Friends of Allan Gardens Volunteers at the 2025 Volunteer Appreciation Party on Jan 26th, 2025. So many smiles!
As the Executive Director of Friends of Allan Gardens, it is my absolute pleasure to extend a heartfelt THANK YOU to our incredible volunteers. You are the reason for all the remarkable achievements we’ve accomplished together in 2024! Let’s take a moment to reflect on the Top Six Reasons why 2024 was a FANTASTIC year for Friends of Allan Gardens:
1. Growing with the City: Strategic Plan Adopted by City Council
This past fall, Toronto City Council officially adopted our Strategic Plan for Allan Gardens, Growing with the City, bringing our ambitious vision for the park closer to reality. This plan paves the way for an exciting future, ensuring that Allan Gardens remains a thriving green space for generations to come. Special shout-out to Ward 13 Councillor Chris Moise, and his staff team who made this happen!
2. Uplifting Community through Park Beautification Projects
With help from our partners at the City of Toronto Parks Forestry and Recreation, Miziwe Biik, Dixon Hall, and Carrot Common, we successfully installed stunning artistic bike racks designed by talented artists Raylah Moonias and entrepreneur Phil Sarazen. But this initiative was more than just a beautification project—it was a skills development initiative that helped lift two individuals living in the park out of homelessness and into permanent housing. Stay tuned, we're working on a short video sharing the story of this wonderful community project, including a memorial to Phil Sarazen who sadly passed away before the project was completed. RIP dear Phil.
3. Opening of the New Teaching Garden
With support of the City of Toronto, and the Garden Club of Toronto, we proudly opened our brand-new Teaching Garden, and it has been an absolute game-changer for our volunteer program. Since its launch, we’ve harvested hundreds of bushels of fresh produce, which we’ve donated to local food banks.
A huge shoutout to our Edible Garden Coordinator and Horticulturist in Residence, Amanda Johnson!
4. Plant Sales Fundraising WIN!
Our annual plant sales have been a major fundraising success which support our grassroots community programs! Thanks to the dedication of Charles Leonard and his green thumb, we’ve raised over $17,000 in plant sales alone. These funds help keep our volunteer programs going, and our public programs accessible to everyone.
If you’ve volunteered with Charles, give yourself a round of applause—you helped make this happen!
5. A Historic First: The Launch of Our Farmers’ Market
2024 marked the launch of our very first Farmers’ Market—a milestone that wouldn’t have been possible without Li Xiao, Hélène St. Jacques, and Dana Alexandrescu. What once felt like a distant dream became a vibrant reality thanks to their hard work and dedication!
This market has been a game-changer for our community, boosting participation in FOAG programs from 10,000 in 2023 to 18,000 in 2024—an impressive 80% increase in just one year! That’s the power of bringing people together in a beautiful space around fresh, local food.
6. Allan Gardens: A Hub of Culture and Celebration
In 2024, we helped Allan Gardens solidify its place as a hotbed of culture and cultural exchange—an important milestone as Toronto continues to lose cultural spaces at an alarming rate. This year, we hosted:
12 live music performances
4 art shows
2 incredible New Year’s celebrations
Who remembers the Lunar New Year celebration where over 100 families packed the space to witness giant lion puppets dancing? Or the Persian New Year celebration, where people from all over the world joined hands, singing and dancing to traditional Iranian folk songs? These moments reminded us all why Allan Gardens occupies such a special spot in all of our hearts.
Celebrating the Year of the Dragon, a Family Drop in Program in Allan Gardens in Feb, 2024.
Looking Ahead: A Bright Future
With everything we’ve accomplished in 2024, we can confidently say this year was nothing short of AMAZING! These successes belong to each and every one of you—our dedicated volunteers. You are the heart of this organization, and your efforts make Allan Gardens the vibrant and welcoming space it is today.
So, once again, THANK YOU from the bottom of our hearts. The future of this place is bright, and we can't wait to see what we’ll achieve together next!
Go Team Friends of Allan Gardens!
Matt Canaran
Friends of Allan Gardens Executive Director