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2022 Impact Report

Our 2022 Impact Report with you is fresh off the press! Click on the image below to view.

Here’s a sneak peak from Alexa Pitoulis, our Executive Director at Fresh Roots:

“An important reflection that repeatedly emerges in our strategic conversations is how Fresh Roots creates inclusive, diverse and safe spaces for youth to fully express themselves, and empowers them to engage in their identities and values. This is core to who we are, and it is in how we create these spaces that allow kids, youth and staff to learn and grow in incredible way

Please join us for one of our 10th year anniversary celebration events! It’s because of YOU and your support that we have achieved so much.”

Thank you to everyone who was part of the community last year. Tickets to our Annual Schoolyard Longtable Dinner fundraiser are on sale now! As we reflect on 2022 and our 10th anniversary, help us continue to create more impactful opportunities for youth and kids on schoolyard farms for years to come.

If you would like to request a physical copy, please email info@freshroots.ca, otherwise, it is available to view online here: https://freshroots.ca/fresh/uploads/2023/05/Fresh-Roots-22-AR-Complete-Digital-Lowest-Quality.pdf

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2021 Impact Report

It’s here! Our 2021 Annual Impact Report is now available online. We’re so grateful for everyone that made 2021 a remarkable year for experiential learning and youth empowerment including our donors, community partners, staff, participants, volunteers, supporters – without you, our work would not be possible. Below is an excerpt from the letter from our Executive Director, Alexa Pitoulis, and Board Chair, Matt Breech:

It’s always interesting to decide what factoids and numbers we share in this report to convey the work we do and why it matters. The impact beyond the metrics is what we want you to feel and appreciate. The true effects of Fresh Roots’ work are not found in the number of participants or the number of carrots we grow and sell—they are felt in the lasting experiences and stories of learning that our kids, youth and summer staff carry with them for life. These experiences turn into conversations with their peers and parents, and impact their choices at the grocery store, their career path, or how they engage in their communities. We tell these stories on our website’s blog, often in the voices of the youth themselves as they reflect on what they have learned and value most during their participation in our programs. They speak of their growth in confidence and the ableness they now recognize in themselves. Read more >>

Check out the full report by clicking on the image below!

Fresh Roots – UPDATED 2021 Impact Report

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2020 Impact Report

From Alexa, our Executive Director

There’s an eagle nest at the farm site that Fresh Roots stewards with Delta Farm Roots—a farming mini-school program located on the unceded and traditional territory of the Tsawwassen and Musqueam First Nations. Perched high above in its treetop nest, I wonder what the eagle observes of us. What does it see that we can’t—in how we go about working on the land, and how we navigate working with each other? 2020 was a year that forced new ways of being, but also encouraged new points of view.

At Fresh Roots, this has meant examining what it means for our work to be regenerative. Working from a regenerative approach means to be constantly re-assessing and mindfully evolving. We already know our work is more than just growing food—it’s engaging with and building our community. With that in mind, it’s important for us to learn and listen, to become better allies, and to be stronger and louder advocates for anti-racism and justice. As an organization, our goal is to develop those values and ways of being in our team and in the youth with whom we engage. We are all training to be our own observant eagles, looking out for ourselves and each other. We’re committed to noticing, addressing, and evolving systems that were created with colonial, racist and oppressive mindsets. 

At Fresh Roots, we’ve always known the richest learnings for kids and youth (self-confidence, self-awareness, sense of belonging) have come through the medium of growing, preparing and sharing food. Our path to becoming a regenerative organization reinforces the “roots” we have been nourishing. Every moment out on the schoolyard farms is precious. We are so excited for this growing season and invite you to join us!

Click on the image below to view the report!

 

 

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2018 Annual Report

We’re so excited to share with you all of the amazing things that happened in 2018! (Hot tip: click the little square in the far right corner to view it full screen and zoom in.)

Thank you SO MUCH to everyone who supported the children and youth in Fresh Roots programs in 2018 and helped grow Good Food for All!