Arkells' new TDSB merch supports breakfast programs in Toronto schools
· Toronto Sun
Hamilton band Arkells’ new merch is TDSB-related.
The group is currently offering two hats for sale on its website — the Green TDSB Rope Hat and the Grey TDSB Floppy Hat, both priced at $40 apiece — with all the proceeds going to support healthy breakfast programs for students in Toronto schools,
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“I started wearing this homemade hat for my mom, a retired TDSB special education teacher,” explains frontman Max Kerman on arkellsmusic.com.
“Every day, she worked to create a safe and engaging place for kids often dealing with difficult circumstances in their lives. She made a difference — and gave parents the comfort of knowing their child was cared for. Now, I wear the hat for all teachers, in recognition of both the challenges they face and the dignity of the work they do.”
Arkells also has Canadian musicians including Blue Rodeo’s Jim Cuddy, Broken Social Scene’s Kevin Drew and former Barenaked Ladies member Steven Page wearing the TDSB hats on the group’s website, noting that they all also went to public schools.
A memento ‘to celebrate’ Toronto’s public education system
“If we want our public schools to work, we have to love them with all that love entails: Care, determination, creativity, patience — and occasionally, a memento to celebrate what we’ve got,” writes Kerman.
“So I made a hat. A tip of the cap! Wearing it has sparked countless conversations with teachers, parents and alumni. People seem genuinely excited to see it out in the wild — a little symbol of an institution that belongs to everybody. A nation-building project that, when we invest in it, shapes the kind of Canadians we become: People who look out for each other.”
Arkells have Canadian tour dates starting in early November that take them to play several nights each in Saskatoon, Winnipeg and Ottawa before they play OLG Stage at Fallsview Casino in Niagara Falls, Ont., on Dec. 17 and Sleigh The Night on Dec. 18-19 at JAG Soundhouse in St. John’s, NL.
If you’d like to simply donate to the Toronto Nutrition Program, you can do so here: tfss.ca/donate/ .
Otherwise, Kerman says “All proceeds will support healthy breakfast programs for students in Toronto schools because, as my mom knows well, it’s hard to learn when you’re hungry.”