You Help Us Grow!

You know how folks say it’s a good quality to be flexible? Well, at Roots it feels like we’ve been taking that to the next level because we’re in full STRETCH mode! Like, yogi master sort of stretch is what we’re talking 🧘🏼‍♂️.

This past year we’ve stretched in a few ways you might have noticed. We started the Culture Kitchen for newcomer refugee women to gain economic opportunities within the food realm of Thunder Bay. We piloted a new in school program with 4 high schools (DFC, Hammarskjold, Matawa Learning Centre and Westgate CVI) called Forest Meets Farm, celebrating wild and cultivated foods of the region and challenging the confines of food literacy education (and people, we published a book about it!!). Oh yeah, and we’ve been living in renovation mode, which is nothing to complain about because it’s incredibly exciting, but it just adds to the stretch!

None of this happens without community support and over the past three years, community members have come on board as monthly donors to make all of this possible. 

We’re asking you to join this group of monthly donors and be a part of what makes Roots to Harvest possible.

For real. Roots to Harvest is supported by these people! 
Yes, we apply for grants and hold fundraisers because we need many means of funding to do what we do in the face of changing governments and shifting funding priorities. But it is our Cultivate folks who form the backbone of all that is possible at Roots to Harvest.  
Put it this way – if you like what you see at Roots to Harvest, it’s because someone like you is supporting our work, month to month, so we can keep growing and stretching, and taking risks.
What does being a Cultivate member mean??  
Do you like the idea of actively supporting something that is making a real and marked difference in the community, nay the world, every day? Apply here.  

Do you like random hugs in grocery lines? High fives at the coffee shop? Fist bumps at the hockey game? Then this gig is for you.  

Are you the type of human who’d rather be part of the solution, when a solution is at hand? Look no further.  ​​
Really, there are a LOT of reasons to become a Cultivate member with Roots to Harvest and we’d love to help you find your reason! We’re not really the song and dance type (though, we cut a mean rug) but if you like good, hard working, soil covered, dry hands and sunburned nose sorts of project we’re your peeps. Here’s what happens when you dig in with us month to month: 
  • More young folks are employed and supported as they navigate some of the toughest years of their lives;
  • A staff compliment that seeks learn, grow, stretch and strive to make every moment count and ensure every person is welcomed and belongs;
  • Vibrant and well-maintained spaces that the entire community can access, gather in, participate with are created;
  • Responsive programs are designed to meet the needs of our community and NOT the needs of the latest grant;
  • A grassroots organization is truly accountable to the community!

S O M E   O F   O U R   P L A N S   T H I S  C O M I N G   Y E A R   I N C L U D E : 
  • Travelling to Northern communities in the region to partner on building food capacity at a pace and scale set by community members;
  • Paying SHOW participants a living wage during their time with us;
  • Turning the new kitchen and office space into a community intersection where we can all meet, gather, learn, try and discuss together in an inspiring place;
  • Be open for new partnerships and possibilities as they arise (and they always do!).

Joining Cultivate  means we’re all in this together… and the world could use a little more of that these days 🌎. 
Thank you for sticking it out with us and believing in what Roots stands for!

SINCERELY,

Erin Beagle
Chaos Coordinator
Roots to Harvest

Ps: Becoming a Cultivate Member actually does have its benefits! Besides heaps of good karma, you’ll also get some Superior Seed Producer Seeds, a Roots to Harvest gift certificate good for all R2H products (even our swag!) and an invite to an old fashioned garden party in the summer!

Pps: Here's one more carrot for those of you who want to be an early bird and hop to this (that sounds like an early rabbit, not bird). If you sign up before March 11th we'll also include a 'Good Things Grow Here' patch with your seeds and R2H gift certificate! Sew onto your favourite bag, shirt, apron... and, thank you!