“It's an honour to receive this support from the Toronto Community Foundation and KPMG. Not only will it help to strengthen and sustain our fruit picking program, but the additional support offered by KPMG employees will ensure that we have the professional capacity to carry it through with excellence and ease,” says Laura Reinsborough, Founder & Director, Not Far From The Tree.
A ‘vital idea’ is a program or project that is currently in operation with a solid track record of success improving quality of life in Toronto. The Vital Ideas grant stream is unique in that it provides grants for strategic activities beyond direct programming. The grant program identifies high-impact organizations that build on successful methods of service delivery and continually adapt and innovate. Beyond ‘band-aid’ solutions, the organizations work for social change by addressing the root causes of the trends identified in the Community Foundation’s Toronto’s Vital Signs® Report. The grant of up to $30,000 towards these strategic activities is meant to be a one-time investment in building the capacity of not-for-profits.
As part of the Vital Impact: Vital Toronto collaboration, 50 KPMG employees volunteered their time and skills to review grant applications and conduct site visits, while deepening their knowledge of some of the city’s inspiring organizations and the complex issues they work to address. Through a voting process, KPMG employees in the GTA selected Not Far From the Tree to receive a Vital Ideas grant. Some of the 50 KPMG volunteers as well as other KPMG in the GTA people who were inspired by their colleagues are now volunteering directly with the organizations that have been reviewed by KPMG.
The collaboration between KPMG and the Toronto Community Foundation came about after KPMG conducted an impact survey of its people in the GTA on the city’s most pressing social needs, with the top three duly identified as: bridging the gap between rich and poor, helping youth in high-priority neighbourhoods succeed, and assisting newcomers to settle and integrate.
“We recognize the significant opportunity we have to affect positive change and make a real difference in the communities where we live and operate,” says Beth Wilson, GTA Managing Partner and the Canadian Managing Partner of Community Leadership, KPMG. “Collaborating with the Toronto Community Foundation’sVital Ideas program was a perfect fit because it offered KPMG people the opportunity to put their skills and talents to work for causes they felt passionately about and address pressing social needs in their community.”
“We were pleased to partner with KPMG again this year for Vital Impact: Vital Toronto, and to be able to connect them to the work of innovative community organizations such as Not Far From The Tree,” says Rahul K. Bhardwaj, President & CEO, Toronto Community Foundation. “Each year, we share part of Toronto’s story through our Toronto’s Vital Signs Report. The narrative is our blueprint for investment through our grant programs and city-building action. But, that’s just the beginning of building a better city. Through partnerships with the private and public sectors, the philanthropic sector is better able to create sustainable impact.”
Not Far From The Tree
Not Far From The Tree puts Toronto's fruit to good use by picking and sharing the urban bounty. When a homeowner can't keep up with their fruit tree, we mobilize volunteers to harvest the fruit for them and share it: 1/3 to the owner, 1/3 to the pickers, and 1/3 to a food bank or shelter in the neighbourhood. Through this simple act, Not Far From The Tree creates profound impact that is a win-win-win solution. We see the abundance that our city offers and we put it to good use: animating the possibilities of local food, bringing attention to our urban ecology, and building a city that is better for all.
Toronto Community Foundation
With more than 325 endowment funds and assets under administration of more than $250 million, the Toronto Community Foundation is one of Canada’s largest public charitable foundations. Our mission is to connect philanthropy to community needs and opportunities, all with a vision to make Toronto the best place to live, work, learn and grow, through the power of giving. For more information, visit www.tcf.ca.
KPMG
KPMG LLP, an Audit, Tax and Advisory firm (kpmg.ca) and a Canadian limited liability partnership established under the laws of Ontario, is the Canadian member firm of KPMG International Cooperative (“KPMG International”). KPMG member firms around the world have 145,000 professionals, in 152 countries.
The independent member firms of the KPMG network are affiliated with KPMG International, a Swiss entity. Each KPMG firm is a legally distinct and separate entity, and describes itself as such.
For more information, please contact:
Laura Reinsborough
Founder & Director
Not Far From The Tree
(416) 908-3022
laura@notfarfromthetree.org
Simone Dalton
Manager, Media Relations & Communications
Toronto Community Foundation
(416) 921-2035 ext. 218
sdalton@tcf.ca
Michael Bodsworth
Manager, Media Relations
KPMG LLP
(416) 777-3407
mbodsworth@kpmg.ca