Here is an update from our Riverside BIA featuring all the exciting things happening in our community!
It’s time to Gear up for the Games!
July 11 Launch the Pan Am Games – Wayfinding Ribbon cutting & Riverside Art & History Walk
July 11 help Launch the Games with Riverside Walks: Our July 11th event is gearing up to help Riverside launch the shiny, new way-finding art at the foot of the Bridge (Phase 2 of the Riverside Gateway Bridge Project) and leverage the Pan Am Games, with a Games-themed Sidewalk Sale! BIA staff have dropped off a letter, flyers and forms to you – friendly reminder to please have any forms to the BIA office by July 6th! All businesses and organizations are permitted (and encouraged!) to use their sidewalk space to do promotions, tasters, animations and more from July 10 to 12, 9AM to 9PM. Please let Jennifer (marketing@riverside-to.com) at the BIA know what you are doing so we can promote it on social media.
NAVTO Booklet Featuring Riverside
Being one of the key communities surrounding the Pan Am Games Athlete’s Village, Riverside has big potential to draw crowds and boost business by leveraging the energy of the Games!
BIA staff will be distributing the NAVTO 2015 Guide Next week. NAVTO highlights Riverside businesses and events. We will also be decorating the community with a Games flair and more wayfinding to draw people over the Bridge!
Businesses are encouraged to get in the spirit too – why not: add Games-themed decor inside or outside your business, have Games playing on TV screens, do a Games-themed menu and promotions, and consider changing or extending your business hours during the games to help welcome athletes, their families and other visitors.
“Show Us Your Game Face”
In Support of Toronto Businesses
TABIA, representing Toronto’s 81 BIAs has launched an awareness campaign in Toronto to encourage residents and tourists alike to support businesses throughout Toronto during the Pan Am/Para pan Games by shopping locally, eating at their favorite restaurants, enjoying local attractions as well as taking part in the games themselves.
Show Us Your Game Face Campaign (http://showusyourgameface.com) is designed to play upon people’s penchant for taking “selfies” while rewarding the best ones that demonstrate their patronage in 4 different categories/events. (“Dining Out’, “In the Hood/BIA”, “At Attractions” “At the Games”).
Use The Hashtag #GameFaceTO on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram for a chance to win great Toronto centric prizes, all in the spirit of competition (Gold/Silver/Bronze) will be awarded in each category and there’s even an Elite “special” Prize for the selfie that receives the most likes by the games end.
Riverside’s Good Food Markets are back!
This year, RTC will be hosting 2 markets; One at the Ralph Thornton Centre and the second in Rivertowne, on Thursday afternoons from 2-6 PM, in collaboration with the
Riverdale Food Working Group – bringing nutritious, fresh foods to our community.
Danette the Herbalist, who has a clinical practice in Riverside and is part of the amazing wellness team at Oma Chiropractic will also be there with herbs and herbal teas on the following dates:
July 9
August 13
Volunteer opportunities: Help with pricing produce, market set up, selling produce; customer service, market clean-up, and outreach. Meet and work with great people and volunteer in the community. The time commitment is 1 or 2 days a month, 3 hour shifts starting 1 hour before market opens or 1 hour after close, from June-October. Training will be taking place in May. For more information, contact Stephen at sfenn@srchc.com or 416-461-1925, ext. 344.
Vote for Riverside Businesses for NOW Magazine Best of 2015! Riverside BIA is busy on social media promoting more than 15 businesses and community organizations who were nominated for NOW Magazine Best of 2015! Stay tuned on Twitter @RiversideBIA and on Facebook /RiversideTO. Please re-tweet and share widely! Voting closes September 18.
Toronto Flower Market – Next on
July 11
| Seeking donations for the August 15th, 5th Annual Rivertowne Community BBQ: The Rivertowne Safety 1st Program is a resident collective comprised of Toronto Community Housing women-leaders dedicated to making a positive impact in the community. The group is seeking support from businesses/ organizations for the 5th Annual Rivertowne BBQ happening on August 15th and welcomes any supplies, gift certificates, food or financial donations to help purchase items to help make this year’s community celebration a success. Last year’s event hosted over 400 families and residents for food and entertainment and this year a broader cross-section of South Riverdale will be invited. Sponsors will be celebrated and recognized! Please contact Jennifer (marketing@riverside-to.com) if interested in helping out. |
A Note on Programming From The Ralph Thornton Centre 
During the Pan Am Games, the 519 Community Centre is hosting “Pride House.” As a result, a number of the 519’s regular programs are being temporarily relocated.
Accordingly, the Ralph Thornton Centre is pleased to be hosting the 519’s “Sunday Drop-In” on July 5, 12, 19, and 26th. This program offers individuals dealing with homelessness and a range of other challenges the opportunity to obtain a meal and to access a range of other supports. The program will be staffed by the 519’s regular staff for the program.
As a result of this additional program, RTC will be opening earlier for these four Sundays at 9 AM, with an extra RTC staff person on duty to make sure things run smoothly.
We hope you will join us in welcoming this addition to our programming, which we believe is very much in keeping with our goal and mission of being a ‘focus for inclusion’ in the Riverdale community.
If you have any questions regarding this program, or any of the other programs or services offered by the Ralph Thornton Centre, please feel free to contact John Campey at johnc@ralphthornton.org or 416 392-6810 x 227.
Help RTC send a kid to camp!
The Ralph Thornton Centre has been partnering with the Jimmie Simpson Recreation Centre and WoodGreen Community Services to offer a quality, accessible summer day camp for children from the Riverdale area for over 25 years.
This year, we are expanding the day camp program to make it more reflective of the diverse communities we serve. With the generous support of Metropolitan Community Church of Toronto, we have established an extra ‘stream’ to provide spaces for children from LGBTQ families, to ensure that they can access a summer camp experience with an active focus on inclusion, providing them with a safe, comfortable opportunity to meet children from similar family backgrounds and with positive, supportive, and trained role models among the camp counsellors and staff. We have also expanded the program to ensure that a greater number of children from low income families in our immediate neighbourhood can access the program.
In order to do this, we are asking for your support. It costs $100 to cover the cost of one ‘camper’ for a week – that includes the cost of the counsellor, day trips and all supplies. We ask you to help us ‘send a kid to camp’ for a week by making a $100 contribution to our Riverdale Adventure Camp (RAC) program.
In return, you will receive not only our undying gratitude, but a charitable tax receipt your entire contribution (which means, at income tax time, the nice people at Revenue Canada will be sending you back about 28% of your contribution).
To express our thanks to all those who make the camp possible, we will be sending out invitations to “Camp Campey”, our thank you “Glamping” event taking place at the home of John Campey and Jefferson Guzman, 301 Ontario St., on the evening of Wednesday, July 22nd. For those unaware, Glamping is a fusion of the words Glamourous and Camping. At the event we guarantee food, drinks, and glamourous ‘camp’ activities. Please join us from 6pm onwards; dinner at 7 PM, and ‘lights out’ at 10! Dress is ‘Glamour Camp’ (and we will leave that to your imagination).
Like all good camps, space is limited. Please make your contribution today, and come join us at our “Thank You” event. Cheques for donations can be made payable to the “Ralph Thornton Community Organization” (our related charitable foundation) and mailed or dropped off to the Ralph Thornton Centre, 765 Queen St. East, Toronto M4M 1H3. For more information about the camp, the contribution, or the event, email us at info@ralphthornton.org, or call us at 416 392-6810. You can also confirm that you plan to attend on Eventbrite at https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/the-summer-camp-we-never-had-tickets-17328685565, and can make your contribution at the door.
Hope you will support the RTC “RAC Camp” by making a contribution, and hope to see you at “Camp Campey” on the 2
