Virtual Walk-A-Thon Aims To Raise $10,000 Dollars To Sustain Programs For East Scarborough Youth
By Selina McCallum
The pandemic won’t stop a fundraising Walk-A-Thon from happening for this organization. The East scarborough Boys and Girls Club (ESBGC) is raising funds for their Be Boundless: Soles and Steps campaign, which will go towards the many programs and services they offer for families within the Galloway community in Scarborough.
The fundraising goal is $10,000 dollars. They hope to continue their work surrounding diversity and equity, providing services to over 5,000 children and youth.
The marathon will begin online on Saturday, July 18 from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. Participants are encouraged to take photos or film themselves walking in a space, socially distancing from others, and post on their social media platforms.
Ashley Abdul is the Communications Assistant for the EsBGC.
“We serve people from age 0, all the way into their early twenties. The Boys and Girls club is a space for people to just come through and participate in programming. We have breakfast, we have after school programming, and summer camp,” said Abdul.
Kingston-Galloway is a diverse neighbourhood in Scarborough Village with a population of 23,427 people. The community has a high percentage of low income families at 33 per cent (compared to the Toronto average of 19 per cent) with a high concentration of these families living in the immediate Kingston-Galloway area. 70 per cent of the community is a visible minority, with a quarter identifying as Black.
32.5 per cent of families with children are single-parent families. Kingston-Galloway has the highest density of Toronto Community Housing units in Toronto. Gang violence and criminal activity has also scarred the neighbourhood. Less than half of the youth complete post-secondary education.
“I think one of the most important things is that we provide a safe space. Youth do not have to worry about where they are going to go after school. We do not want kids wandering around the streets which could propel them into unsafe activities,” said Abdul. “At Esbgc, they can relax, they can feel safe, they can feel understood and just talk.”
In 2019, Be Boundless consisted of an international exchange to Ghana that provided 10 youth the opportunity to travel. They were exposed to cultural traditions that were celebrated within the African communities, developed environmentally sustainable practices, and explored historical moments.
The trip was meant to install in these ten youth confidence within themselves that they can bring valuable change within their own communities. It was a huge opportunity for them to see the world outside their neighbourhood, build relationships and experience new things.
“We had a GoFundMe, we had a gala, and we did a lot of cool things to raise money to send the youth to Ghana. We weren’t able to continue the whole idea of the cultural exchange because of the pandemic, but what we wanted to do was keep that experience alive,” said Abdul.
When quarantine began, Abdul and her team knew that they would have to come up with another way to raise money this year. Then with the tragic murders of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor, they decided to focus on anti-racism.
“For years and years, we have been dealing with racism that hasn't necessarily been on the surface. Internally we were dealing with systematic racism, racial profiling and the incarceration of young people,” Said Abdul.
“So why Soles and Steps is so important is because we want to sustain our programs to continue to provide positive experiences for our youth and continue empowering them through our services and programs. We want to understand what the community needs, so we can provide a space that they want to be in, grow in, and achieve their goals in.”
To sign up for Soles and Steps send an email to maftab@esbgc.ca to start collecting donations, or visit their GoFundMe called ESBGC FUNDRAISER: Soles and Steps Walk-A-Thon to make a one time donation. To participate in the walk-a-thon, post a photo or a video of yourself walking at home or outside.
Abdul says that she has seen the community in a different light due to the pandemic.
“I think we’ve realized what community really looks like now. We’re so caught up in our own lives that we don’t even realize the contributions that we get from our community like food banks. I think it’s really amazing that people are still willing to be a part of this fundraiser, the people that are able to participate and are able-bodied to do so, they’re willing to do it, and they’re willing to break out of their own space to do something for everybody else,” said Abdul.
