Deanna ChengDmwcheng7@gmail.com

For the volunteers who cameout April 12 to prepare thegarden beds at David Thomp-son secondary school, it wasabout supporting environmentalcauses in any way they could.Volunteer Barbara Bradbury

said there’s a huge need for indi-viduals to help out. “The Van-couver Park Board doesn’t haveenough money,” she said. “Theycan’t hire enough people to do itand it’s labour intensive.”Bradbury said she’s always

been gardening. Growing up on afarm in Mill Bay, she has wit-nessed changes in the climate andecosystem and believes the Earthneeds as much support as it canget. “The natural environmentis declining from all the [indus-trial, commercial and residential]development,” she said.The David Thompson garden

beds are a two-year-old initia-tive between Fresh Roots and

the Vancouver School Board ina push for fresher produce in thecafeteria and food literacy skillsin the students. Beside the gar-dens are an outdoor classroomwith logs positioned around achalkboard like an amphithe-atre and a group of green picnictables underneath shady trees.Lower Mainland Green Team

organizer Lyda Salatian said herorganization wants to help thepublic and empower volunteers.“People want to help the envi-

ronment but don’t know what todo or don’t see the opportunities.I want to change that,” she said.“We want to put it back into

their hands and make an impactinstead letting them feel theycan’t do anything.”Salatian sees her group as a

gateway to opportunities for Van-couverites and counts it a successif people create or join establishedenvironmental groups within theirown neighbourhoods. Consistencyis important, she said.Seven able-bodied helpers

were digging into the earth andremoving clumps of grass fromthe beds so they didn’t competefor nutrients in the soil April 8.The day was cloudy, and thethreat of rain might have keptothers from attending.Fresh Roots community coordi-

nator Rosalind Sadowski said kidsengage in weekly garden clubs andare empowered to eat better intheir daily lives because they knowwhere their food comes from.“It takes a community to feed

a community,” she said. “It’snot just a corporation.”Sadowski said the gardens also

changed the face of the schoolby animating the space.She said gardens didn’t thrive

before because of a variety ofreasons. Teachers who were incharge would move to a differ-ent school, some were intimi-dated by their lack of knowl-edge, and sometimes no one wasavailable to care for the gardensduring the summer.“It takes a lot of dedicated work.”

Fresh Roots and the LowerMainland Green Team steppedin to help out. At the moment,Fresh Roots has gardens at Van-couver Technical secondary andDavid Thompson.Neil Xing Chan, the youngest

helper of the day, would like tosee a garden at his school, EricHamber secondary. “It’s some-what hard work but it’s manage-able,” he said.It was the 15-year-old’s first

time volunteering with theGreen Team, an opportunity hismother suggested to him whilehe was looking for volunteerhours to fulfill his high schoolgraduation requirement.He plans to continue volunteer-

ing because he feels he’s makinga contribution to the communityand is learning from Sadowski.Bradbury said the younger gen-

erations are not working outsideenough. “They don’t know what’sa weed, what’s not. They don’trecognize invasive species.”

twitter.com/writerly_dee

Volunteers help the garden grow

Rosalind Sadowski, Fresh Roots’ community coordinator (foreground), and Grade 12 students Jessica Fang and JosephNan, at David Thompson secondary school.PHOTODANTOULGOET

FRIDAY, APRIL 24 , 2015 THE VANCOUVER COURIER E1

GrandviewWoodlandGet your dancing shoes

on, grab your ticketsand “cut loose” to NotreDame Regional SecondarySchool’s musical version ofthe ’80s movie Footloose.Staying true to themovie’s

storyline, the play followsChicago-based RenMc-Cormack’s move to a small

Midwestern town where hestrives to break the towns-folk of their conservatismby shaking things up withthe help of rockmusic anddancing. All while avoidingthe pressure of the town’sminister ShawMoore.The show will run from

May 6–9 at 7:30 p.m. withmatinees fromMay 6–7 at12 p.m. and will be present-ed at Notre Dame RegionalSecondary School, 2880Venables St.Tickets are $15 with spe-

cial prices for seniors andstudents.

BurnabyRegistration is open for

Vancouver women inter-ested in joining this wom-en-only charity obstacleadventure race.Woman2Warrior is back

for its third year wherewomen from across the citycan join the five-kilometrerace and tackle more thana dozen obstacles to teststrength, power, agility anddetermination. The eventis a fundraiser to send 800children and young adultswith disabilities throughoutB.C. to one of three EasterSeals B.C. Camps locatedin the province.The race is May 24 from

9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at BurnabyCentral Park’s SwangardStadium, 3883 Imperial

St. Registration is $35. Formore information, visitwoman2warrior.ca.

ChinatownThose who have recently

moved to Canada and areinterested in building theirresume and interview skillswith plans to pursue acareer in IT or business canjoin a mentorship programpresented by SUCCESS inpartnership with Acenture.SUCCESS is a non-profit

group that aims to supportnew Canadians in overcom-ing barriers at all differentstages of the immigra-tion process. Participantsshould have intermediateto advanced English levelsand have lived in Canadafor less than five years. TheCareer Start Program willbe held Saturdays on April25, May 2 andMay 9 from9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at28 West Pender St. If inter-ested, email your resume tocareerstart@success.bc.caor call Dyingying Tang at604-558-4909 ext. 127.

Hastings SunriseAnyone wishing to cel-

ebrate their mothers witha unique gift this Mother’sDay can do so by attend-ing Got Craft? Vancouver’s17th annual largest indiecraft fair show.The fair is returning to

East Village where the first50 people through the dooreach day can walk awaywith a bag of goodies fromvendors and sponsors.Craft lovers can enjoy

checking out vendors’ artsuch as Salt Spring IslandCo.’s vintage-inspired soy waxcandles and popular work-shops like hand lettering withsign painter John Lennig ofBig Top Sign Arts.The event will be held from

10 a.m. to 5 p.m. onMay 2and 3 atMaritime LabourCentre, 1880 Triumph St.Tickets are $3 at the

door and free for children10 and under.

APRIL-MAY 2015

EventGuide

Notre DameRegional secondary school’s production of FootlooserunsMay 6 to 9. PHOTODANTOULGOET

E2 THE VANCOUVER COURIER FRIDAY, APRIL 24 , 2015

RAINCITYGRILL Rain, awalk and a hockey helmet on a parkingmetermark a slice of life onColumbia near Powell. PHOTODANTOULGOET

FRIDAY, APRIL 24 , 2015 THE VANCOUVER COURIER E3

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Where History Comes to Life

6501 Deer Lake Ave | 604-297-4565 | burnabyvillagemuseum.caThanks to our partners:

Weekly themed camps run all summer long. Register today!Summer Camp Fun for Everyone!

today!

E4 THE VANCOUVER COURIER FRIDAY, APRIL 24 , 2015