When you come to Canada Blooms in March, make sure to look for Gilda’s (Club) Gnome Garden.
20 adorable gnomes, painted by local celebrities and artists, will be planted in the garden, and ready for bidding on in a silent auction. Money raised from the auction will go to Gilda’s Club of Greater Toronto, an organization that supports people who are living with cancer, and their families. Gilda’s Club was named and developed in honour of Gilda Radner, the actor and comedian and one of the originators of Saturday Night Live.
The mission of Gilda’s Club is to ensure that all people impacted by any cancer are empowered by knowledge, strengthened by action and sustained by community. Emotional and social support are essential to a complete cancer care plan. All networking and support groups, educational workshops and social activities are provided free of charge.
The 5 core programmes of Gilda’s Club are: support groups for adults, teens and children, education workshops, healthy lifestyle activities, art-based programmes, and referrals and resources. The Club also hosts a March break camp and a July summer camp for children whose lives have been affected by a cancer diagnosis in the family.
Up above is a sneak peek of some of the gnomes that will be up for grabs. To the right is the National Ballet’s Artist-in-Residence and frequent judge on So You Think You Can Dance Canada, Rex Harrington‘s gnome.