Charity Step

Charity Step began with the kind of bold innocence that only comes when you genuinely don’t know what you’re doing but feel unmistakably pulled toward doing it anyway. We didn’t have a roadmap. We barely had a plan. What we did have was a shared love of house music, a soft spot for the Eglinton Grand, a connection to Matt C, and a circle of friends whose families had been touched by cancer. That combination was enough to spark something bigger than us.

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The rave flyer culture we grew up with gave us the aesthetic language to start. Mark Peros, our resident designer and creative spark, helped shape the look. We pooled what little money we had, put down a deposit on the venue, and set out to do something that felt equal parts impossible and inevitable. Tickets were printed and sold by hand. Play De Record in downtown Toronto agreed to carry them, a nod to the scene that raised us. But the real lifeblood came from friends and family who believed in us. Thanks for buying those tickets!!!

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Charity Step 1 was a smash. A beautiful collision of community, music, purpose, and the kind of chaotic joy that only happens when a group of twenty-somethings decide to try something meaningful with absolutely no guarantee that it will work. The night was fun, it was full, and it lit a fire under all of us. As soon as the suncame up, we knew we wanted to do it again.