Note: This blog post comes to us from Chelsea Tims, a Vancouver Island farmer who is supporting the Unist’ot’en Camp in Wet’suwet’en by gathering food donations for the volunteer work camp in October. Click here to learn more about Unist’ot’en. And please contact Chelsea (chelseatims@gmail.com) to donate!
Dear Farmers,
I hope this email is finding you well as we begin to enter the fall season. My name is Chelsea Tims and I am a fellow farmer on Vancouver Island in my third season of growing at various farms. I am emailing you today to make a request for food donations on behalf of the Unist’ot’en Camp located in northern BC.
I’m sure many of you are already aware of the Unist’ot’en people and the efforts they have put in to the camp over the last 7 years to protect their land and water from fossil fuel companies wanting to build through their territory without consent. To date, in the path of the pipeline they have built a cabin, a pit house, a dormitory for volunteers, a large garden and most importantly, an almost-finished Healing Lodge. This building will be central to the camp’s ability to offer land-based wellness practices and traditional teachings to those who need it, specifically Indigenous youth and elders. The lodge will be finished this October with a final push from the upcoming volunteer work camp, which is part of what your generous donations will be helping to sustain. Its completion will be an important step in the movement to create a resilient, healthy, land-based community. For those interested in finding out more about Unist’ot’en, please visit their website here.
The type of donations that are currently needed at the camp are vegetables that can be stored for winter (beets, carrots, squash, onions, turnip, apples etc). I will pick up any and all donations directly from your farm and would also be able to help with the harvest or gleaning of donations if desired. Donations do not need to be processed/washed at all and I will bring containers with me to store them in. The collected food will be taken up between October 14-16, but I am able to pick up, harvest and store donations any time before then if that would be convenient for you.
I am hoping to get an estimation of what will be brought up within the next two weeks, thus anyone able to respond quickly would be much appreciated! Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have further questions about the camp, making a donation or how to get involved further. I am happy to share resources and arrange a pick-up of donations by email or phone.
Thanks for reading this long email during a surely busy time! I’m looking forward to hearing back from you and seeing what kind of support I can garner for this important place of healing.
All the best,
Chelsea Tims
chelseatims@gmail.com
416-347-9779