KCF Meeting Minutes July 23 10am

Lisa, Anna-Marie, Crystina, Cristina, Ollie, Joanne

  • Old fridge returning to the shed (Lisa and Joanne coordinating on that)
  • re: Fridge being at the Lounge, Lisa is taking it day by day
  • Lisa is feeling more optimistic than last week, and also still looking for volunteer cleaning continuing at a reliable level to continue
  • garbage is still a major issue/confusion
  • Fridge having own garbage through waste connections perhaps? Issue of bins potentially disappearing… no one currently volunteered to take on this coordination
  • trying to distribute fresh produce in more measured way
  • big drops offs of fresh taken into the Salon, put out bit by bit instead of all at once
  • potential for volunteers to package this if there isn’t much cleaning to do
  • Pop up at Burke Hair Lounge
  • first date not set yet, gathering volunteer power/seeing when ppl are available
  • Talk with Lisa to be a part of the Pop Ups
  • looking at either wednesdays or sundays… potentially weekly?
  • looking for big jugs to fill with water/gatorade, rather than small plastic bottles
  • Naked Cafe hosting meetings/socials on wednesday
  • free tea, coffee, french fries
  • 571 Lawrence
  • 6pm Wednesday July 26 is the first!
  • Volunteer social presence outside the Fridge something we’re looking at!
  • As previously discussed:
  • having a friendly person sitting by the Fridge has been requested by Fridge users, including local unhoused folk
  • basic idea is setting up table (and potentially tent for shade) to talk to people, share about the basic principles of the Fridge (welcome to All on their own terms, ‘take what you need, give what you can’, etc) and help create a kind, welcoming presence for the Fridge
  • even a few hours a week/few hours a day could be a meaningful help to shaping the energy and presence of the Fridge
  • Farmer’s market downtown – what happens to the food after? Possibility for that to go to a Pop Up at Burke? Lisa to inquire
  • Castanet/general media call out for more volunteers/raise awareness of the Fridge
  • (slight Potential for Ollie to do this, but they are low communication spoons – if anyone else would like to get involved in making a press release and doing interviews with news, that would help this happen sooner)
  • Lisa and Olivia to reach out to local high schools, to connect the Fridge for their mandatory volunteer hours
  • Anna-Marie looking forward to the future:
  • potential of looking into an indoor setting for Pop Ups during the winter? i.e. Parkinson Rec
  • Sharing about community kitchen, collective cooking for selves and potentially Fridge would be a good social and supportive experience

Next Meeting: July 16, 10am

THIS SUNDAY, July 16
10am
Lounge on Lawrence (behind the Fridge)

Agenda:

    • Volunteering Patterns
      • how to make the daily cleaning sustainable
      • how else could we make the space safer and more welcoming? is having more regular volunteer presence wanted and/or possible?
    • Garbage management
    • Big Clean Day
    • Fridge Replacement
      • What style would work best? Commercial kitchen fridge, sliding doors, side-by-side fridge/freezer…

    Cleaning shifts available!

    You, too, can be an active part of our Community! Food and financal donations are both important…. but ‘give what you can’ also includes the work of cleaning and organizing our community space. This is so essential to making our Community Fridge welcoming and accessible for people to ‘take what they need’.

    You can drop by any time to do any part of this, or sign up to fill our regular daily cleans.

    Alternatively, if you’ve got any family, friends, coworkers who are looking for more ways to be community involved – we encourage sending this link their way!

    Community BBQ! June 24

    We are having a community BBQ in about a week!

    Saturday, June 24   12-3pm
    at the Fridge, 515 Lawrence Ave

    Stop by for a free hot dog and drink, meet some neighbors, find out more about our Community Fridge and how you can be a part of the collective! :hotdog:

    Donations of water, electrolytes, juice, are appreciated if you’re looking to give what you can :beverage_box:

    May also feature facepainting :sunflower:

    KCF Meeting Minutes June 14 2023

    In attendance: Joanne, Dale, Astra, Crystina, ollie

    Agenda:

    • Events
      • PUP on Hiatus (mb Sept return?)
      • Community BBQ at Fridge Sat June 24 12-3pm
    • Volunteer Roles
      • Fridge Cleaning
      • Maintenance
      • Communications (e-newsletters, posts on Slack & social media, posters, etc)

    PUP

    • PUP is on indefinite hiatus
      • May PUP was successful, but Joanne and ollie made the decision to call a pause since the main Fridge regular cleanings were not being filled, causing issues for our host
      • Dale, Terry, Joanne, and maybe others in for continuing PUP after a pause – tentatively returning September. We are hoping to gather more people passionate about continuing PUP so a. There is less for the ‘lead’ organizer to do each PUP and b. The ‘lead’ organizer ‘hat’ can be passed around between several folks, so no one is doing it repeatedly months on end.

    Community BBQ

    • Saturday, June 24, 12-3pm at the Fridge – 515 Lawrence Avenue
    • group of volunteers approached us wanting to help feed unhoused neighbors.
      • Ollie gave them the options of setting up at Tent City (possibly coordinating with Solidarity Sunday folks), or having the BBQ at the Fridge proper, similar to what we did for the 2nd Fridge Bday
      • their coordinator chose the Fridge as a prefered location
      • they are organizing the BBQs, supplying all the hot dogs and buns (~300 totaly, probably including vegan and GF options), and coordinating 6-7 volunteers to run the BBQs, etc.
    • Fridge collective members are encouraged to join! We don’t need BBQ’s covered, but it’d be great to have folks participate in the community bonding and to share more about the Fridge with anyone who comes by. Ollie might be doing facepaint?
    • Ollie asked if the $200 we get monthly from Safeway should go towards drinks for this event, or to periodically stocking the Fridge.
      • There was Consensus that periodically stocking the Fridge with water/electrolyte drinks/juice would be a better use of those funds
      • going to add recommendation for people to donate water/electrolyte drinks/juice, if they want to bring stuff for the BBQ

    Volunteer Roles

    • Cleaning, both Daily and sporadic!
      • We went through the cleaning process in person, giving the Fridge a thorough wipe down.
        • Bit.ly/kcf-clean for anyone who wants to see it written out
      • when brought up that for sharps (such as glass or needles), calling Downtown Kelowna is what they recommend – [insert phone # here]
        • group discussed that it would be helpful to have this number posted at the Fridge, along with the overall cleaning steps
      • Where to dispose of garbage if volunteers cannot take it home was discussed – currently there is no clear option. When Ollie spoke to Lisa after the meeting, she recommended we contact Waste Connections Canada to see how they might be able to help.
    • Maintenance
      • Freezer door/drawer
        • Joanne reached out to Lyndon about the part needed for the lower freezer to be a drawer again – he is finding the part online
      • Would be useful to have a more fleshed out maintenance team/process for sharing when maintenance is needed
        • Astra would like to be a part of the maintenance team, and will be tagged in Slack when the freezer part comes in so ze can be a part of that fix
    • Communications
      • e-newsletters, posts to Slack, posts to social media, email/message responding
      • Ollie shared that having some company and input would be helpful for the e-newsletter especially
      • Alicia and Lauren are both stepping up to be a part of website updating; meeting to happen this week between them and Ollie to discuss particulars
      • Ollie is working on some general Fridge posters that are in B&W so can be cheaply printed
    • Donations
      • Dale brought up a discussion she had with a friend, about putting a donation bin for non-perishable food in their condo complex to make it easy for people to donate. She is wondering if that is in line with the Fridge – there was consensus that it is!
        • Would be helpful to have a sign with information about the Fridge, so people can know more about us and where that food is going to
    • Grants
      • Crystina filled us in about ongoing grant applications. Many have not been available to us because we are a mutual aid group, and they require non-profit/registered charity status.
        • She has had meetings with Community Futures to see if they might be able to accept grants on behalf of us
        • this is possible, CF is currently internally navigating if we are a good fit for them
        • if this does happen, it would not be a lump sum deposited to us – rather, they would get the grant, and we would provide specific purposes it was going towards, submitting receipts for such to get refunded
      • Joanne has heard that Lake Country Community Fridge has been getting grants – Crystina is going to reach out to them to see which grants are working for them, any tips and tricks they might be able to share with us

    KCF Meeting May 17, 2023

    In attendance: Erika, Corey, Ollie, Astra, Lisa, Helena 

    1) Deep Freeze

    –new freezer donated, to be delivered to Ollie’s

    -Lisa will approach city for donations

    -new plug put up high so cord can stream through brick for safety

    -what will we put in freezer—extra bread, soups, larger donations, pre cooked food?

    Next Steps:

    -tentative yes- Lisa will ask for help from Joe (electrician)

    -put out ask for help on slack and social media (Joanne will put up ask for help) as soon as possible

    -Erika will put call out at work for help

    2) Collective Values

    -taken from Victoria Community Fridge Values

    -shared core values help us build community

    -collective values are linked underneath announcement for today’s meeting

    Next Steps:

    -look through values individually on slack and raise questions/revisions as they arise

    3) Charitable Organization Status

    -no one has yet volunteered to see the process through

    -status comes with constraints on speaking out about social issues: does not fit mutual aid structure

    -restaurants dropping off leftovers reduces city waste: strong point in our favour

    Next Steps:

    –continue with current course

    4) Signup.com

    -Lauren left link: posted by Ollie in the slack

    -website to track volunteer shifts re: cleaning 3x per day at fridge

    Next Steps:

    -post website more frequently on social media/the slack to direct community for information

    -post invitation to clean more frequently on social media/ the slack (Ollie)

    -Lisa has garbage bags inside of the salon for fridge

    -Joanne to set up cleaning kit bin with cleaning supplies outside

    -Ollie to scoop a sharps container (perhaps it can be mounted?)

    -Downtown Kelowna to pick up sharps when seen (call for them to pick up, and post number in cleaning bin/around sharps container)

    5) Pop Up Pantry

    -May 28th, 2023,12pm-3pm

    -still need a few more volunteers needed

    -food ideas: soup? (weather permitting), chili, sandwiches, pasta salad

    -attendance increasing

    Next Steps:

    – Joanne to prepack sandwiches, granola, chips, etc. and package together

    -place extra/leftovers from PUP back into community fridge

    -donations for food taken at PUP

    -source jug of cold water with pump sourced to avoid waste

    -seeking volunteers to organize PUP monthly: ask friends and community connections- create sign to post at PUP with contact information for interested volunteers?

    6) Bulk Buy

    -buy rice and beans in bulk, need way to seal individual packages for distribution

    -what runs out first? – Ollie has a short list

    Next Steps:

    -Erika and Corey have vacuum sealer

    -Ollie to post needed item shortlist in slack

    -Helena to ask Ambrosi Dental for donations of toothbrushes and toothpaste

    Random Items/Upcoming Dates:

    ––Tuesday May 23rd from 2pm-3pm: meeting for Central Okanagan Food System, community fridge representation wanted 😊

    -Ollie will post details on slack 

    –Rematriation next week at Okanagan College (proceeds to pay for film)—bake sale to raise funds for community fridge on Wednesday May 24th

    –Tuesday, June 6th is next online meet and greet

    -2 three hour portions

    -tentative next meeting June 14, 2023 in person, 5:30-6:30pm

    -next tentative PUP date is third weekend of June 2023 (June 18th, potentially on Sat/Sun depending on Father’s Day)

    -helicopter company wanting to host barbeque for community with focus of unhoused community but open to all community members (tentative date June 24, 2023)

    –Sunday June 25th,2023  burlesque fundraiser ?