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Caravan Farm Theatre is located at the top of the Okanagan Valley about 8 Km. northwest of the city of Armstrong and produces live theatre performances on its 80 acre farm. There are no buildings, just the great outdoors. For the past three years, productions of Shakespeare, Brecht and original works like “Horseplay” and “Cowboy King” have attracted between 13,000 and 16,000 theatregoers each year. The Community Foundation partnered with Caravan to build a rain venue on the farm, a covered area capable of seating up to 200 people so the show can go on when inclement weather would otherwise force a cancellation.
Marketing Director, Sean Newton, places stakes to begin
marking off the new rain venue building at Caravan Farm Theatre.
A donation from the Community Foundation assisted Vernon’s Good Food Box, a volunteer non-profit produce buying cooperative which purchases fruit and vegetables in bulk according to season and distributes them through central locations. Boxes are ordered and paid for in advance and the Good Food Box buys direct from farmers when possible. It works in cooperation, not competition, with local food producers and retailers and, by using volunteers to sort and pack boxes, is able to deliver a large box for $12 per week. Typical boxes include potatoes, onions and carrots as well as six to eight seasonal items such as lettuce, peppers, yams, tomatoes apples and oranges. The Community Foundation donation allowed the Good Food Box to expand distribution from 350 to 500 boxes per month as well as adding 150 families to their newsletter which provides food and nutritional information.
Volunteers Chiyo Yamabe and Joan Sawyer
sort apples at the Good Food Box facility.
Drop-in Programs for youth 14 to 18 years old, one-on-one tutoring
for children and youth, volunteer tutoring programs in partnership
with School District #22, and Senior’s Connections Projects in Vernon
and Lumby are some of the many literacy support programs offered
by the The Junction Literacy and Youth Centre. The Community
Foundation provided funding towards The Life Skills Program which
was developed for youth who struggle with issues such as: positive
self-esteem, self-worth, decision making/making positive choices,
peer pressure, negative influences, and unhealthy relationships. The
goals are to empower youth by developing strategies to cope with a
variety of difficult situations and to engage youth to work towards a
positive and healthy lifestyle.
Brian Davies, a tutor with Junction Literacy Centre, works with one of the
participants.
The Canadian Red Cross Medical Equipment Loans Program provided over 4500 pieces of medical equipment in the past year. This allowed individuals in the North Okanagan who were injured or ill to remain at home during convalescence. Over 3300 residents participated. The Community Foundation was pleased to support this equipment loan program which also provides volunteers with two days of training on standards of cleaning and disinfection as well as topics like disease transmission, customer service and pandemic planning.
Vernon volunteers, Irene Walker, and Phyllis Hanson
examine a wheelchair before it’s loaned out.
Who Benefits 2007 |
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- 3402 - 27th Avenue 
