- Pin it
- SubscribeUnsubscribe
- Embed
Greenest City hasn't added a story.
Who We Are:
Greenest City is a registered charity based in Parkdale, Toronto. We facilitate programming that addresses issues at the intersection of environmental justice, urban agriculture and food security.
One of the ways we address these issues is by offering workshops, community cooking sessions and other free-of-charge educational programming for different age groups that teach food literacy.
This might mean practicing food safety and sanitation procedures, learning basic knife skills, ways to process different vegetables or discussing concepts in nutrition and how to shop for groceries confidently.
Sometimes it simply means spending time working on a meal together and enjoying each other’s company in a safe space - alleviating the social isolation that is so often a precursor to more dire mental and physical health outcomes.
Whether working with children, adolescents or adults - the kitchen is a crucial and meaningful place for us to spend time together, share knowledge and build community.
Why We Need Your Help:
Earlier this year, the kitchen and meeting area that hosts much of Greenest City’s programming suffered a catastrophic flood. The Nancy Brown Centre, located in the basement of the historic Epiphany & St. Mark’s Anglican Church had severe water damage and we lost all of the ground level cabinetry, much of the drywall, the floors, our dishwasher and refrigerator. Soon after, we discovered Black Mold and went into a weeks long remediation campaign to ensure the safety of all of our staff and community members.
We were forced to cancel some programming while other programs were relocated off-site. Events had to be postponed and in some cases delayed indefinitely as we wrestled with realities of very old pipes and the extensive damage caused by the flooding.
Just when we thought we were through the worst, one of our
contractors informed us that they would not reconnect the gas lines
to the oven. The oven is decades old, likely perforated with small
gas leaks and corroding quite significantly in some areas.
Our oven - the beating heart of our kitchen - was dead.
As you might imagine, a commercial oven suitable for our needs is not cheap. An oven with comparable features costs thousands of dollars and must be professionally installed. Between the sticker price, the installation and updating our fire-suppression system, the costs increase dramatically.
We need help from our community and allies to raise the money to purchase a new oven and complete the necessary adaptations - because an oven in this situation is not just an oven, but the anchor of our kitchen and our path to impacting more of our community.
How will we put your contributions to use?
Greenest City will be purchasing a new commercial grade oven, having it professionally and safely installed and adjusting the legally required fire suppression system.
What does this mean though?
- We can re-launch children and adult cooking programs.
- We can begin our Newcomer Guest Chef dinner series - featuring local chefs and cooks.
- We can have our facilities inspected and approved by Public Health - giving us the ability increase potential revenue streams & incubate local food related businesses.
- We can further decrease food waste by increasing active programming.
- We can host our own special events as well as act as a venue for other community groups.
The Long Term Plan:
Greenest City is currently in the early stages of developing 87 Milky Way Lane in partnership with the Parkdale Neighbourhood Land Trust and a number of other vibrant organizations and agencies in the Parkdale neighbourhood. With Funding from the Ontario Trillium Fund among others, the Milky Way Food Hub will exponentially increase the reach, participation and impact of food literacy & food security programs in Parkdale and beyond.
Building capacity here and now helps immediately, but it also move us closer to our long term goals of a truly innovative and precedent setting project addressing food insecurity in an equitable community context. This project will impact Parkdale for years to come.
We consider our assets community assets. We want to put our community assets to work creating positive impact in our neighbourhoods while increasing the resiliency and health of our communities.
Highlights
See all activity11Activity
Delete media item?
Delete this item from the media gallery? It will also be deleted from any related story update.
Set as ?
The campaign video will appear in social media and email.
The campaign cover picture will appear in social media and email.
The will appear at the top of your campaign page and in social media and email.
Reset ?
It will be removed from the top of your campaign and won't be used as default in social media and email. The will remain in the media gallery.
Embed
Share a link
Delete update
Delete this story update?
Any pictures or videos will remain in the campaign's media gallery.
Report campaign
Report submitted
Thank you. We take reports like yours very seriously. Our goal is to keep the community safe.
Please know that we may contact you for more information, but that we won't notify you personally of our decision. If the campaign remains available within a few days, it's likely that we determined it not to be in violation of our policies.
Thank you. We've already received your previous report. If the campaign remains available within a few days, it's likely that we determined it not to be in violation of our policies.
Tell us about the problem. Please fill in both fields below.
Record a video
Upload a video
Nothing grabs attention for your cause like a personal video. Take a minute or two to record one now. Record a short video message of support. Or upload one from your device. You can preview or redo your video before you post it.
Nothing grabs attention for your cause like a personal video. Upload a short video message of support. Upload a short video message of support. Or record one right now.
- Most effective video length: about a minute.
- Maximum length: 5 min.
- You can preview or redo your video before you post it.
Heads up! The existing video will be replaced.
Email your friends
Join our team
Tell people why our cause matters to you. Your personal message will encourage others to help. Easy, effective, optional.
Say it in video
Short personal videos by supporters like you are incredibly powerful. Record one right now and you'll help us raise more money. Easy, optional, effective.
Add a personal goal
Set a personal fundraising goal. You'll encourage more contributions if you do. And rest easy. There's no obligation to achieve your goal or bad consequences if you don't. Easy, optional, effective.
We have a video!
Video thumbnail
We'd love to show you our campaign video. Want to take a look?
, you're already on the team.