EQUS Staff and Directors Support Agriculture Discovery Centre
EQUS employees are committed to making a difference in the communities we serve. The EQUS Community Connection (ECC) Committee is an employee-led fundraising initiative dedicated to making a difference year-round throughout our Service Area. Thanks to fundraising efforts driven by EQUS staff and Board of Directors we were able to present the Agriculture Discovery Centre (ADC) with a cheque for $25,000! Through the ECC, EQUS staff raise funds each year with events including the Annual Charity Golf Tournament and internal staff initiatives including a holiday silent auction, bake sales, staff BBQs and more.
The ADC, located outside of Medicine Hat on the Irvine School grounds, is an on-site agriculture demonstration project that connects both rural and urban students to deepen their shared understanding of the Canadian Food System. The program teaches sustainable agriculture practices focusing on how we will feed 9 billion people by 2050 in an environmentally sound, socially responsible and financially viable way now and in the future. This program will build capacity in rural youth. According to Farm and Food Care Canada, 1 in 8 jobs are related to agriculture and agri-food. The ADC will inspire local youth to choose meaningful career paths that will ultimately serve to strengthen and uphold the Canadian Food System.
Pictured: Students harvesting pumpkins at the ADC and visiting the animals.
Through the ADC, Irvine School students have the unique opportunity to engage in many facets of agriculture; from growing crops and produce to raising livestock. While this hands-on experience is unique to Irvine School, the ADC plans to use the funds donated by the EQUS team to develop a series of curriculum-linked Agri-Food Toolkits that will share the ADC experience with students in EQUS communities by making the toolkits available to teachers and classrooms free-of-charge. The toolkits will bring hands-on agriculture, environment, and food sustainability education opportunities into our rural classrooms. Some of the toolkits available will include lessons, materials, and equipment including a Bee Kit, Crops Kit, Beef Kit, Vermi Kit, and Chicken Kit.
We look forward to sharing more about these toolkits and how they will be accessible to schools in the EQUS Service Area in the near future.
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