On January 3, 2018, we officially registered the Scarborough Bluffs Community Association as a non-profit organization. As we celebrate our first anniversary, we thought it was a good time to review what we wanted to accomplish, what we actually accomplished, and what the year ahead looks like.
2018
We started this year with a small group of enthusiastic volunteers achieving the area’s first pumpkin parade in 2017. We had $70 in our bank account and a fresh non-profit registration.
Our goal was simple: to introduce ourselves to the community by creating positive events that bring the community together. In this way, we delivered tangible results … things people in the community can see, feel, hear, touch and be a part of.
We started the year slowly with eyes on running an event at McCowan District Park on Family day. Unfortunately, the park was under construction so no permits were issued.
We applied for a number of grants and were turned down numerous times until the TD Park People Grant gave us what we needed – Help and funding for our first three planned events:
1) a Multi-Park Cleanup on Earth Day, which drew 35 people and collected more than 40 bags of garbage.
2) a Movie in the Park, which we ran in August, getting the message out to over 16,000 people, and drawing over 150 people, on the rain date. As an organization, we learned a lot about planning, organizing, promoting, and getting through red tape.
3) our 2nd annual Pumpkin Parade was extremely wet and cold but still drew over 50 people and pumpkins.
Once we formalized, it opened the doors in becoming involved within the city. – We participated in the Park People Summit in March, where we learned about community organizations across Canada and how they help create and unite communities.
– We participated in Scarborough Community Renewal Organization‘s (SCRO) community summit in April, to listen and learn from the rest of Scarborough. – We participated with Scarborough Civic Action Network (SCAN) and their united movement to inform people within the ward about the Municipal Election.
– We participated with the Scarborough Southwest Federal Community Advisory Committee to help bring to light challenges and opportunities within the community. – We attended the Community-Police Consultative Conference,
– We met with and have healthy relationships with Scarborough Arts, the Birchmount Bluffs Neighbourhood Centre, and Variety Village. – We laid a wreath on behalf of the SBCA at the Scarborough Cenotaph on Remembrance Day.
– We were invited to participate by members of Waterfront For All, but due to time and previous commitments could not attend.
We talked to and listened to people in the community to see what kinds of activities they wanted to have in our area, and how we could help. In this way we started organically growing. As a result of these conversations:
1) We helped a group of musicians with acquiring a regular permit for an outdoor acoustic jam session now known as the Rosetta McClain Song Circle. As a result of this, the largest gathering drew over 35 musicians and over 70 people with lawn chairs to sit in the summer shade and listen to great live music.
2) We helped a group of people come together and formed a great partnership with enCORE Fitness, ran a survey, found out which parks and what days were most popular, and held 2 very successful Yoga in the Park sessions, with a goal to continue this program next year.
3) We met with a group of people who were interested in singing. In cooperation with La Scogliera we initially started there, then established a great partnership with the Birchmount Recreation Centre where we have been meeting since. We have held 5 sing-along sessions under the name Scarborough Bluffs Singing Group.
4) In working with a group of musicians and the Birchmount Recreation Centre, we helped form and promote a regular musical Scarborough Bluffs Acoustic Jam session at the Birchmount Recreation Centre.
As a key strategy, we built strong relationships with all three levels of government: Municipal, Provincial and Federal, all while keeping a deliberately neutral political stance, which we exemplified in two videos we created: one video for the Provincial Election and one video for the Municipal Election. For these videos, our goal was simple: introduce the candidates in the greatest positive light we can and provide links where people can find out more about the candidates they were considering. As a result, people in Scarborough Southwest got a chance to meet their candidates. The message was received by thousands of people. Over 5,000 people watched our Provincial video and over 3,000 people watched our Municipal video, far exceeding anything we could have achieved by hosting a debate.
Moreover, the help and support we received from our Municipal, Provincial, and Federal representatives: to help get past red tape; to help with key introductions to other groups; printing out flyers to promote our events, which we delivered to businesses, schools and homes in the Bluffs; to promote our efforts and events in their newsletters, eblasts, and social media; and guidance on how to approach challenging situations … we simply could not have been successful without these people and are grateful for the continued support we receive from Gary Crawford, Doly Begum, Bill Blair and their teams. Thank you.
In parallel, our group is well represented with the Police, as we became active with the Toronto Police Service – 41 Division – Community Police Liaison Committee (CPLC).
Our Members also helped promote and then assemble to feed 60 families over the holidays, with Suman Roy’s Holiday Dinner Food Drive, which helped both the Warden Woods Community Centre and the Birchmount Bluffs Neighbourhood Centre feed 60 families in the area.
Most tenably, one of the SBCA’s greatest strengths is in our ability to get the message out about the great things in our area. These include:
– Our promotion of Rotten Ronnie’s Haunt, a privately owned and run haunted house in the area, which donates all proceeds to Variety Village. For Ronnie, we helped drive the word out to over 20,000 people.
– Our promotion of the new Skating Path at McCowan District park.
– Our first video reached over 198,000 people and has been watched by around 120,000 people.
– Our second video reached over 210,000 people and has been watched by around 140,000 people.
When we combine our strengths and partnerships, we see fantastic results. Most notably, we:
– Helped support the Crossroads of the Danforth BIA in their Light Up The Crossorads, Tree Lighting and Sing-Along event, through promoting and playing music for the event, and
– Helped Birchmount Recreation Centre’s Breakfast with Santa by getting the message out to over 7,000 people resulting in exponentially exceeding the original goal of 150 kids. Additionally, members of the SBCA performed holiday music for over an hour and a half.
Our most telling numbers are our Facebook page likes and follows which started at 300 people is now over 1000 people, and our general Facebook Forum which started at around 200 people is just under 1000 people.
Overall, we started the year with small and simple goals. By working with larger and diverse groups of people, we achieved and surpassed those goals. We have worked very hard to develop relationships designed very clearly and deliberately to achieve our general vision of transforming the area from being known as a great route, becoming known as a great destination, through the creation of community building events.
2019
For 2019, our goals continue on the same line as our path in 2018:
– Continue hosting events to give the community the ability to meet and talk to each other.
– Continue to act as a neutral entity and present valuable information including information about the predicted 2019 Federal Election.
– Continue to listen and contribute to the community and help grow opportunities where it strengthens the community.
– Financially, we will apply for grants as we did in 2018. That being said, we already have commitments from 2 local businesses to sponsor our events in 2019 – The Victorian Monkey and La Scogliera! With these two sponsors plus a personal donation from a community member, we have already obtained funds greater than we did for 2018! As our funds grow, our ability to bring more events also increases. If you have a business and are interested in sponsoring us, or would like to make a personal donation, please email Contact@SBCA.CA
Tangibly, in 2019 the SBCA will deliver:
– At least one Movie in the Park
– Earth Day Park Cleanups
– Our 3rd annual Pumpkin Parade
The SBCA will continue to support:
– A weekly Singing Group at Birchmount Recreation Centre
– A weekly Acoustic Jam session at Birchmount Recreation Centre
In warmer weather the SBCA will continue to support:
– A monthly Rosetta McClain Song Circle at Rosetta McClain Gardens
– A regular Yoga in the Park event
New for this year, we have started the process to acquire permits for a new event to be held Family Day at McCowan District Park. Details to be released once we get approval.
We also have a list of great concepts that are still brewing that we’re more then happy to share as they develop further.
Lastly, we will be reaching out to community with ideas and concepts we are learning from other Community Associations, not just in Scarborough and the GTA, but from all over North America, to see if there are any interested people. For example: a regular knitting / needle point / sewing group, or maybe a community dog walking group.
Most of all, the SBCA is about and for all of us. If you have any ideas that you would like to suggest and/or help out with (especially for families), we’d love to hear what those ideas are. You can simply email us at join.us@SBCA.ca.
That’s everything (for now). We look forward to seeing you in 2019 and invite you to join us!
Sincerely,
Hector