A Note from the Small Change Fund Team
We hope everyone is enjoying the start to the busy summer season! With kids out of school and all sorts of outdoor activities to enjoy, summer can often feel like it’s over in the blink of an eye.
Of course, change rests for no one and Small Change Fund and our project partners remain hard at work throughout the summer months. If you’d like to learn more and support our projects, you can find a list of active crowdfunding pages here.
Whether you go swimming, camping, hiking or just enjoy sitting in the sunshine, we hope your summer is full of joy and fresh air.
All the best,
The Small Change Fund team
Launching Tinakiwin
Congratulations to our partners from the Anishnabe Moose Committee (AMC) on a highly successful launch event for the newly registered Anishnabe-led non-profit, Tinakiwin. Nikki Nguyen, our Director of Finance and Operations, had the pleasure of attending in person. “It was an honour to celebrate this important milestone with the Anishnabe Moose Committee and everyone who has helped bring Tinakiwin to life,” said Nikki. “The energy in the room reflected years of hard work, collaboration and shared commitment.”
Tinakiwin continues AMC’s critical work to protect moose populations in and around La Vérendrye Wildlife Park, the unceded traditional territory of the Algonquin people. This work forms the basis of the Anishnabe-led Moose Research Project – click the project name to learn more and show your support!
A Time to Nourish and Flourish
On June 23, Forks of the Credit Preservation Group (FCPG) held their “Nourish and Flourish” garden event fundraiser with special guest Tony Spencer (the New Perennialist), an internationally renowned gardening designer from Mono Township, ON. Tony’s talk on wildscaping focussed on how to link home to landscape in a symbiotic loop to support nature and adapt to the inevitable extremes of the new climate.
“The day was a great success and a lot of fun,” said Debra Wilson, FCPG director. “And it was so special to feature a speaker from our own backyard.” The event also involved a silent auction, a Field to Fork buffet meal from Alchemy Kitchen – hosted at GoodLot Farmstead Brewing Co, and five local vendors. Click here to help us protect the Forks of the Credit in Ontario.
The Elephant in the Room: A Note on AI in our Sector
Last month, I attended the Civil Society Summit on the AI Industry in Montreal where advocates, researchers, organizers, artists, labour leaders and community groups came together to critically examine artificial intelligence as a “political project,” not simply a technological tool. The summit reflected the wide-ranging impacts of AI with panels on immigration, food systems, labour and environmental justice.
What stood out most to me was the incredible amount of work already happening across civil society to address the social, economic and environmental impacts of rapid AI adoption. While these efforts are still somewhat fragmented, there was a real sense of energy, urgency and determination to push back against the harms of unchecked AI development.
As part of the summit, I participated in a strategy session to outline a vision for a “Civil Society Hub” to help coordinate our sector’s work on tech justice and emerging technologies. At Small Change Fund we are well-positioned to support local communities responding to proposed data centres and we plan to help to document and map these centres across Canada, as well as develop resources to support local organizers.
– Shay Kennedy, Director of Technology
Talking About Climate
Our partners Seniors for Climate estimate roughly 2,000 conversations took place across 44 locations from coast to coast to coast during their “Break Through the Climate Silence” campaign, hosted during Canadian Environment Week (May 31 – June 6). The focus was on small, intimate conversations and making valuable connections. “We asked people to talk about climate. They did. We listened and let them know they are not alone and that action is the key,” shared Dave Smith, Seniors for Climate volunteer. The campaign will continue in September with a new focus – working with seniors to organize conversations with elected representatives to urge them to speak up and act on the climate crisis.
Getting Heard Above the Noise
Through our Creating Less Noisy Cities project we recently won a resounding victory in the fight to make Toronto’s streets a little quieter for all. In a campaign organized by our partners No More Noise, more than 700 emails were sent in under a week to City Council urging action on illegal vehicle noise and modified exhausts. These dedicated voices were heard and Council voted 21 to 1 in favour of pursuing legislation to permit noise cameras in the city. Congratulations to all on this hard fought victory!
Protecting Puslinch
New partners Help Protect Puslinch (ON) hosted a successful community meeting with a standing room only crowd in attendance to learn more about the campaign to protect agricultural land from a warehouse development. The proposed development would measure 1,000,000 sq feet of gross construction area. Among the speakers was our own Mike Balkwill, Vice President of Campaigns. Read more about the meeting here.
Small News Bites
- Congratulations to Tom Buck, Executive Director at Save Georgian Bay, on being recognized as a Community-at-Large Champion of the Bay by the Georgian Bay Association!
- At Small Change Fund, we value feedback and always strive to be consistently responsive so we can improve our services to our partners, and therefore our donors. For more information on what our partners told us this year, click here.
- Congratulations to Abbie Branchflower and Sarah Ceci on five years at Small Change Fund as of June 1!
Happy summer, everyone!
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!
