Build Your Google Docs Skills – $400
Kathie Landry
We will provide an interactive workshop for 8 – 10 people who want to learn or improve their skills using Google Docs. A skilled community member will facilitate a free two-hour Zoom workshop so participants can actively participate. Prior to the workshop she will connect with registrants to find out what people want to learn/focus on in the class. Participants will also receive a link to resources, so they have a place to go with their questions after the class.
Community Bus Shelter – $500
Lilianne Langevin
The idea of the construction of a Community Bus Shelter came from many years watching the staff and children waiting for the school bus in inclement weather, unprotected by the side of the road. This bus shelter would be perfectly located at the side of the road between the Community Centre and the Daycare, where children, skateboard park users, tennis or pickle ball groups and by children attending the after-school activities at the Centre, get dropped off or picked up.
The project will be conducted under the guidance of local qualified contractors. Many have been approached with the idea and are willing to participate. It is a simple design, with a West Coast look, and will create a small impact on the current undeveloped space. The infrastructure project would be well drafted and crafted with local donated materials and volunteered labor. There are also bright streetlights on this stretch of road making this a safe and visible location already.
Contemporary Indigenous Authored Book Club Set – $500
Rosanne Engblom
We, the Quadra Literacy Taskforce group, will acquire an island-based and accessible set of indigenous authored books. The primary goal in the acquisition of this contemporary indigenous authored book club set is to increase community understanding of indigenous culture and the impact of colonization.
This set of books will provide an avenue as we commit to continuous learning about local indigenous culture and history through indigenous voices. While this set of twelve books will be housed at the Quadra branch library, the sign-out process will be separate from the library’s book checkout system.
Death Education Fair – $500
Carol Foort
We are inviting the community to a Circle of Life and Death Education Fair, where we can all learn more about death, dying, grief and aging in a relaxed atmosphere. Our emphasis is on approaches that bring these into the stream of life in our community, for all of our well-being. The Fair will consist of a welcome and introduction by Margaret Verschuur and Betsy Young and a number of tables to share skills and services and experiences, including our local Way To Go and Community Led Death Care Groups with Carol Foort and Jude McCormick, Quadra Island Foundation with Mich Hirano, Sally Houghton for estate planning, Carol Woolsey for Quadra Circle and Nav Care, a remembrance table for everyone’s photos with Sulyn Cedar, Pat Peterson and Betty Doak for Advanced Care Planning, MAID, and VSED, a Death Cafe for conversations hosted by Mia Frishholz, Robin Beaton and Laurie North, Lynda Kerr for CR Hospice Society, the QI Cemetery Society with chair Grant Hayden, Grief and Loss with Cathy O’Rourke/grief counsellor, Shrouds by Monica Millar, Barbara Swanston for Suicide and Grief and Meaningful Memorials with Joan Smith with Joyce Baker and many other volunteers.
There will be 20 minutes – half hour of slides and short teaching videos. The Pure Joy Threshold Choir will sing for us and engage us to sing along. It will involve many volunteers, and most are already lined up! We have people to get the word out, set up, clean up, take care of signage, and make snacks.
Elementary Sprouters – $500
Barbara Mindell
My idea is to go into four different classrooms in out local elementary school to teach the teachers and the children how to grow sprouts from seeds indoors.
I will buy all the materials to set up each classroom for sprouting all school year long. I will go into each classroom daily until the children become good sprouters and will troubleshoot when necessary as I live only a 10-minute car ride away. I will purchase enough seeds to last the whole year for each classroom and the sprouts will be available for all the children to supplement their lunches or snacks.
This idea connects the community by teaching the children so they can teach their families. It teaches healthy food security on a budget. It makes healthy foods available to some children that may not have had the opportunity to try sprouts.
Emergency Power for Disaster Readiness – $460
Kathryn Manry
I will acquire two or three solar powered chargers to be stored in the neighbourhood (we have an existing emergency supply cache) and to train neighbours how to use them. They will provide stations for individuals to bring their phones for re-charging when other options are not functioning.
The project also involves developing and sharing an emergency communication protocol to facilitate dispersal of important information in disaster situations. Given the importance of relaying timely and accurate information in a disaster event, having an advance plan and tools to enact it is important. An outcome from this workshop is a phone-tree to enable this and identification of individuals who would initiate communication and confirm how it has been affected.
The training workshop will also provide neighbours an opportunity to connect, ask questions, propose ideas and generally participate in improving communication lines during an emergency.
Pidcock Creek Salmon Restoration Project – $500
Paul Puddy
The outcome of this project is to provide written material to educate and encourage the community to actively protect and repair threatened riparian lands in Quathiaski Cove. The organization and promotion includes expenses for producing signs, copying reports for distribution in the community and preparing material for presentation to various agencies, such as Strathcona Regional District Department of Fisheries & Oceans etc. to seek funding and technical support.
Quadra Elementary School Wetland Project – $210
Sheldon Etheridge
We have a newly constructed wetland at the school that serves as a place of education and as habitat for many species of indigenous plants and animals. There are also interpretive signs highlighting the importance of this ecosystem to the We Wai Kai people. We have students and volunteers from the community, stewarding the wetland through planting, invasive species removal and studying the succession of plants and animals into this new habitat. This fall and spring a new home-learner program is being set up at the wetland to bring in learners from the community not attached to the school. In the summer drought, we need to have access to water for volunteers to keep the plants alive and our money will be used to purchase a cistern.
Quadra Island Pottery Drop In – $500
Katie May
Last year I started hosting a pottery drop in night every Saturday in the winter. I will open this to the public and not have the drop-in fee be a barrier. I love to share my skills with others and have a clean (no drugs or alcohol), safe space for kids, teens and adults to come get crafty and meet new people.
Rainwater Harvesting, The Big Picture – $500
Kris Wellstein
I have acquired two 1800 gal. water tanks to hold harvested roof water which will be moved from IBC tanks water up to the big tanks. This initiative will make it possible for community members to download water from the tanks if they need it. The system will be a demonstration of what can and needs to be done to hold the amounts of water necessary to make a difference in the garden or to fight a fire.
Many people on our island are investing in creating a pond on their property to hold their needed water. Some properties and people are not suited to that solution. Large holding tanks are the alternative. In a world that is quickly heating up and with a clear demonstration of what that means in terms of wildfires all around us, it becomes more important that people take steps to protect themselves and their property. Effectively, I will be hosting “mini-workshops” with individuals when they collect water or inquire about equipment.
Reconciliation Through Reading & Reflection – $500
Ruth Jackson
“Reconciliation Through Reading & Reflection” is about advancing knowledge and understanding of Truth & Reconciliation among non-indigenous Quadra Islanders. Through book and podcast discussions, listening to indigenous guest speakers, and growing existing ties, we can grow acquaintances into real relationships. Some of us have relationships with local We Wai Kai members and want to deepen those friendships. Our grant will be used to purchase one book club set of books and support an honorarium for an indigenous speaker/writer.
Safety & Visibility for Quadra Island Open Water Swimmers – $100
Barry Davis
The Quadra Island Open Water Swimming group has existed for many years with a total of 129 worldwide members (on the FB page) and 30-40 Quadra Islanders demonstrating interest in the group. Our goal is to make swimming safety more visible and to attract more regular participation by placing a focus on safety and belonging. With our grant, we will purchase a supply of high-viz (neon orange or yellow) swim buoys and make them available to all swimmers. These are highly visible from on shore, from boats on the water, and from in the water by other participating swimmers.
The Medicine Chest in your Kitchen: A herbal make and take – $250
Anita Murdoch
I will host a workshop in which I share the medicinal and nutritional properties of some common kitchen foods/spices along with possible ways to use them to support wellness.
After sharing this information, and having it displayed for reference, the participants would then create a popular herbal immunity tonic, Fire Cider, adjusting the base recipe to suit their needs. The ingredients would be available along with packaging, etc. to take home.
I will reach out to community farmers/gardeners for donations of some of the ingredients in the hopes of lowering cost and connecting local growers.
Bringing members of the community together for a workshop in which they leave with knowledge on ways to support their (and their family’s) health can be empowering and allow for connection, collaboration and support.