In late January we received our account details from the Parks Foundation for the end of 2022. To our pleasant surprise, we are closer to our goal for the Master Plan project than we anticipated. As of December 31, 2022 that account sits at almost $18,000. While this is a far cry from the $60,000,we need in the account to start the RFP process, it is a few thousand more than we thought we were at so we couldn’t be happier. The extra funds that we had not accounted for based on our fundraising came from community members in the form of either direct donations or through corporate donation programs that match volunteer hours. We encourage you to check with your employer to see if they have a corporate matching program that allows you to make donations to a charitable organization of your choice. The Oh MY Oakridge projects are set-up under the Parks Foundation so you can see your donation go directly into supporting the community you live in.
This year we will select our playground vendor for the Oakridge Way Park Upgrade and work with them to design the first revitalized park space as part of this project. We are encouraged by the initial designs we received for grant purposes and can’t wait to finalize a design to share with you. Once we have a firm design and have received confirmation of grant funds, we will run a cheque writing campaign for direct donations to the new park.
Additionally, we are discussing opportunities for Oh MY Oakridge to run 50/50 draws and another raffle to support the infrastructure in the new park. Our first raffle, held at our second annual Skate with Santa event, raised just over $5,000 to put into infrastructure in the park. While we were hoping to raise more with that raffle it was our largest fundraiser to date and we are happy with the result.
We have a few more opportunities to support Oh MY Oakridge coming up:
• On March 26 we will be at the Oakridge Community Association from 10:00 am to 1:00 pm with a big truck collecting bottles. All proceeds from the bottle drive will go towards the Master Plan project. Our very first fundraiser in August 2021 was a bottle drive and we raised $1,800. Our goal with this drive is to beat that! Spread the word around the neighbourhood and to your friends to come out and support upgrading greenspaces in our community.
• In May we will most likely run our plant fundraiser again, although we are investigating a different supplier this year, so keep checking our Facebook page for more details on that.
We are always looking for more help and support on our committee. If you are passionate about Oakridge and want to help us create a plan for the greenspaces in our community, we would love for you to join us. Reach out to [email protected] to learn about opportunities available on our team.
