Giving Tuesday: Support Food Sustainability in Cranbrook & Kimberley

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Tuesday, November 30 is Giving Tuesday—a global movement dedicated to giving back. Giving Tuesday comes on the heels of Black Friday and Cyber Monday but rather than shopping, the focus of this special day is on community giving. 

This Giving Tuesday, we’re asking for donations towards Wildsight Kimberley Cranbrook‘s food security projects. Big or small, your contribution will ensure that the following community initiatives will not only run in 2022 but thrive! 

Kimberley Community Garden

The Kimberley Community Garden is a demonstration garden designed to educate and encourage local food growers. The garden is located on Rotary Drive and was developed in 2014. Stop by and you’ll find a gazebo, composting bins, tool shed, and garden plots brimming with vegetables and herbs. Everyone is welcome to visit, garden, and harvest. 

Donations will go towards garden upkeep (from weeding and irrigating to building beds and compost bins), educational workshops, and future expansion projects. 

DONATE

 

Apple Capture

Fruit trees are abundant in the East Kootenays but when the fruit is left to fall off the tree, it attracts local wildlife including deer and bears. Wildsight Kimberley Cranrbook’s Apple Capture program is here to help locals keep up with their annual fruit harvest and turn would-be wildlife attractants into locally sourced, nutritious food. 

We host a Tree Share Board that connects tree owners with pickers, lend out Apple Harvest Equipment, and organize Pick & Press events that turn Cranbrook and Kimberley apples into fresh-squeezed juice—often with students and youth groups! We also partner with the Healthy Kimberley Food Recovery Depot to ensure that this fruit gets into the hands of locals who want and need it most. 

Your donations will help us carry out this program and work towards a future where no apple is left unpicked!

DONATE

 

Backyard Farmers

This summer, we partnered with the Healthy Kimberley Food Recovery Depot to pilot the Backyard Farmers project; our mission is to provide more fresh, nutrient-dense produce to our local residents at no cost. We educated local growers of all levels through a series of workshops hosted at the Kimberley Community Garden. We also built 9 raised beds in 5 backyards and, with the help of our dedicated volunteers, produced about 230 lbs. of produce that was distributed for free at the Food Recovery Depot.

With a successful pilot season behind us, we hope to grow the Backyard Farmers program to at least 10 plots in and produce at least 250 lbs. of fresh produce for donation in 2022. Our ultimate hope would be to grow exponentially each year and, as a by-product, develop an enthusiastic local network of backyard farmers.

DONATE

 

4 Ways to Give

  1. Donate what you can. Whether it’s a one-time donation or the equivalent of a fancy latte a week, a little generosity goes a long way.
  2. Become a member. Join us and be part of a collective that values wilderness, wildlife and healthy communities. 
  3. Watch the Banff Centre Mountain Film Festival World Tour! That’s right, watch inspiring outdoor films and take part in our biggest fundraiser of the year. This year, there will be two ways to watch: online as well as live at Key City Theatre on January 7 & 8, 2022.
    Be the first to know when tickets go on sale.
  4. Spread the word. Share this blog post or our social media posts with your network and help us get the word out! We believe that if everyone gives a little, we can achieve a lot!

 

Want to learn more about Giving Tuesday? Watch the video below and see what former US President Barack Obama has to say!

“Around the world, #GivingTuesday is a grassroots movement that illustrates the impact we can have when we all pull together. The investments we make— in both time and funding—can help solve the urgent problems of today and will make the next generation stronger.”

– Barack Obama