You know Pride festivities are amping up when you find yourself walking along Church Street in Toronto to find rainbow flags whistling in the wind, glitter splashing across the sky and people enthusiastically chortling on about the success of their annual #PrideDiet.
I’m excited to once again be working with TD as a writer covering its sponsorship of Pride Toronto and its commitment to the community. TD has a long standing history with the LGBT community, championing LGBT rights, and the bank has helped lead the change in creating a more inclusive society across Canada.
I had a chance to chat with TD’s Regional Manager, LGBTA Business Development Al Ramsay about what he’s most excited about for Toronto’s annual rainbow festival.
“This year TD is the lead sponsor at Starry Night which kicks off the weekend at the 519 Community Centre,” said Ramsay. “As a member of the Caribbean community, I’m also looking forward to seeing Alison Hines, Soca Queen – headlining Blockorama on the final Sunday – this is going to be massive for the black queer community. And of course there’s the parade – marching with the Pride network (12 years and counting) TD has the best float featuring the TD Boys and Girls and our fabulous Drag Queen Sofonda!”
Forever Proud
TD was the first major corporate sponsor of Toronto Pride and the first Canadian financial institution to profile same-sex couples in mainstream advertising. Important to note, the company’s commitment to the community doesn’t begin and end with supporting Pride or through advertising – it continues 365 days a year through funding, partnerships and employee volunteerism. Today, in addition to supporting over 50 individual Pride celebrations across North America, the bank has also invested $1.2 million to support more than 100 LGBTQ community organizations and initiatives.
“Most people are aware that TD is a proud supporter of Pride Toronto. What people might not know is that we support numerous LGBTQ organizations,” said Ramsay. “We call it Pride 365 meaning that when the party ends, we are still out there supporting the community in meaningful ways, like Pride builds with Habitat for Humanity, donations to Egale and the 519 and even special LGBT nights at Blue Jays games.”
Pride Build
Habitat for Humanity Greater Toronto Area (Habitat GTA) and TD, are joining forces with members and supporters of the LGBT community for the third annual Pride Build fundraising event. Due to popular demand, Pride Build has been expanded for 2016, and ran June 23, 24 and 25. More than 100 participants joined forces to help build nine homes at Habitat GTA’s Birchmount Road build site in Toronto’s east end. Each Pride Build participant is committed to fundraising a minimum of $250 toward achieving this year’s goal of raising $60,000.
Make a Difference at Pride Using Your TD Aeroplan Credit Card
This year during Pride Toronto (June 24th – July 3rd, 2016), for every dollar you spend with your TD Aeroplan Credit Card anywhere in Toronto, together TD and Aeroplan will donate one Aeroplan Mile to the Aeroplan member donation program to support organizations that fight for LGBT rights around the world.
