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Vision accomplished

“The welcoming, dignified space sends an important message to low-income community members: they are entitled to a safe place, healthy food, a great network, and neighbourhood assets,” explains Dawn Christie, Manager of the Mount Paul Community Food Centre. “They have a place at the table.”

When Dawn Christie arrived home following her first Food Summit, the annual conference hosted by CFCC, she made a beeline for her boss at Interior Community Services (ICS). “I was so reenergized after talking to people doing food security work across the country,” she explains. “I talked to ICS about becoming a Community Food Centre right away. I could see what a huge impact it would have on our community.”

Amazingly, within a year, ICS, located in Kamloops, B.C., had purchased a building and began extensive renovations. 

“I was so reenergized after talking to people doing food security work across the country… I could see what a huge impact [becoming a CFC] would have on our community.”

Today, Dawn is Manager of the thriving Mount Paul CFC, which boasts a beautiful dining area with 17-foot ceilings, two kitchens, and a verdant 8,000-square-foot community garden that supplies fresh veggies for the local, affordable food market. 

“The welcoming, dignified space sends an important message to low-income community members: they are entitled to a safe place, healthy food, a great network, and neighbourhood assets,” she explains. “They have a place at the table.”

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When Dawn Christie arrived home following her first Food Summit, the biannual conference hosted by CFCC, she made a beeline for her boss at Interior Community Services (ICS). “I was so reenergized after talking to people doing food security work across the country,” she explains. “I told ICS we needed to buy a building and become a Community Food Centre right away.”
“I was so reenergized after talking to people doing food security work across the country.”
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Amazingly, within a year, ICS, located in Kamloops, B.C., had purchased a church building whose congregation was dwindling, and began extensive renovations, including steeple and stained-glass removal. Today, Christie is Executive Director of the thriving Mount Paul CFC, which boasts a beautiful dining area with 17-foot ceilings, two kitchens and a verdant 8,000-square-foot community garden that supplies fresh veggies for the local, affordable food market.

“The welcoming, dignified space sends an important message to low-income community members: they are entitled to a safe place, healthy food, a great network and neighbourhood assets,” she explains. “They have a place at the table.”

“Our Elders mean the world to me,” says Sylvestre. “So every time I do a food box delivery, I bring one of the youth along with me. They need to experience this.”

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