Barbara Frum District Blog

By now, most of us agree that human evolution is real and that change is inevitable.  What most of us may disagree about is how or by what means evolution takes place.  This is outside the purview of this article, but what is important is the question about the ways in which humanity can develop.

Here is another reality check – our livelihood is very much affected by the economy of things whether we like it or not.  For this reason, some of the wealthiest people on earth have donated millions and in some cases billions of dollars to fund programs or projects that have a special humanitarian impact.

George Soros, one of the world’s leading economic thinkers, has donated around $8 billion dollars in his life time.  His life-time accomplishments are astounding; first helping overcome communism in central Europe, later helping to eradicate ‘blood diamonds’ in troubled African societies, helping build communities in the roughest areas in Haiti and much more (order The Philanthropy of George Soros for more).  Amazingly, there are other business magnates that have donated even more than Soros including the prominent Bill Gates (Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation).  The foundation has raised a staggering $31 Billion USD. 

On the local scale and much closer to home, business magnates also support their local communities.  Although these philanthropic donations do not have global humanitarian influence, they still create a positive impact on our local communities.

What actually inspired me to write this article is the generous donation from Murray Frum and the Frum Family of $100,000 CAD issued to the Toronto Public Library Foundation for interior improvements of the Barbara Frum Library. The in-kind gift will help the library respond to the growing needs of the community. Some features that will be phased in during the next four years include two new service zones for early literacy and computer learning. 

Preparing children for reading and writing before they enter school is indeed an important part of human evolution.  Experts say the first three tender years of a child’s life sets the stage for future learning – literacy begins day one.  Providing people with information technology and teaching those that are not familiar with it, is increasingly important.  Government, business and cultural information is found extensively online and even TPL continues to augment online collections. It’s becoming necessary to effectively navigate the online-electronic landscape, and we’re excited about equipping the library with an improved facility to do so.

A special thanks to The Frum Family for their generous donation in supporting local human development!