Healthy Kimberley has been granted Charitable Donation Society status and is now able to accept donations to carry on the work that the volunteer group does.
Flo Brokop of Healthy Kimberley says that the organization has existed in various forms since 2014, and this new status will help them achieve even more within the community.
“Funded by the EK Division of Family Practices, a GP for Me project, the original committee looked at ways to increase physician resources so that more people could access a family doctor,” said Brokop. “After consultation with community members and physicians, a preventative approach was adopted.”
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She adds that the present Healthy Kimberley Committee evolved from that project, despite minimal funding and support after 2016.
“The committee felt that more can and should be done to promote access to nutritional choices and healthy activities, so they have worked to create an environment in Kimberley where making the healthy choice is the easy choice,” Brokop explained.
To realize this vision, Healthy Kimberley has partnered with 69 different community organizations and individuals on a wide variety of projects.
Ongoing events include Walk With Your Doc; held annually in May, Be Active Every Day; an annual initiative held in October at McKim school, Bike to Work Week; held in May and Free Range Kids; activities for kids held during the weekly Kimberley Farmers’ Market in the summer.
Healthy Kimberley also raised funds for the Playbox, an accessible box of toys available to anyone (at no charge) at the Rotary Park Playground.
Brokop says the organization is working towards putting another Playbox at the Marysville playground in the summer of 2019.
Another Healthy Kimberley initiative includes the Food Recovery Depot, which launched this November. The project aims to divert perishable, nutritious foods from the landfill to non-profit groups who provide food to members of the community.
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The Taking Care of Business project offers free support to business owners who want to create a healthier environment for their employees and customers, and the Physical Literacy for Communities Project is working to build capacity in Kimberley by training leaders and developing physical literacy in a wide variety of settings.
“Healthy Kimberley has and is also undertaking research in the area of health and wellness,” said Brokop. “Healthy Kimberley 2020 is looking at factors that make our community uniquely healthy and learn more about what we can do to make it even healthier.”
Lastly, another project gaining momentum for the new year is the Selkirk Basketball and Multi-Purpose Outdoor Court. Healthy Kimberley has applied to the Columbia Basin Trust Plays Grant in hopes of building an outdoor sports court at Selkirk Secondary.
“Healthy Kimberley members have worked hard to secure funding to move this project forward and having charitable donation status opens the doors to even more community support,” said Brokop.
Visit the Healthy Kimberley Facebook page to learn more about all of their projects and initiatives, and to support them with your donations.
corey.bullock@kimberleybulletin.com
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