Riverdale Farm gets a $200,000 donation
Money left to city site by retired CBC employee who died last year
DAVID RIDER
Animals at Toronto’s cityowned Riverdale Farm should be getting some new digs and more, thanks to a surprise $200,000 gift from a long-time admirer who died last year.
Donald Henry Reid, a retired CBC employee, left the money to the city to support the tiny working farm in Cabbagetown he often visited.
Its menagerie of cows, chickens, pigs, sheep and other animals often star in educational talks at the site.
“Without imposing a formal trust, the estate would like to see the funds invested in the living quarters for the farm animals,” says a city staff report going next week to city council, which must review any donation greater than $50,000.
“Mr. Reid was a retired CBC set decorator with no immediate family,” the report states.
“He loved Toronto’s parks, including Riverdale Farm, and also believed in improving the lives of at-risk youth.
“He has made other gifts to organizations sharing those values.”
David Doze, who chairs the volunteer Riverdale Farm Stewardship Group, marvelled at Reid’s generosity.
“Our group is working really hard to enhance the relativity of the farm in the city,” and raise funds for improvements to help connect more city dwellers with the agriculture source of their food, he said.
“It’s an amazing gift and a very powerful and generous personal thing to do,” Doze added.
“It will be acknowledged and we will be very clear and appreciative about what we do with these funds when the time comes.”
The stewardship group, established in 2013 after then-mayor Rob Ford’s administration proposed closing the farm to save money, typically gets between $10,000 and $15,000 a year in donations.
City staff have received a cheque and, after council’s approval, will decide appropriate uses for the funds.
Local councillor Kristyn Wong-Tam didn’t know Reid. She said farm staff were surprised by the out-of-the-blue windfall.
“He clearly loved animals and children, as Riverdale Farm serves as a connector, bringing agriculture and education together in an accessible way for urban families,” she said.
Reid, 83, died in May 2019 from complications resulting from a bicycle accident earlier in the year, according to an online death notice.
“Don … was a dedicated cyclist and, unfortunately in this case, never let anything deter him from his passion,” it says, adding he helped many friends.
Reid grew up in Grand Forks, B.C., and graduated from the New York School of Interior Design before settling in Toronto.