Nanaimo Foodshare has new space to deliver education workshops and other programs, thanks to a significant donation from the Rotary Club of Nanaimo.
The Rotary Club supported Nanaimo Foodshare Society with a $10,000 donation toward the society’s new education and food preparation area at Cline farm.
Rotary volunteers helped work on the farm and helped set up the new education and food prep area, which included a food-safe outdoor floor, stainless steel prep tables and work areas, cooking burners, sinks and more.
Foodshare will use the space for employability programs helping vulnerable community members, and for other programs including cooking with students, people with developmental disabilities and others.
“The outdoor space enables program participants to harvest food and cook it right at the farm while enjoying views of the fields in which it was grown – a truly farm-to-fork experience,” noted a Rotary Club press release.
Debbie Narver, from Rotary’s community partnerships committee, said in the release that the club recognizes the “tremendous value” that Foodshare provides in the community and wanted to help with the education and food preparation space initiative.
Lisa Guizzo, Nanaimo Foodshare Society’s finance manager, said in the release that Rotary’s support was a game-changer.
“There is no better way to build community than growing and sharing food, and this facility is making that happen,” Guizzo said.
The donation was possible through proceeds of Rotary Used Book Sale events and from a matching grant from Rotary District 5020. The Rotary Club of Nanaimo also provided $25,000 to Foodshare in 2020 for walk-in coolers at Cline farm.
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