Last night, I dragged my sicky butt to Ye Old Mondragon for some good company and the event “Shaking the Tree: Grassroots Activism in Winnipeg”. As the tag line goes, it was “A Video Celebration of Local Social and Environmental Change”.
My favourite was the “Good Food Club” video, though I’m pretty biased. The Good Food Club is a program out of the West Broadway Development Corporation. I was introduced to it by my roommate/gardening teacher last summer and spent a lot of time volunteering with them. I’ve mentioned them in the post How To Get Food. The goal of the program is to make nutritious and affordable food available to West Broadway residents, by working with members to offer community cafes, potlucks, and fresh food boxes in the winter months. Their coordinator, Tammy Klos, is one of the best I’ve ever met. She’s passionate about what she’s doing and very talented. She mentioned she’s trying to get funding to expand the program to get more coverage in the city. I would really love to see that happen. My friends and family love the good food club boxes and the farm trips were one of the highlights of my summer. It was really great to see the program being celebrated.
My roommate came with me and we tried their lime cheesecake, munched out on cookies and tasted a delicious blend of tea. I missed a couple of the movies because I was socializing, but it was a really great time. I spoke with my friend Millie, who is a horticultural therapist, about her aboriginal gardening and healing program she’s trying to get funding for. She’s an amazing woman and been a great influence in my life. I’ve been very lucky to learn about what she’s trying to create and I know without a doubt it will help bring great healing to anyone who participates.
I love attending events at Mondragon. It’s been very inspiring for me to see what we’re doing as a community and a culture to help ease the problems that our way of living for the past couple of hundred years has created. We are imperfect, but we are always learning and always striving to live in greater harmony with each other, and the worlds we share this planet with.
