February 2015
COMMUNITY NEWS
RenfrewCollingwoodCommunityNews.com
Greenest City and Neighbourhood Small Grants—and the Collingwood Education Program Have a great idea for your neighbourhood? Apply for a Neighbourhood Small Grant from the Vancouver Foundation. The deadline is coming up fast: March 31 for online applications. Students at the Collingwood Education Program (collingwooded.wordpress.com) promoted sustainability and created community connections by holding a tea and wreath-making event for seniors. The event had three parts and was made possible by a Neighbourhood Small Grant.
Part 1: The Neighbourhood Clean-up Students were aware that salmon had recently returned to Still Creek and understood that this was a result of efforts made to clean up the river. They discussed how the health of the river is directly connected to the land it runs through. They learned about how invasive species are altering the natural balance of the Renfrew Ravine, which Still Creek runs through. One very rainy morning, they went to the Renfrew Ravine to meet Carmen Rosen from Still Moon Arts Society. Carmen described some of the history of the Renfrew Ravine and explained Still Moon’s efforts to clean up the creek and restore indigenous plants to the ravine. Many bags of holly and ivy (invasive plants) were pulled from the ravine that day, some of which was used in the final part of this event.
Part 2: Baking with Locally Sourced Ingredients
A Neighbourhood Small Grant funded community projects by the Collingwood Education Program.
Remembering Bobbi Senft Page 3
Eating out in RC: Bernie’s Bureks and Restaurant Page 5
To prepare for a seniors event, students baked cookies. They had fun baking but had to make some important choices about ingredients, which they wanted to be locally sourced. Local eggs and butter were easily found, although students were surprised by the additional cost of organic items. Flour and sugar, on the other hand, were produced by Canadian companies but had to come from farther afield. Organic vanilla prepared in Richmond
Winnie Ma’s HUM
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Legion fundraiser
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