
UPDATE: Thanks to your incredible support we have passed our original goal of $5000! Initially, we thought this would be a tough goal to meet but clearly we underestimated your generosity. However, there are still many fire recovery and food security initiatives underway at OKIB, all in need of support, including the OKIB Fire Recovery fund. With this in mind, the OKIB food security coordinator, Nikki Lorentz, will be making decisions about allocating the surplus funds between this meat drive and other important recovery and food security initiatives such as OKIB’s collaboration with the Good Food Box OKIB community garden. This will be reported back transparently to all donors through this site. We welcome your continued support.
Members of the Okanagan Indian Band (OKIB) are recovering from the devastating wildfire that burned through their community this summer. Due to the power outages caused by the fire, many lost the wild meat and fish stored in their freezers—food that would normally keep their families fed throughout the winter. The community’s grocery store was also lost in the burn, meaning their access to food has been greatly reduced. On top of this, some OKIB households are currently under evacuation alert due to the threat of flooding and landslides.
The intense summer heat has also meant that many hay and grain farmers had unsuccessful crops this year. As a result, the cost of feeding farm animals has risen dramatically, meaning many local farmers are having to slaughter more animals than anticipated as they can no longer secure the hay needed to overwinter them. This has meant a great deal of economic uncertainty for farmers.
As a result, the OKIB community, Land to Table (L2T), and the Social Planning and Research Council of BC (SPARC) are partnering to address the immediate need that both these challenges present.
We have started a GoFundMe to collect cash donations to purchase meat directly from local farmers (especially those who are struggling to overwinter their animals). This meat will then be used to restock the OKIB community freezer and will be distributed to community members in need with a focus on Elders and young families.
[…] we have been partnering with the Okanagan Indian Band (OKIB) to coordinate projects like the Meat Drive and explore opportunities for expanding the OKIB garden program. This partnership has only just […]