Vote to Re-Build ClearWater Farms’ Historic, Educational Barn that Burnt Down in Tragic Accident
Posted: October 19, 2016
Categories: Edible Education Network / GoodFoodBites / News from Sustain Members
Sustain Ontario welcomes our newest member organization, ClearWater Farms, with an urgent call to action. A flagship initiative of the Ontario Water Centre, an educational charity, ClearWater Farms is a social enterprise that aims to promote healthy local food and farming in ways that support people, earth, water and communities, while educating and inspiring a new generation of food lovers.
Their 9-acre, 180-year-old farm at Willow Beach on Lake Simcoe was on its way to becoming a discovery centre created by kids, for kids.
ClearWater Farms has joined Sustain Ontario at an urgent time in their journey, hoping to turn a tragedy into an opportunity (check out this video here). Earlier this month, two boys who were on the farm without permission accidentally set fire to their historic barn. Now all is gone but the stone foundation.
In an effort to turn adversity into opportunity, they have entered the Aviva Community Challenge, hoping to win $100,000 to re-build the farm and the discovery centre dream. This dream depends on the number of votes raised for their “Barn Raising 2017 with Young Community Builders” project between October 11th-28th (each person has 18 votes).
Sustain Ontario and the Ontario Edible Education Network are encouraging you to vote and help ClearWater Farms re-build this dream and educational barn by voting here, and sharing with others to vote.
The rebuilt barn will be a multifunctional resource for events, meetings and community cultural programming – a touchstone for school trips, camps and workshops and an exhibition space connecting this rapidly-growing community to its rural roots. It will be an exciting new gathering place on the farm for the community, and give local youth experience in the revitalization of an old structure as well as in community-building.
If the project wins because of your voting, construction will be completed in 2017, with a weekend inauguration celebration at ClearWater at the Reed Farm for Thanksgiving 2017, engaging as many other community members as possible. Support and share this dream by voting now.
ClearWater Farm is being developed by the Ontario Water Centre, a CRA-registered educational charity, as a hub for economic, social, “agro-technical” and environmental advancement, locally and beyond, under a long-term agreement with the Town of Georgina.