Happy First Birthday to our Food Recovery Program!

Dandelion Did you know…..

Dandelions are a super food for bees in the Spring

Bees are the only pollinator that produces honey Bees pollinate over 70% of

fruit, vegetables and food. Let dandelions grow before you mow! Do not use chemicals to rid of dandelions (chemicals kill bees) Learn to appreciate a field of yellow– lets

help to save our bee friends!

Spring 2017 Volume 1, Issue 2

The Connector

Special points of interest:

Food Recovery Turns One!

Nutrition Month at

the Food Bank Food Explorers Cooking Club New Mentorship

Partnerships LGBTQ+ Kissing

Booth Inclusion Workshop

Recap Cam’s Trip of a Life-

time Heartfelt Tesimonial

Inside this issue:

Food Security 2

Family Services 3

Community Living 4

Spring Recipe 5

Kids Corner 6

Upcoming Events 8

Community Connections Presents

Our Food Recovery Program sprouted a year ago and what a growth we have seen. We have redirected over 70,000 lbs of food from ending up in the landfill. And while we have been feeding families, we have made friendships with over 15 agencies in town, providing them with food to help feed their members. Our program feeds about 500 people each week through our own programs, public pickup, Food Bank, and other agencies in our community. We have given over 3500 lbs of inedible food to local farmers for animal feed and compost. We are so happy to share our food with our community and thank all of our generous sponsors!

CC’s Food Explorers’ Cooking Club has been underway since February 1. A group of Grade 6/7 students have been recruit-ed to participate at Columbia Park Elementary School. Hands on cooking classes allow kids to learn basic cooking skills in order to prepare nutritious, balanced meals that they can make at home. Kids have preparing easy recipes, kitchen skills, and are learning how to have fun in the kitchen to make delicious food.

Sponsored through Hershey's Canada, the Cooking Club runs to March 15. The seven week long Club has partnered with the Local Food Initiative to teach where food comes from, and will team up with the Aboriginal Friendship Society to make Bannock shortly, part of a cultural theme. In the last session, the students will prepare lasagna to take home to share with their families and will prepare extra amounts to donate to the Food Bank, a way to give back to the community.

Cooking with the Food Explorers Club

clients are eating a balanced breakfast to start their day off right. We feel that our clients should have full bellies and we look forward to providing food down at the food bank.

Increasing food security for all citizens of Revelstoke is our mandate as we aim to provide nutritious food for our clients. In March, CC will be offering a light breakfast down at the Food Bank every Friday. By providing fresh fruit, toast, and yogurt, we can ensure that our

Page 2 The Connector

Food Security Celebrating Nutrition Month at the Food Bank

FREE INCOME TAX FILING is back for Food Bank clients for the month of March. Come down with your income slips, last years’ assessment and ID.

The volunteer team will do your income tax and file it online for free.

Our mentorship program is expanding thanks to our newest sponsor Revelstoke Nordic Ski Club. The RNSC offers free cross country ski and snowshoe rentals plus trail passes for our mentoring matches! This is a great addition to

our winter activities. Also, a big thank you to RMR for their fifth year of sponsoring CC’s programs including the Mentoring program. They provide lift passes, rentals, sightseeing and tube park passes.

Community Connections, along with Stoke Youth are running a new program. “Not So Straight” aims to offer a safe, fun hangout for LGBTQ+ youth and friends at the high school. Friends get together every

Wednesday over lunch hour. To gain awareness, the Not So Straight group set up a Kissing Booth for Valentines Day, offering some wet smooches from Brushy, the therapy dog at RSS. How Cute!! Brushy, will you be my valentine?

Smoochie, Smoochie on Valentines Day

Welcome Revelstoke Nordic Ski Club to our Mentorship Program!

Page 3 Volume 1, Issue 2

Family Services

SCDP Hosted Workshop Provides Support for Special Need Families

On February 23, 2017, CC’s Supported Child Development (SCDP) hosted a workshop “On my way. Transition Planning ” with Inclusion BC. Inclusion BC is a non profit organization that supports and provides educational information for parents/care givers who have children with disabilities. They also work to bring changes to school districts and government officials in treatment of people with disabilities. Inclusion BC was founded in 1955 by a group of

parents and they continue to bring support and education to the province. Check out their website for more Information: www.inclusionbc.org SCDP supports children (and their families) who are 3-19 years of age with disabilities. When children reach the age of 19 they may qualify for CLBC (Community Living) services, an adult program for individuals who have disabilities. There is a big process for families to maneuver before their child

turns 19 and receives adult services. Inclusion BC’s presentation was about the details for parents to consider and to discuss. This workshop was also presented the following day for workers that support children/teens with disabilities. These workshops were also in collaboration with School District # 19.

The start of 2017, brought new exciting adventures for our seniors living in Revel-stoke. For one individual in particular, the new year started off with a number of first time experiences. I was lucky enough to be asked to join Cameron on an overnight trip to Vancou-ver and share in his experience of his first plane ride and Canucks' game. If you have ever met Camer-on, you would know he is an avid sports fan. The nights I

work for Cameron, there's no need to turn on the TV to watch the highlights; Cameron has already recapped all of the games, scores and "who's gunna get heck". Over Christmas, Cameron was gifted Vancouver Canucks tickets, a trip was planned and off we went to watch the game - and Camer-on was ecstatic. - Will Moores, Residential Care Worker

BC. About half actually. Every month is a huge financial struggle for our basic needs being met. The FB's subsidy of healthy food provides us staples for the month when receiving our stocked hamper. We also receive health conscious lunch snacks, local veggies, fruits, milk, margarine, breads and canned items on a weekly basis. Without this generosity from the community my child and I would be severely malnourished and hungry daily. I could write on forever of our appreciation of Patti and all the others, for not only do they provide us with nourishing food, they provide us a safe place in the community to attend weekly. There is no "stigmatism" of being "poor" there. It's a community of individuals with their own trials and tribulations

The Revelstoke Food Bank (FB) is one of the most amazing places; sharing food, love, and compassion on a daily basis. A handful of caring workers and volunteers happily spend countless hours all week long preparing for Friday's big event. The day the "not so well off financially” families of Revelstoke can meet and receive food for our families. Even though my family is quite small, the two of us benefit dearly from the local FB program. As a single disabled mother of a child in elementary school, it has always been difficult to manage the small amount of food money we have left after paying rent and bills. With the cost of living in today's world we live far under the poverty level of even the average norm of what poverty is for a single family in

Eat, Sleep, Breath Sports

Food Bank Brings A Family Much Needed Support (continuation from Food Security)

Page 4 The Connector

Community Living

of life. The FB is so much more than "free food"... it's like a family some of us don't have. It is smiles and personal greetings. It's a "hello and how was your week?” It's a place to meet others in need and a forum also to ex-change ideas for a better life. Daily life is a personal struggle, trying to balance a lack of funds in an expensive world. The Food Bank program and its workers and volunteers step up past the "plate" per say when it comes to helping families move forward to a more positive future. Food in the bellies of children and the hungry ... is definitely food for thought. -Anonymous FB Mother

Page 5 Volume 1, Issue 2

Spring Recipe New Mama Glo Bars

These Glo Bars with new mamas in mind, but rest assured that they can be enjoyed by all! These nut-free Glo Bars contain oats, ground flax, sesame seeds, and coconut oil, all of which are thought to help boost milk supply in breastfeeding women. They are a great no-bake bar to store in the freezer before baby arrives, too; you can keep a stash in your freezer so you always have some on hand. You can purposely make these bars nut- and chocolate-free because, in some cas-es, these foods can contribute to fussy breastfed babies (of course, every baby is different—tweak as you see fit!). But it also makes them a great nut-free option for after school snacks, too! Prep Time: 15 minutes / Chill Time: 10 minutes

Instructions 1. Line a 9-inch square pan with a piece of parchment paper. I like to leave some overhang so the bars are easy to lift out after freezing. 1. In a large bowl, stir together the dry ingredients (oats, cereal, sesame seeds, pepita seeds, ground flaxseed, dried fruit, coconut, cinnamon, and salt). 2. Add the brown rice syrup into a small pot over low heat. Stir in the maple syrup, sunflower seed butter, and coconut oil until combined. When the mixture is warm and runny remove from heat. Stir in the vanilla. 3. Immediately pour the brown rice syrup mixture over the dry ingredients (I use a spatula to scoop every last drop!) and with a large metal spoon, stir until the oats are fully coated in the syrup mixture. This can take some elbow grease, but we don’t want any dry patches, so mix well. 4. Scoop the mixture into the prepared pan and spread out evenly. I like to lightly wet my hands and use them to spread the mixture out. Simply press down firmly with your hands—the more you pack down the mixture the better the bars hold together. Using your fingertips, press the mixture downward along the edges to create straight edges. 5. Place the pan in the freezer, uncovered, for about 10 to 15 minutes until the bars firm up enough to slice. Remove the slab and place on a cutting board. With a pizza slicer, slice the bars into 12 equal bars. Wrap each bar separately in plastic wrap. Store in the fridge for up to 1 week, or freeze the wrapped bars in a freezer-safe zip bag for 4 to 6 weeks. The bars will firm up when chilled. You can let them sit at room temperature for 5–10 minutes before enjoying, if desired.

Wet Ingredients 1/2 cup brown rice syrup 1 tablespoon pure maple syrup 1/4 cup smooth sunflower seed butter 1/2 tablespoon coconut oil 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Dry Ingredients 1 1/2 cups gluten-free rolled oats 3/4 cup gluten-free rice crisp cereal 1/4 cup white sesame seeds 1/4 cup pepita seeds 1/4 cup ground flaxseed 1/3 cup dried cranberries or dried cherries 2 tablespoons unsweetened dried shredded coconut 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon 1/4 teaspoon Pink Himalayan Salt

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Kids Corner

Page 7 Volume 1, Issue 2

Coloring page drawn by : Suri Stewardson, age 9 If you have a little artist at home who would like to draw a coloring page for other kids.

Please submit a Summer-themed drawing to jfraser@community-connections.ca by May 1, 2017.

Organization

Community Connections (Revelstoke) Society

314- Second Street East Revelstoke, BC V0E 2S0

Phone: (250) 837-2920 Fax: (250) 837-2909

E-mail: info@community-connections.ca

Check out our website @ Community-connections.ca

@community. connecttions.

revelstoke

Upcoming Events

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Community Connections will be closed

April 13 and May 19 for Stat Holidays.

Stayed tuned for our next quar-terly newsletter in June 2017.