Congratulations to the two recipients of the Sir James Woods Award Recipients of this year.
Announced at our AGM, The Roots and Culture Gardening Club as well as Erella Ganon are being celebrated for their incredibly contributions to the community.
The Roots and Culture Gardening Club
The Roots and Culture Gardening Club is led by the Black Student Success Committee, a parent-led group supporting Black student achievement and well-being in Parkdale.
The focus of the Roots and Culture Gardening Club is to provide education and enrichment to Black students about the farm to table process. This includes a twice weekly gardening program at the school and educational outings in person and virtually with families. The group has worked hard to provide Black students with learning around Black-centred food sovereignty, teaching hands-on lessons at the garden at the school on food growing, planting, and harvesting.
In addition to this work, the Roots and Culture Gardening Club organized vegan food to be served at the lunch programs, and visits to a Black-led farm.
We thank the The Roots and Culture Gardening Club and all those in it and particularly note the volunteer leadership of Tania Daley and Naiomi Joseph in 2021/2022.
Erella Ganon has been the moderator of the free Dufferin Grove Friend online group for over 20 years. There are approximately 1500 local subscribers. She organizes a daily “digest” of messages from our neighbours that range from concerns about the inadequate affordable housing in our area, Dufferin Grove Park issues, lost cats, household items being given away, and a lot about local redevelopment and public consultation processes.
Two local residents nominated Erella for her work with the Dufferin Grove Friends Google Group and here is what they have to say.
Ellen Manney said “Erella is truly one of a kind and is so deserving of this. She does such amazing work in these extremely difficult times. When the community become polarized and people have a difficult time listening to each other, Erella is there to sort out problems, calling a halt to discussion when it gets too heated, helping people get what they need and I could go on.”
Liz Deacon added: “Erella does an outstanding job for what isn’t always smooth going!”
Congratulations to both recipients of the award.