Results tagged “philanthropy”

Photo by Squeakyrat from the Torontoist Flickr Pool.

Torontoist is ending the year by naming our Heroes and Villains of 2007––the people, places, and things that we've either fallen head over heels in love with or developed uncontrollable rage towards over the past twelve months. Get your dose, starting Boxing Day and running into the new year, three times a day––sunrise, noon, and sunset.

Last week, Toronto-based advertising agency TAXI announced 15 Below, a new project to coincide with TAXI's fifteenth anniversary that would see the company create, manufacture, and distribute 3,000 coats for homeless people across North America. Designed by TAXI's executive creative director Steve Mykolyn and designer Lida Baday (pictured), the waterproof, windproof, and plentily-pocketed coat serves as a lightweight jacket during not-too-cold weather, can fold into a backpack during decent weather, and—when you fill the pockets up with newspaper—converts into a super-warm jacket that was tested (in a meat locker, no less!) to be effective up to -29° celsius.

Last Wednesday, legendary Canadian music retailer Pindoff Record Sales sold off their 72-store Music World chain. Two days later, the new owners filed for bankruptcy protection and and will likely lay off 648 employees by the end of January. And so it goes. According to court documents, Music World plans an "orderly wind down," including closing stores and liquidating inventory. The retailer has been in dire straits for years, propped up by the Toronto-based...

There has been a lot of debate recently about how and to what extent corporations should be allowed to fund community initiatives. City Hall is currently ablaze with lobbying and ambivalence as we draw nearer to City Council's vote on land transfer and vehicle ownership taxes, a decision that could easily blow the door open to more private sponsorship of community services and public space.

Bluma Appel, philanthropist and patron of the arts, died last night in a Toronto hospital from complications of cancer. She was 86.

Last Thursday's 20th Anniversary bash for Artscape was a who's-who of Toronto arts philanthropy: the guest list boasted big names from around the city like Councillors Joe Mihevc and Gord Perks, Toronto Arts Council Executive Director Claire Hopkinson, Poet Laureate Pier Giorgio Di Cicco, and more. It was an evening of being seen, sampling a whirlwind of savoury hors d'oeuvres and trading congratulatory speeches with some of Toronto's most influential arts personalities.

No time…Must get back down to Harbourfront…IFOA in full swing…Here are some other literary events taking place this week….

And blogger Benjamin Rosenbaum has a Better Business Bureau-researched list of which charities are working most efficiently. Courtesy BoingBoing. (BoingBoing also has much tsunami blogosphere news, and discussions of Gov't suppression of news)