Caledon pop-up market aiming to make a difference by raising money for Indigenous children

By Rob Paul

On Sunday, August 8, from 12 p.m. to 4 p.m. there will be a pop-up market near Lina Marino Park on Valleywood Boulevard in Caledon.

This isn't just any pop-up market though; the aim of this market is to make a tangible difference.

With the recent discovery of the remains of Indigenous children and hundreds of unmarked graves found in Canada at the locations of residential schools, there has been an uproar for the country's past mistakes.

There's been a call on Canadians to show their support— including wearing orange on Canada Day—for the Indigenous communities across the country.

Lynn Giambattista saw an opportunity to help show support and get others involved too through a pop-up market raising money for Indigenous Children.

“It's just a one-time thing, but I feel like nothing is being done for the Indigenous kids,” said Giambattista. “Nothing is being done at all to save these kids and show that they matter. We have markets all over the place and I said, ‘You know what? I could have a market myself in Valleywood and get 25 to 30 vendors to come and charge them $50 to $100 each to pop the tents up for that day and have every single cent of that money goes to the First Nations of Mississauga to help where it can.”

This was the perfect opportunity for Giambattista to do something because of her experience running a market.

“I do a market every Saturday in Georgetown,” she said. “I retired due to COVID and started doing the market and I also do some charity work on the side to try and help the community.”

Getting vendors for the market has been a little bit difficult, but it's beginning to come together and Giambattista says she is excited to see the Caledon community come together for a good cause.

“It's a little bit hard, but I'm on them every day,” she said. “Right now, we have about 12 and we're hoping to get at least another 10. There are also four kids from the neighbourhood who are going to volunteer their time to get some hours for high school. Cheers to those kids, it's so beautiful that they're going to come help me out. We're going to make this all work!”

The market is a community event where vendors can showcase products, but she wants to make the focal point the fact that this is for the Indigenous communities that have dealt with so much pain in this country.

“I've asked all the vendors to wear orange that day, orange everything,” Giambattista said. “So hopefully everyone will be wearing orange for the kids.”

She's adamant this isn't about her—she didn't even want recognition—nor the market she's running; all Giambattista wants is to make a difference and get as many people aware and donating as possible. 

“I'm not doing it to get pictures in the paper, I'm doing it to get hundreds of people to come and donate money and be there to show support,” she said. “We're hoping everyone from the neighbourhood will come and we'll have signs up on the highway where you get off the 410.”

It has stuck with her since the news about the remains found at residential schools came out and Giambattista noticed that while there was an outcry in the moment, not been much done to help since. 

“Nobody is doing anything for these kids. They just say, ‘It's so sad,' and then they move on,” she said. “It's like nobody is being held accountable and nobody is doing anything. It's like we've forgotten already. This isn't just one child, it's thousands and it's terrible.”

At the end of the day, Giambattista just wanted to make sure she did something to show she cares because she believes this country can't heal without people putting in the effort to show they care about the Indigenous community. 

“It's all about the kids,” she said. “Every child matters and we need to support the Indigenous community all the way. Everybody has got to step up and do something, anything, to help.”