A fundraiser blossoms in Bloor West
Back in the 1940s, Carol McLean, her sister Wendy and friend Beverly Compton decided they wanted to do something for kids who were less fortunate.
So, to raise money for the Star’s Fresh Air Fund, they raided their parents’ kitchen pantries for canned goods and sold them at a pop-up concession stand they set up in front of an appliance store at the corner of Runnymede Rd. and Bloor St. W.
That appliance shop is long gone, but the Fresh Air Fund is still going strong, thanks to the generosity of Star readers like McLean, who continues to support the kids.
The girls were savvy entrepreneurs and knew how to attract customers.
“We thought it would be nice to decorate the stand with a vase of pink roses from our garden,” says McLean.
“Someone soon asked if they could buy the roses, too. I quickly ran home to our house on Kennedy Ave. for more, and as luck would have it, we soon stripped the bush of blooms.”
“They became the most popular item for sale that day.” McLean remembers why they wanted to help send less-fortunate kids to camp.
“We were privileged to have a ramshackle cottage at the weedy end of Morrison Lake, where we spent our summers enjoying the fresh Muskoka air. We each had an opportunity, however, to experience a week at a local camp and quickly realized how important these places were, and still are, for the health and well-being of urban-dwelling children.”
Sadly, the family cottage was sold after the death of their father.
“But we will be forever grateful for those wonderful years of freedom and fun and the ability to enjoy a blissful childhood in the clean air outside the city,” says McLean, who now lives in Oakville.
“It is truly amazing that the Toronto Star continues to this day in promoting and supporting this worthwhile cause.”