Are you a food access provider or supportive service located in the RDKB? Email to be included in our monthly online networking opportunity. August 24th, 2024 marked a 9-year anniversary of the Boundary Food Security Network. The original gathering was held at The Bridge Drop-In Center with lunch and a tour of the Midway Community Garden. Planned prior to a devastating forest fire, the meeting was
held immediately following, allowing participants to respond by coordinating and mobilizing together with greater ease. Participants that joined the table that day were previously isolated in roles whose hazards included compassion fatigue, stigma-based opposition, and a lack of renewable resources to make a lasting impact. Finding out other towns and cities within our region were facing and creatively overcoming some of the challenges was enormously helpful. A decision was made that day to meet quarterly, and with the ongoing support of Trails to the Boundary, minutes from meetings were captured and circulated to attendees. As the world entered COVID this then established ad hoc food security group shifted to monthly online meetings which strengthened the connective regional tissue. Meetings look like a simple check in and could leave an onlooker wondering why? The point is that regular check-ins facilitate the development of a safe community space which results in between meeting support, shared education, and the growth of a shared regional perspective. Participants in attendance remain autonomous in their day-to-day service of our region. We support one another avoiding competition. These ad hoc networks outcomes are numerous including:
Opportunities to lend our individual voices to regional plans
Valuable partnerships like The Food Share and Boundary Community Food Bank
Collaborative disaster response in fires, floods, and COVID
Formalization of non-profit boards from informal groups
The introduction of programs and services available to those served, e.g. Fortis audits
Cross regional friendships and community connections
Celebration of each other's successes e.g. Big White Greenhouse grand opening
Movement of supplies, groceries, seedlings, and mulch across the region
The development of Boundary Food Recovery as we know it today
Boundary Food Recovery was developed as a result of collaboration between Gospel Chapel, and the Boundary Community Food Bank who had reached out to offer an opportunity they were having to turn away due to lack of space in their location. Without the established relationships formed and nurtured in the Boundary Food Security Network the ease of food distribution would not exist. The Boundary Food Security Network program which includes Boundary Food Recovery Incubated under the umbrella of Gospel Chapels Community Care Ministry which closed in Dec 2022 it was Jan of 2023 that the program moved to Boundary Community Ventures Assn and has flourished since. Boundary Food Security Network looks forward to entering its tenth year with a hope to formalize and offer education which improve service delivery in the Boundary for the benefit of those who are at risk of facing food insecurity for a variety of reasons which include the economy and natural disasters.
