Cowichan Green Community has launched a fundraising campaign to help pay for the final phase of the construction of the non-profit organization’s new food processing and innovation hub facility on Beverly Street.
At the official launch of the campaign on June 12, executive director Vanessa Daether said the goal of the fundraiser is to raise a total of $975,000 by this fall, of which $325,000 has already been raised mainly through various grants, leaving $650,000.
She said the fundraising campaign, as well as new branding for the CGC, will be rolled out in a strong social-media program and its members’ presence at community events over the summer months, utilizing CGC’s relationships with community partners, associations, its donors, volunteers and members of the community to reach its financial target.
“We have an aggressive goal and timelines with this campaign, but we believe it’s achievable by working with our community partners,” she told a crowd of supporters at the 3.5-acre site on Beverly Street that is leased from the Municipality of North Cowichan, now called the Beverly Street Food Hub.
“It’s taken years of planning and fundraising to get here, and we’re now well over halfway through this project.”
The Beverly Street Food Hub initiative is intended to support local food producers and processors with a focus on B.C.-grown ingredients. The large single-storey 4,800 sq. ft. hub facility that is almost complete at the site will accommodate a large commercial kitchen which will be available to local farmers, office and training rooms, washrooms, and cold and dry storage spaces.
Plans also include making the Beverly Street Food Hub the future home to the reFRESH marketplace, a teaching farm, plant nursery and community gardens.
The CGC had received $800,000 from the Ministry of Agriculture’s Food Hub Program in 2019 to help build the hub facility, which is estimated to cost a total of approximately $2.2 million when completed, and other grants, donations and fundraisers have played a large part in helping to pay for the project.
CGC began in 2001 as an environmental-based community outreach project delivered under the auspices of the Green Door Society.
Since then, the organization has grown to become an important hub for sustainability in the Cowichan Valley, with a strong focus on food security. CGC has already established farming initiatives and other programs, including an incubator seed farm and an agricultural equipment library, at the property on Beverly Street.
Daether said breaking ground on the Beverly Street Food Hub marks an exciting new chapter, not just for CGC, but for the whole Cowichan region.
“This project is the result of more than two decades of collaboration, planning, and deep community engagement aimed at building a healthier, more resilient local food system,” she said.
“We’re incredibly grateful to the many volunteers, donors, and funders who have helped bring this vision to life. The future of food in Cowichan is growing, and we can’t wait to open the doors and share this space with our community.”
