Friends of Estonian House Becomes a Non- Profit Organization

The Friends of Estonian House have officially registered as a non- profit organization. Thanks to everyone who has supported and encouraged us, donated financially to our projects or volunteered their expertise and time. Our goal is to remain at 958 Broadview Ave. and to support Estonian cultural activities and programs. To date, we have repaired, painted, cleaned and restored the Estonian House facilities. Some examples of our work include: painting the Grand Hall, the classrooms and lower level of EH, purchasing and installing carpet tiles in the main foyer and installing new flooring in one of the school classrooms with the Estonian School. We have also cleaned and organized the Estonian House kitchens, done seasonal clean-up of the parking lot and outdoor spaces. Together with the Ethnographic Society and the "talgulised", the Estonian themed stripes were painted on the exterior of the cloakroom. We organized the AKEN "Hiigelbasaar kohvik" and have held numerous Friends Cafes/Bake Sales. During the past year we wrote grant applications, all of which were successfully approved for funding. Grant funds for kitchen upgrades worth thousands of dollars were approved in the spring. The much talked about roof grant ($67,800) which the "talgulised" wrote earlier in the year was just approved by the City of Toronto. We are thrilled that our projects were chosen. As the roof grant is contingent upon the official signature of the EH Board (and community fundraising to match the City of Toronto's grant program), we look forward to working cooperatively with the Board to secure the full grant. Fundraising will commence once an EH Board decision is rendered and announced to the community. This grant will help keep a safe and sound roof over our heads for as long as we are all on Broadview. We would like to thank everyone who has already pledged to our roof fund and welcome any other donations and volunteers to help preserve and improve the Broadview Ave. Estonian House.