Where do the 2020 Toronto Gala funds go?

Swim Drink Fish’s programs connect people to the water’s edge, then train them to collect and share water health data. We then leverage that network and data to restore local waters.

In this message, Swim Drink Fish co-founders Mark Mattson and Krystyn Tully shine a spotlight on Toronto initiatives that are supported by the annual gala: 

We set out on a mission in 2001 to ensure that everyone could have access to swimmable, drinkable, fishable water. 

Over the years, our successes in Toronto have been by Swim Drink Fish affiliates in dozens of other communities. All-told $2-billion has been spent on restoration in the wake of our work. More than 4-million people have been helped by our programs.

We are a national organization with direct local impact. We have deep roots in Toronto, and we love this city. With 138 km of shoreline, 300 km of rivers running through ravines, ours is a city in a park on the water.

Like many other big cities in the 21st Century, many Torontonians live their lives disconnected from their water. That disconnect is the toughest challenge we face. 

Disconnection is at the root of so many common concerns, from sewage spills and climate change to plastic pollution. Mental health issues and rising heart disease are also individual symptoms of our collective nature deficit. Youth, newcomers, and lower income families are disproportionately impacted.

Life will get harder here if we don’t act. The Toronto Foundation reports that we will experience hot days 2.5 times more often. A changing climate will drive more residents to parks and beaches just when extreme rain and flooding are creating new environmental concerns. 

It doesn’t have to be this way. 

Sampling recreational water quality at Ontario Place.

We believe that within one generation every Torontonian will know the parks and beaches closest to them. They’ll spend time in nature every week. They’ll monitor the health of the places they love. They’ll make sure that neglected spaces and polluted waters are restored. 

Connect. Collect. Share. Restore. 

We are working with the community to make “connect, collect, share, restore” a familiar Toronto experience. 

Torontonians want to understand water health. So we train citizen scientists to collect and share water quality information at parks like HTO, the Music Garden and Toronto Islands. Those volunteers also identify and clean up debris near the shoreline. 

Torontonians want more access to the lake. We’ll soon be announcing our participation in a beach and marina certification program to drive restoration of more beaches and marinas, from the Harbour to Humber Bay. 

All the data and restoration work we do is shared through apps like our Swim Guide. In Toronto alone, 79,000 people used this free service to find clean beaches last year. 

When you support the Swim Drink Fish Gala, you can expect to see positive change in Toronto: more parks, beaches and public spaces where more people can spend more time by the water, and more water health data being collected and shared to drive future protection and restoration work.

Mark Mattson Krystyn Tully