Oshawa approves community garden
New community garden planned for Legends Centre in Oshawa
OSHAWA — Oshawa’s newest community garden is set to sprout at the Legends Centre this fall.
It’s the second local community garden project spearheaded by the Foundation for Building Sustainable Communities, a group dedicated to preserving the planet.
“People need to get back to basics when it comes to food,” said FBSC president Joan Kerr. “Growing and cooking your own fresh produce is nutritious and it’s good for the environment.”
The FBSC opened its first community garden in Oshawa this spring at Windfields Farm. Ms. Kerr said the response has been enthusiastic, with families working together on their plots.
“It’s using food as a catalyst for community building,” she said.
When it came time to choose a location for the next garden, Ms. Kerr worked with City of Oshawa staff to find a spot that met all the criteria, from water availability and security to shade and parking.
Mike Molinari, the City’s director of parks and environmental services, said the Legends Centre — located on Harmony Road North — was the clear winner, especially because it already has ample washrooms and parking.
“All the infrastructure is already in place, and that land wasn’t being used for anything, so it’s perfect,” he said.
Council’s community services committee approved the Legends Centre location on June 15 and council is expected to confirm its support June 28.
The site has room for 80 garden plots, which will be rented out for between $40 and $50 per season, as well as space to build raised, accessible garden beds.
Jessica Markland Award
Joan Kerr received the Jessica Markland Award for promoting a sustainable lifestyle through creative partnerships
Introducing Windfields Community Garden
The Windfields Community Garden has become a reality and this article Community garden to sprout in north Oshawa, has appeared in newdurhamregion.com by Melissa Mancini.
The vision is to make this a real hub for Oshawa where people can garden, eat nutritious food, connect and just relax.
Gardening is a good way to live healthy and enjoy the outdoors. Oh, did I mention eating.
Oshawa beats provincial Earth Hour average
OSHAWA — Residents pretended there was a power outage on Saturday.
Residents took the Earth Hour challenge and switched off electronics and lights for an hour.
Oshawa’s demand for electricity dropped 6.84 per cent or 10 megawatts during the one-hour worldwide initiative, compared to Ontario’s drop of approximately four per cent or 560 megawatts as reported by the Independent Electricity System Operator (IESO), according to a City news release.
Earth Hour started in Sydney, Australia. In 2008, 2.2 million residents pledged to turn off their lights for one hour to focus attention on climate change. In 2009, Earth Hour reached one billion people in 4,088 cities and towns in 88 countries, the City release said.
This year, the City of Oshawa hosted its first Earth Hour event at UOIT in partnership with the Foundation for Building Sustainable Communities. During Earth Hour, they offered a free screening of the documentary Home.
FBSC Getting more organized
The Foundation for Building Sustainable Communities (fbsc.org) is attempting to get more formalized with our tweets and information pertaining to the organization and have created a the twitter account fbscinfo. Some exciting projects to follow are:
- Earth Hour Community Event
- Earth Week
- A Growing Concern: community gardens, CSA and home gardening
- Speakers’ Forum
- Reelfood
Lots of exciting programs and partnerships designed for preserving and respecting our planet.
Joan Kerr will launch her body care line and tweets will reflect that focus.
UN Women’s Day Message
Message from Irina Bokova Director-General of UNESCO on the occasion of International Women’s Day – 8 March 2010
United Nations Calender 2010
UN Days, Weeks and Years > International Days and Weeks
Since the early days of the United Nations system, the UN has established a set of Days and Weeks (as listed below), Years and Decades to help focus the world on the issues in which the UN has an interest and commitment. The UN calls on Member States and other organizations to mark these days in ways which reflect their priorities.
Sometimes the promotion of a specific day is led by a specific UN agency or programme, for example the World Health Organization (WHO) leads World Health Day and World No-Tobacco Day, UN Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) leads World Water Day and International Literacy Day, UN Environment Programme (UNEP) leads World Environment Day etc.
Some UN agencies also have their own international days (e.g. WHO’s World TB Day and UNESCO’s World Philosophy Day), established and promoted by the agency but not designated by the UN General Assembly for the full UN system. While equivalent in purpose, the following list does not include agency-specified days.
Sunday night’s Gens game goes green
January 21, 2010
OSHAWA — The Friends of the Greenbelt Foundation is celebrating the fifth anniversary of the greenbelt this weekend with a special event at Sunday night’s Oshawa Generals game.
The Greenbelt Foundation has partnered with the Foundation for Building Sustainable Communities for the event, which takes place as the Gens face off against the Saginaw Spirit at the General Motors Centre.
During the celebration, T-shirts will be launched into the crowd and screens will showcase videos about the greenbelt, clean water and local food.
Outside the arena, Durham’s own Kent Farms will offer patrons a taste of their greenbelt-grown hot apple cider, and fans will have the opportunity to donate to the Child Nutrition Program, which provides healthy snacks to elementary school children throughout Durham.
Fans are encouraged to wear green to the game to show their support for the greenbelt.
The game starts at 6 p.m. Tickets are $16, with funds raised going to support Durham’s Child Nutrition Program.
For more information, visit www.oshawagenerals.com/greenbelt.
Media Advisory
Annoucing Greenbelt Night with the Oshawa Generals
Advisory Board
Board of Trustees
The Board of Trustees is primary role is that of funding oversight, especially for international humanitarian projects. The role of Asset Management is:
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promote the work of the Foundation
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appoint members
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review the annually strategy plan and its effectiveness
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review all community funding applications recommend collaboration
Trustees are appointed exclusively by Joan Kerr, and must have a global perspective and an understanding of how FBSC can best assist in local community development, preserve the environment and make financial sound decisions.
The current Trustees will be announced shortly.
