Newsletter: August 2024
September 4, 2024 –
A Message from our Summer Students
We can’t believe how quickly our time with our summer students flew by! Nell and Sophia brought great value to our work, most notably by assisting with our digital transformation and campaigns. A huge thank you from the whole team at Small Change Fund for their hard work and dedication!
Before signing off on their last day, Nell and Sophia shared some reflections on their work this summer:
Small Change Fund opens opportunities for everyone it touches. In the same way they empower organizations to grow, they have strengthened the skills and passions that guide me as I explore my own change making potential. Working alongside this diverse and driven team, I’ve become equipped with crucial knowledge in campaigning, advocacy and strategic communications. I hope to apply these skills to my work enhancing food security networks in Toronto and my aspiring career in environmental policy.
– Nell Sykes
Spending the summer at Small Change Fund has been a blast! I have been able to advance my passion for public transit by conducting an Edmonton-based transit study, writing grants and painting a transit-themed mural with the local community. Moreover, as an environmental engineering student I was able to do work directly connected to my career goals by analyzing water quality samples and writing reports on how improper waste disposal habits affect groundwater. I could not think of a more meaningful way to spend my summer.
– Sophia Young
Celebrating the Greenbelt
Do you remember how you felt one year ago when we won the fight against the Ontario government’s Greenbelt land grab? Well, we felt like dancing! So, we’re hosting a barn dance in Hillsburgh, ON to celebrate our victory and to launch the next phase of Greenbelt protection.
Join us on September 29th from 12-5pm for live music, barn dancing, art, nature, family activities and local refreshments to raise funds for the Greenbelt. Tickets are going quickly so don’t delay! If you’re unable to attend but still want to support our Greenbelt efforts, you can make a donation here.
Summer Fun
Summer is a great time to host events and raise money for critical causes! Check out some highlights below.
Canadian singer-songwriter and environmental activist Sarah Harmer performed to a sold-out audience of roughly 1,200 at the Royal Botanical Gardens. Sarah is a longtime advocate for the protection of Mount Nemo in Burlington, ON and generously offered to match up to $20,000 in donations from supporters of Mount Nemo. During the event, Sarah read a letter from Mayor Meed Ward thanking Protecting Escarpment Rural Land (PERL) and our partners at CORE Burlington for their work to protect the Mount Nemo Plateau.
Our partners from Save Georgian Bay hosted an Enchanted Evening in support of protecting the bay that was well-received by all. “Thank you from the bottom of my heart – [I loved] seeing the passion of so many for the protection of our Georgian Bay,” wrote one attendee. Check out this investigative report by The Narwhal to learn more about the pumped storage project that threatens the bay and its local ecosystem.
Image by Reece Rehm
Last month, our partners at The Green Roof Infrastructure Network Association organized a green roof tour at OfisWerks in Vancouver, BC. This new building has an intensive green roof system, as well as a green facade. To support efforts to map Vancouver’s green roofs and their retrofit potential, please visit the project crowdfunding page.
Welcome, Maseeda!
We are delighted to welcome Maseeda Majeed as our Training Program Manager. Maseeda will support the coordination, design and production of Small Change Fund’s evolving partner Training Program. Maseeda has over ten years of experience working with marginalized communities in Toronto, most recently with Fred Victor. Her desire to work alongside communities is deeply rooted in her lived experience, equity and social justice.
Maseeda believes in the intersection of social equity and environmental health and feels it is important to create a world where people and nature can thrive together. She often reflects on the words of Jasmin Kaur to ground herself when working with communities: “I choose bravery of a soft heart over the ease of a hardened one. Perhaps it’s an act of courage to stay human in this jagged-edged world.”
A Fossil Free Future
As part of our Renewable Skills project, our partners at Iron & Earth delivered a youth training program during a summer camp in Lubicon Lake Band, AB. Activities included a career blueprint workshop that allowed youth to explore preferred job characteristics (working outdoors/in an office, with more creativity vs more structure, working for yourself/for someone, etc.). The highlight of the camp was when participants assembled an electrical circuit board with three devices and illuminated it!
Getting Back to Nature
Small Change Fund staff visited some beautiful natural locations this summer, including: the Scarborough Bluffs and Lake St Clair (Ontario), the New Forest and Mousehold Heath (England) and Chutes Coulonge Park (Quebec)!
Small News Bites
- Congratulations to our very own Sophia Young (see above) for receiving the William Edward Muir Award in recognition of her work to expand free-for-youth transit access across Canada. Sophia will use a portion of the award funds to create a scholarship program at her former high school to encourage more students to make big changes in their community!
- Our partners at The Energy Mix recently reported on the dire operating deficit currently experienced by Vancouver transit agency TransLink. The article includes insight from Denis Agar, executive director of Movement and our partner on Building a Movement for Better Transit in Metro Vancouver.
- Have you followed @getonthebus.ca on Instagram yet? We’re sharing behind-the-scenes footage of our mural creation and will be providing exciting updates about our free-for-youth transit and training program!
We hope everyone is enjoying the final days of the summer season!
Sincerely,
The Small Change Fund Team
P.S. Your donation directly to Small Change Fund allows us to keep improving services and supports to help more grassroots projects succeed nationwide. Thank you for helping make change!