Updating our Community Greenspaces
2021 was an incredible year for Oh MY Oakridge! During the year, a group of residents came together to form Oh MY Oakridge with a goal to revitalize our greenspaces. In November, we became an official committee of the Oakridge Community Association, applied for the Parks Foundation Project Support Program, and by year end, had raised over $6,000 through various fundraisers.
2022 we are excited to say will be an even better year for us. In 2022, we will start running engagement sessions with residents to learn how our greenspaces are currently used, how residents want to use them, and what new or additional infrastructure residents want to see to make our greenspaces year-round community hubs.
Already in 2022, we have applied for a grant and continue to look for opportunities for funding outside of direct fundraising. We will continue with fundraisers that were successful for us in 2021 such as the Growing Smiles Plant Fundraisers (stay tuned for the next one in April/May to get your vegetables and bedding plants). Since we were given positive feedback about the delicious apples from Davison’s Orchards, we will likely run that fundraiser again in the late summer/early fall either before or after the Fall Mum sale. Additionally, this year we plan to try a few new fundraisers: a coffee fundraiser coming up in the next month or two, and a few other different options.
As a committee of the Oakridge Community Association, we can also accept donations and the OCA will issue tax receipts for those donations. We encourage anyone who wants to give back to their community to consider donating to us. Your donation will go directly towards funding this initiative, helping us run engagement sessions, and writing a master plan for our greenspaces.
In late 2021, we set up a Skip the Depot account as a division of the Oakridge Community Centre. Skip the Depot makes bottle and can pick-up easy and allows you to donate your refund to a group of your choice simply. This year, please consider signing up for Skip the Depot using our link to have your refunds automatically donated to this important initiative. It is easy to do; simply download the Skip the Depot app, sign up, schedule a pickup specifying that you want your refund to go to the Oh MY Oakridge Greenspace Committee, leave the bottles outside, and they’ll come pick them up for you!
For more information about our fundraisers and engagement sessions, you can find us on the Oakridge Community Association website or on Facebook. We also have a number of roles that are vacant on our team and would love for you to join us. Reach out for more information to [email protected].
Click the links below to find us:
https://www.facebook.com/OhMYOakridge
https://www.oakridgecommunity.ca/activities-new/walks/
