CELEBRATING LAURA'S RETIREMENT - WITH BOTH ROASTING & BOASTING

May 7, 2019

~ Much gratitude to Addie de Candole for the beautiful photos ~

Celebrating Laura
What a crowded hall it was on this special evening, a true testament to how many people Laura Kalina has impacted over her 30+ year career with Interior Health. Glenn Hilke kept the energy light and speeches were shared from Sheila Nelson (who helped found the Kamloops Food Policy Council with Laura), Tatjana Bates (an Interior Health Dietician who shared memories and also graced Laura with a whimsical handcrafted garden vest — see photo at the top of the post), Carole Hebden (KFPC President shared a note from Paula and Mendel Rubinson who also helped to form KFPC), and a message from Kendra Besanger who shared her gratitude all the way from Montreal.

The potluck was epic, including intricately decorated ‘pollinator’ cupcakes from Shirley Culver. Cheryl and Sheryl (who mentioned that Laura appreciates it when colleagues share the same name; it sure keeps things simple!) shared a hilarious slide show spanning topics such as: Laura, ‘The Promoter – Alert the Media!”, Learning About Food!, She is now ready to teach! and a Typical Work Day (which involved a whole lot of mountain biking and nordic skiing 😉 — looked incredible).

When the floor was opened up for Open Mic, many people spoke to how Laura inspired them to get involved in food security, focus their graduate studies on various aspects of the food system, and move to the city because of how many food-related initiatives there are here (most of which were started through Laura’s efforts). Without a doubt, Laura has accomplished so much in her career. Throughout, however, she held family as being of utmost importance.

Laura’s daughter and husband spoke to the amazing balance Laura was able to hold between an abundant career and being a very present and loving mother (Laura’s son also called in to offer congratulations). What was palpable in the room was the deep appreciation to Laura for welcoming so many to the community through food (action), helping people to feel at home here, being a person so rich in gratitude (and encouragement), and for generously sharing her bountiful gift of knowledge.

City staff offered thanks to Laura on many levels; personally, on behalf of the City of Kamloops, and the broader community. Rob Wright (Gardengate) and Glenn Hilke spoke to how Laura was a catalyst and a connector to bring a food-based social justice to Kamloops, to bring to the forefront the need to alleviate poverty and household food insecurity in our community.

Anyone who meets Laura is aware of her intensity, something which comes from the heart. Through this, as someone so aptly described during the celebration, Laura has helped “make Kamloops shine…for everyone.”

Although Laura has officially retired from Interior Health, she continues to work part-time with Qwemtsin Health and will be Kamloops Food Policy Council’s Honorary Director and Founding Member….forever. We love you, Laura!

Announcements
We Would Love Your Input!
You may have been at one of the three network meetings where discussions have been held about Kamloops Food Policy Council’s vision and new value statements. Here is the latest revision and we’d love to hear your feedback about them. You can click on the word ‘revision’ above and you will be taken to a working document. You can add a comment by highlighting the word or section of interest, then click on the speech bubble that shows up on the right to add a comment.

You can also download the Vision Statements for Kamloops Food System and email comments to lindsayellenharris@gmail.com

BC Food Costing Report Evaluation
Interior Health is collaborating with the BC Centre for Disease Control and to evaluate the BC Food Costing Report 2017 and Dissemination project. Please use the survey link: https://ext-qiqa.bcchr.ca/redcap/plugins/surveys/?s=AHJP9HH33N to provide feedback on the Report, Infographic and key messages. The anonymous survey should take about 15 minutes to complete. Deadline for your response is May 12th!

The purpose of the Food Costing in BC 2017 report is to provide data to assess food affordability – the amount of income required for individuals and families to eat a nutritionally adequate diet. This report is undertaken every two years, and this year we also released an infographic to help promote the key messages.

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