It Takes a Village

It Takes a Village

On November 22nd, the MarkeTo District BIA held our last meeting of 2018. We were pleased to receive not just the hardworking members of our board, but also a diverse array of stakeholders and community members. It is always inspiring to look around a table and see representatives from every aspect of a community. This included representatives from the City of Toronto, local elected officials from the office of MPP Robin Martin, local business such as IC Savings or Home Hardware, and Non-Profits like Pauline Books & Media and one of our newest local allies, Villa Charities. 

Over the first four years of its existence, the MarkeTo BIA has worked hard to establish an identity, build a brand, build relationships, plan for the future and give back to the community in which it operates, all while trying to find its footing as a very young organization.  

Starting from scratch, with very few allies, and constantly facing the questions of “Who are you” and “What is a BIA” does not an easy path forward make. However, with hard work and determination, the MarkeTo BIA has managed to establish itself, and its collective efforts have led to an easily detectable increase in the level of communication and cohesion between all the different stakeholders in the area. We have been able to give back to the community with multiple large successful food drives and popular community events such as our movie nights in the park. We have  also been blessed with a never-ending stream of eager volunteers from local schools, organizations and businesses such as Fieldstone Day School, Lady York Foods and North York FC.

Looking around the table and seeing all the different representatives from such different organizations and backgrounds, seeing this synthesis of government, private enterprise, non-profits and local citizens, it really goes to show not only the success of the BIA in establishing itself, but also what is required to really have an impact. You cannot go it alone. You need contributions from all hands. 

As they say, it takes a village.