The Blue River community garden is looking to install a produce washing station and are one step closer as the Thompson-Nicola Regional District board of directors passed a recommendation to provide a letter of support for a grant application during the virtually-held meeting on May 13.
The application from the Blue River Community Association is requesting $1,300 in funding to install the wash station, which is the latest project in the continued development of the garden. The funding will be used to offset costs incurred in construction, according to a TNRD board report in the meeting agenda.
Considering the BRCA is not a registered charity, they requested the TNRD act as a flow through for the funds.
Decking materials will be donated by Wells Gray Home Hardware, though there are other materials that will be required, according to the grant application, and the labour will be done by volunteers.
The Blue River Community Garden is a “food producing oasis” in the small community and supports the elementary school in its education. It boasts 30 volunteers, and has become a socially-distanced meeting place in the pandemic.
“We are asking the North Thompson Communities Foundation to financially support our efforts to continue to create an inviting and inclusive space, one where all the members of the Blue River community feel welcomed and have a comfortable location to gather,” the grant application stated.
The wash station, it continues, will have a table with storage for cutting boards and other utensils, two sections of screen meshing to spray off produce and allow them to dry and a sink with bins underneath to catch the water.
“This station will be the perfect addition to the garden and will allow people to bring their own bowl, fork and dressing and to enjoy a salad in the screened-in gazebo — or to simply wash off their vegetables prior to taking them home.”
If the grant application is successful, the BRCA hopes to begin constructing the wash station late June.
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