The Leaflet eNewsletter – June 2021
Message from the Chair at the 2021 Annual General Meeting
Dear Friend,
The last year has been challenging for everyone. The Friends of Allan Gardens have faced the closing of the greenhouses for most of the year which has meant that we had to curtail much of our volunteer programming and reduce our staffing. We do expect that we will reopen later this year and, in the meantime, we have moved forward.
The big news of this year is that we have obtained our charitable tax status. I would like to thank the board members and others who made this happen. It is a massive step forward for our organization and this long-awaited approval will allow us to develop a more comprehensive fundraising campaign in partnership with The Veritas Foundation.
We have also been encouraged that the City of Toronto Parks, Forestry, and Recreation has started to make significant investments in Allan Gardens. The new public washrooms and gardens are proposed to be completed later this year, and the large-scale conservation of the Palm House is to be tendered shortly. These are major moves afoot that demonstrate that rejuvenation of Allan Gardens is underway.
The Friends have also commenced the development of a comprehensive landscape plan, called Growing with the City. This is the final study required, after the feasibility study and the architectural visualization study, to move forward with the development of the ‘link building’ as recommended in the Refresh document. The Friends have engaged the Planning Partnership and others to commence the necessary background studies, prior to community engagement.
During the year, we have strengthened our connections to the community. We have worked with the Garden Club of Toronto in design proposals for a teaching garden connected with the Children’s Conservatory and commenced a very significant friendship with Ryerson University and their Centre for Social Innovation. Working with St Luke’s United Church and Ryerson University, we are hoping to introduce an Arts program into the Gardens. Other programs will involve developing a Wellness Walk – working with Ryerson students to produce a video highlighting the social service agencies around the Gardens.
The year has presented many challenges in addition to COVID-19 closures. The issues of homelessness, Black Lives Matter, and Indigenous reconciliation have all been brought to the forefront. Our team is engaged in diversity training that will help us to formally bring these issues into our work in a more structured way. As we look into next year, we are hopeful that these very global issues will be addressed peacefully and with respect in our city and especially our park.
Lastly, we thank our volunteer team for sticking with us through the challenges of the pandemic. Despite the conservatory closure and cancellation of our regular activities, FOAG volunteers donated close to 550 hours last year; growing food for community partners, planting close to 2,000 daffodil bulbs in the park, and creating online horticultural programming.
We look forward to reopening when it is safe to in accordance with Health Canada so that we can begin anew to demonstrate the potential of Allan Gardens to be a magic place within the city for the enjoyment of all.
Sincerely,
Michael McClelland, Founder and Chair of Board
To read on and view the full June 2021 issue of The Leaflet, visit: https://mailchi.mp/friendsofallangardens/the-leaflet-june-2021
