KAMLOOPS CHAMBER 2020 BUSINESS EXCELLENCE AWARD NOMINATION

We are excited and honoured to have been nominated for a Kamloops Chamber Business Excellence Award for Not For Profit of the Year! 2020 just happens to mark our 25th Anniversary, which makes the nomination even more meaningful.

Over the last year the KFPC has really demonstrated its strength as a community organizer.

We spearheaded a regional Policy Implementation Project which brought together Indigenous communities, local governments and community partners such as food and agriculture-related non-profits, researchers, and educational agencies to identify where mutual objectives existed in relation to food and create action plans to collaborate on accomplishing them. One result of this project was a Food Processing and Innovation Hub feasibility study and a related pilot project where five local food processors were given business mentorship and workshops to help them grow and thrive. Another working group focused on developing local agricultural training initiatives.

In March 2019, the KFPC hosted Nourish, a community-wide dialogue on the root causes of household food insecurity. This event was planned in partnership with Interior Health, the Kamloops Aboriginal Friendship Centre, Interior Community Services, the Lived Experience Committee, and the Kamloops Food Bank. We brought in speakers who focused on two themes – Indigenous Food Sovereignty and Poverty as the root cause of household food insecurity. Over 80 people attended this event.

More recently, the KFPC took on the task of facilitating regular online Cross Agency meetings with local emergency food providers to establish a collaborative approach to the short-term food security crisis created by the COVID-19 pandemic. Attendees represent social service agencies, food organizations, businesses, Interior Health, local government, Indigenous communities, volunteer groups like Rotary, TRU, and organizers of mutual aid support groups like the Neighbour to Neighbour (N2N) online platform.

Also in response to Covid 19, the KFPC launched the Resiliency Gardening Campaign, which included offering free online gardening classes, promoting yard-sharing and gleaning, sharing seeds from our seed library, and creating the Butler Urban Farm, a cooperative farming venture intended to engage the community in growing and sharing food.

We would like to thank the Kamloops Chamber for recognizing our efforts, and acknowledge our fellow nominees in the Not For Profit of the Year category – Big Little Science Centre, and the Kamloops Symphony.