Annual Report, 2017-2018

Annual Report April 2017-March 2018

Annual Report, 2017-2018

President’s Message

This has been my first year as President of Richmond Food Security Society and my first report. We have had a great year in many respects.

We have a strong board of directors, many of whom were new to the board last year, but are all veterans now. We have continued to put our strategic plan into place, focusing on systems, processes, and governance. I am extremely proud of the work that our board has put in this last year and thank them for their efforts. I would also like to acknowledge the fantastic work that our staff and volunteers have done this year to grow RFSS. I would like to take this time to give special thanks to our outgoing Executive Director, Anita Georgy, who has been the heart and soul of RFSS the last three years. It is with mixed emo-tions that we say goodbye to her as she moves on to work with FarmFolk CityFolk. We wish her all the best. Lastly, I want to thank our donors, supporters, and granting agencies. Your generosity makes our work possible. Finally, thank you to our members for inspiring us and Richmond towards a robust food system.

Gerry Mulholland

Executive Director’s Message

This is my third and final Executive Director report for RFSS. It has been another incredible year.

I want to tell you about Ayaan.* Ayaan is from Somalia. She has been in Canada for years, is the single parent to two young children, doesn’t speak or read English very well. Ayaan is food insecure, relying on the food bank to make ends meet. This spring, we were able to connect Ayaan with a piece of land in a city park, along with other members of the Somali Women's Empowerment Society. I wish you could have seen the transformation. When we first met, Ayaan was really hesitant, not sure how to engage, and now she has planted a big garden for the family. I was continually reminded to explain everything from where the soil comes from, to how deep to plant potatoes to what to-mato cages are for. All via pantomime and translator. This story is just one example of what I love about RFSS. We go a step beyond emergency food services by empowering people with the skills and spaces to be food secure in the long run. It has been such an incredible honour and privilege to work with RFSS, and I thank you. I can’t wait to see what the future holds. Anita Georgy *Not her real name

Highlights

Board of Directors

Staff Anita Georgy Executive Director Ian Lai Program Director

Kelly Ding Program Coordinator Geethu Kurian Office Coordinator

Cameron Fitzgerald Program Coordinator

Gerry Mulholland President Luther Sy Director

Norm Goldstein Vice President Ian Chang Director

Stephanie Fan Treasurer Keefer Pelech Director

Nikki Hollinson Secretary Willian Tsui Director

Payal Batra Director

Annual Report, 2017-2018

Select Accomplishments

120 donors

kindly supported

Richmond Eats,

the Local Eating

Challenge

Over 1400 people engaged at

Seedy Saturday and

Harvest Festival

1062 contact

points via our new

Kids in the Garden

program

Picked and donated

over 20,000 lbs of

fruit to the Food

Bank since 2008

15 youth leaders

took action for

Food Security via

Get Rooted

Distributed 100’s

of maps

connecting people

to local farms

11 Community

Seed Library

events engaged

over 1000 people

Supported 321

Community

Garden plots

at 9 sites

Annual Report, 2017-2018

Year Over Year Revenue

2017-2018 Revenue by Category

2017-2018 Expenses by Category (in 000’s)

Visionaries ($29,000+) Cash and In-Kind

We acknowledge the financial assistance of the Province of

British Columbia.

Supporters ($1,000+)

Other Contributors and Partners

Individual Donors ($100+)

Financial Summary Thank you for your support!

Alex Nixon Geoffrey McKenzie Krystie Babalos Natalie Meixner

Arran Stephens Heather Harrison Laurie McKenzie Suna and Farouk Georgy

Celina Starnes Henry Yao Luther Sy Ted VanderWouden

Debbie Timmis Hugh Rollo Malcolm Brodie William Dunn

Donna Hollinson Jeff Redmond Mary Lou Miles Yan Lau

Duane Elverum Kim Kum Chow Morag McKenzie

$