Living in Maple Ridge

Last weekend, I took the family to Jocelyn’s Farm Feast, an event being held to raise money for Opportunity International Canada. We had a great time and, more importantly, we learned about their Farm for a Year Project:

The goal: to transform a piece of land into a sustainable, flourishing, environmentally sensitive, small working farm (becoming bona fide farmers along the way).

We believe that a healthy future for our community and the planet will require re-localization of food production and economies. The small organic mixed farm will be an integral part of food security in the post cheap-oil age. Using principles of permaculture and a respect for healthy living soil, we endeavor to see just how much can be produced on a small plot of land by a bunch of novices. We are interested in connecting with others who are willing to share their experience and/or enthusiasm in regards to gardening, animal husbandry, and sustainable living in general.

Read more about the project

Barb and a Bunny

Barb Getting Muddy

Peter Tam and Friend on Guitar

Roasting a Marshmallow

Jocelyn

Roasting a Hot Dog

Making Bubbles for the Kids

Visiting Dog

Farm Feast

Farm Feast BBQ

Farm Feast Conversations

Farm Feast

4H Pigs

See the photos on Flickr

This weekend, a friend and Escape Velocity Cycling Club teammate, Tobin Copley, is participating in the Ride2Survive for the third consecutive year to raise money for cancer research. This year, he is riding as a ride leader.

The Ride2Survive is a bike ride from Kelowna to Delta: 400km with 13,000 feet of climbing in a single day. This year, ride day is June 18th.

One important thing about this event that makes it different from other cancer fundraisers is that 100% of the money donated goes directly to cancer research. All administration and operational costs are covered by rider registration fees and/or donated goods and services. None of the donated money is used to run the event.

Each year Tobin rides this event, each donor that wishes provides Tobin with a name to write on his legs: either the name of a cancer survivor or in memory of someone who has been lost to cancer. These are the people Tobin is riding for. There are a couple special names that will be appearing on Tobin’s legs this year:

Lorne Bodin, Vice Principal of Matthew McNair Secondary School, and a teammate of Tobin and myself, lost his battle with stomach cancer in January of this year. I am struggling to express in a few words the positive impact Lorne had on everyone who shared his journey. There are some good comments in this article in the Richmond News.

Rachel, the sister of a good friend of Tobin and his wife, passed away from cancer this past Easter Sunday. I first heard about Rachel when Tobin announced that he was going on an Extreme Cyclocross Ride on Sept 22nd last year, the same day Rachel was going to have surgery for her cancer. Unfortunately, the next update was in March when Tobin and his wife put out the call to all their friends for a variety of “special occasion cards”. Rachel knew her battle was almost over and she wanted to pre-write cards for her six-year-old son to receive from her as he was growing up.

There is not much else to say but click here to make a donation. Oh, and watch this video about last year’s ride…