Raising funds for chefs is icing on the cake!

What do birthdays, workouts, and Growing Chefs have in common? This year, our superstar volunteer, Barb Mackenzie, combined her passion for all three at her annual birthday workout. We’ve asked Barb to tell us all about it!

Barb stretches at her Annual Birthday Workout & Fundraiser.

How did you become involved with the Growing Chefs community?
I think I must have been doing a Google search to see about cool, inspiring programs in the community, by the community and came across Growing Chefs. I was so surprised and happy to learn it was a local program, teaching kids such great skills and knowledge. I thought the classroom program was absolutely amazing and wanted to learn how I could get involved.

Tell us more about your birthday workouts?
In lieu of birthday gifts I wanted to spread the love to the community and thought, what better way than to collect monetary donations and work with Growing Chefs to bring this program into a local Elementary School. So once a year, family and friends will get together to sweat it out! I host a different workout annually, and it's a great way for all of us to make time to come together, try something new, get out of our comfort zones and have fun together.

What inspires you to give back to your community?
It's something that just feels great, and fills my soul. Friends and family also love having the opportunity to get involved, and are always down to support as long as there's somebody coordinating the effort, lol. And now having three kids, I love getting them involved, and teaching them about thinking of others before themselves. 

Do you have any advice for people that want to host a unique event or fundraiser?
Find something you love doing, or something you've always wanted to try and rally all your friends and family. Reach out to the place you want to do something with, and they'll coordinate the details with you. The "fun" part is picking a date and time that works for most schedules, but if you have enough lead time, I find most people can make it happen. Humans love a reason to come together, and what better way then something fun, out of our comfort zone, community building and something we get to do together. 

Creative Community Impact Stories feature members of our community that are raising funds and awareness for Growing Chefs by doing what they love. If you have an idea for a fundraiser or a friend-raiser, reach out, we would love to hear from you. 

Contact:
Afton Bell
afton@growingchefs.ca

Celebrating International Women's Day and Local Food Businesses

Last year on International Women's Day, we celebrated 10 women who have made a big impact at Growing Chefs! We included our founder, classroom volunteers, our female staff, and some of our community supporters. This year we want to celebrate a few female owned and/or run food businesses that are connected to Growing Chefs! As Melinda Gates says, “When we invest in women and girls, we are investing in the people who invest in everyone else.”

Photography from The Globe and Mail.

Karen McAthy of Blue Heron Creamery and Soil
Vancouver

Chef Karen is a long time supporter of Growing Chefs! She has volunteered in the classroom, been a chef at multiple From Farms to Forks (our annual Harvest Kitchen Party), put on fundraising dinners to support us, and she has been even hosted volunteer appreciation events for us. She recently delivered a plant-based cheese tasting at our 2019 AGM. Chef Karen is the head chef and owner of Blue Heron Creamery making delicious plant-based cheeses and co-operator of Soil, a plant-based eatery in Vancouver’s Mount Pleasant community. On top of all her accomplishments, she is also an award winning writer for “The Art of Plant-based Cheesemaking”.

Photography from Port Moody & Co.

Taryn Barker of The Little Butcher Shop
Port Moody

Taryn Barker is the owner and head butcher of The Little Butcher Shop in Port Moody. Even with most butchers in Canada being male, The Little Butcher Shop has a almost all-female team. Taryn is the driving force behind supplying local BC meat to her customers and being a strong supporter of local food companies. This spring, Taryn is returning for her second year volunteering in a Growing Chefs! classroom.

Photography from The Vancouver Sun and Allison Kuhl Photography.

Gabriella Mayer of Harvest Community Foods
Vancouver

Gabriella is the chef and co-owner of Harvest Community Foods in Vancouver’s Chinatown and former Growing Chefs! classroom volunteer. Harvest Community Foods sells local, organic, and seasonal foodie goodies, as well as has one of best noodle menus in the city. It is also the only place in Vancouver to get a chef-picked CSA (community supported agriculture) bag with produce from local farms. Chef Gabe is a fierce advocate for supporting local food systems and businesses.

Photography from Central Park Farm.

Kendall Ballantine of Central Park Farm
Langley

Kendall is the head farmer and owner of Central Park Farm. She became inspired to start feeding her family food that she knew exactly what was in it and where it came from, so Kendall left her corporate job to become a farmer and opened Central Park Farm. Central Park Farm raises free-range, pastured, and grass-fed animals. They also have Farmer Ashlee from Inner Peas Market Garden growing beautiful, organic vegetables on the farm. Did you know BC has the most female farmers in all of Canada?

We love to celebrate women and the impact that they have on their communities. But, it’s one thing to celebrate women and another thing to invest in them. Here at Growing Chefs! we challenge you to invest your money where your best intentions are and support more female-owned businesses year-round. We know we will be!

Thank you to all women making an impact on their local food systems and in their communities. And let us know who they are - tell us about your favourite female-owned business. HAPPY INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY!