Something is growing in Yellowknife.
Adventist Development and Relieft Agency (ADRA) Canada is looking to give planter boxes and seeds to families in Yellowknife.
ADRA isn’t alone in its goals. It will be working with Yellowknife’s Seventh-day Adventist Church. Courage Nyathi is a pastor there. He said it’s pretty exciting.
“For some reason, they seem to have fallen in love with Yellowknife,” Nyathi said, talking about ADRA.
Last year, both ADRA and the church worked together to provide funding to those in need during the wildfire season.
Now, come May 12th, they’ll have 150 planter boxes, each coming with their own top soil and seeds, which will be given to Yellowknifers on a first-come, first-serve basis, Nyathi explained.
Andrea Lavy is a regional program managers for ADRA. In a press release, she’s quoted as saying that this project may not sound like a big deal, but it’s important because Yellowknife has arsenic in its soil. She added that produce in Yellowknife can also be quite expensive.
ADRA’s most recently approved project is in the Alberta region and also in a partnership with the local Seventh-Day Adventist church. They also worked with their local government to provide planter boxes and seeds to low-income families so that they can have access to fresh produce as well.
Sounds like they’ll be doing just that up here in May. Lavy said their goal is for Yellowknife families to have access to fresh and affordable produce year-round.
“The local government will be involved providing the families with training on how to grow vegetables,” Lavy explained. “They will learn how to incorporate these foods into their diets and how to preserve any excess.”
The submission deadline in the planter box project is May 7.