LiveGreen Funding

Since 2008, Livegreen Toronto operated a grant program that provided funding to organizations to help fund project specific goals. The grant program is divided into two streams, the Community Investment Program Fund (that funded up to $25,000 for each project selected) and the Capital Grants Program (that provided between $25,000 to $150,000).

For 2008, City Council approved funding of $200,000 for the Community Investment Program to build capacity within local communities and neighbourhoods to identify, develop and initiate actions that will reduce greenhouse gas and smog-causing emissions; and $500,000 for the Capital Projects Fund to help implement capital asset projects that result in significant reductions in emissions and which the local community has identified and is engaged in supporting. In 2009, Live Green Toronto funding for community based green initiatives increased to $2.2 million.

This grant program had a significant impact on the food community within Toronto and a number of organizations received beneficial funding.

These organizations include:

• Afri-Can Food Basket for “Cultivating Youth Leadership Urban Farm Project”
• The Compost Council of Canada: Plant a Row-Grow a Row Presents Soup-a-Licious!
• Friends of Christie Pits Park (sponsor: Christie Ossington Neighbourhood Centre): Urban
• Agriculture, Forestry and Sustainable Neighbourhoods Education Series
• Greenest City Environmental Organization: Growing the Future
• Local Food Plus, Eating Our Way to a Better Environment-The Local Food Plus Approach
• Not Far From the Tree (sponsoring org: Popular Education Research Catalyst Centre): Mapping,
• Tapping and Organizational Recapping
• PACT Pack Urban Peace Program (Sponsoring org: Canadian Foundation for the Prevention of Family Violence): Schoolyard Garden and Urban Agriculture Program
• The Social Phobia Support Group of Toronto (sponsor: Foodshare): Growing People Growing Food
• The Stop Community Food Centre: Green Barn Neighbourhood Urban Agriculture Hub and Yes In My Backyard (YIMBY)
• SOY (Seniors Organization of York) York West Active Living Centre: SOY Garden Party
• Carrot Cache: Carrot Cache Sustainable Roof Garden Project
• Toronto Green Community: Container Gardening Train-the-Trainer
• Working Women Community Centre (Oriole Peanut Community Garden): Community Greenhouse and Fruit Orchard
• Growing for Green: Ben Nobleman Park Community Orchard (Local Food)
• Hincks-Dellcrest Centre: Grow Our Own (Local Food)
• North York Harvest Food Bank: Harvest to Hand Community Garden (Local Food)
• Toronto Coalition for Better Child Care: Healthy Eating & Growing Up Green (Local Food)
• Urban Agriculture Society: Urban Ag Society Pilot Garden (Local Food)
• Women’s Habitat of Etobicoke: WH Green Thumbs Initiative (Local Food)
• Access Alliance: Crescent Town Community Health Centre and Social Service Hub (Green Roof/ Local Food/Energy)
• Evergreen: Growing Food at Home
• Green Thumbs Growing Kids: Raised Bed and Rain Harvest Construction Project
• The Garden Party: The Garden Party
• Greenest City ($25,000) for a project called “From the Ground Up,”
• Not Far From the Tree ($25,000) for a volunteer-driven fruit tree harvesting project
• FoodShare’s “Over the Top” project
• Stop Community Food Centre ($100,000) for their “Green Barn”
• FoodCycles ($35,087) for their “Downsview Park Greenhouse” project