TORONTO SUN

December 6th, 1998.

T. O. Dollars buy community help.

By RYAN JAMES

MONEY FOR A CAUSE: Mayor Mel Lastman launches Toronto Dollars, a currency initiated by Joy Kogawa to help the unemployed and homeless in the St Lawrence neighborhood. Lastman spent his bucks on salami and baked goods at St Lawrence market yesterday. (photo Alex Urosevic, SUN)

Money can't buy happiness, but the Toronto Dollar can sure make people smile.

 

 

The local Currency is worth the same as Canadian dollar. And when you trade in a Canadian buck for a Toronto Dollar, 10 cents goes to charity. So far, 80 local businesses accept it. "It doesn’t cost you and you're helping your community,” says Susan Bellan of Frida Craft, a Front St. business who helped pioneer the program.

"It came out of the grass roots," says Joy Kogawa of Toronto Dollar Inc. "So many community projects are getting cut back - this is a way of putting back into the community. The program was launched in December 1998.  So far there's about $60,000 in circulation - meaning $6000 has been put towards a few good things.

"We used our $500 in Toronto Dollars for a dinner for street youth,” says Barbara Walkden of the Yonge Street Mission. “Also, some of the street youth have sold their art for Toronto Dollars. The bills, which come in  $1, $5, $10 and $20 denominations can be bought at Toronto's First Post Office, Frida Craft stores, the FlatIron Building and two downtown CIBC branches. Toronto’s First Post Office, 260 Adelaide St. E., serves as the central bank for the Toronto Dollar. Businesses can sell the dollars back to the bank for 90c each, but most choose to keep them in circulation.

The participants include the delis, restaurants, bakeries and craft shops of the St Lawrence Market, plus Goodwill and other downtown merchants.Some 65 other North American cities have used the concept and by year's end, Toronto Dollar Inc. hopes to have $200,000 Toronto dollars in circulation.

"The idea is to get it working well here first, and then let it spread," says David Walsh (of Toronto Dollar Inc.)