Giving Back: Nourish Cowichan

Every year here at hOMe Grown, we seek out non-profit organizations & charities that align with our core values. Through these organizations, we spread 1% of our Sales to support their missions. This year, the hOMe Grown family has collectively chosen a group of organizations to support that speaks to each of us.

The first is Nourish Cowichan right here in our very own backyard. The idea for Nourish Cowichan started back in 2016 when three women of the Cowichan Valley area recognized that a high number of children were going to school without food in their belly. That number is a staggering 30% – the second highest rate of child poverty in a rural area in British Columbia. With heavy hearts and a desire to help nourish these children Fatima Da Silva, Anita Carroll and Dina Holbrook launched their first pilot program. That program involved the help of a school principal to provide breakfast for children at a local school.

“The importance of having a nutritious breakfast allows the kids to actively participate in class and within groups – they don’t have that hunger pain in their bellies,” says Anita Carroll during a 2017 campaign that brought awareness to their tiny operation. From there, local support started flooding in. Donations, fundraising events and public announcements allowed the program to grow in just a few short years. What started out in Fatima Da Silva’s café kitchen two days a week, has now turned into a fully operating non-profit organization. Working out of their very own commercial kitchen, Nourish Cowichan feeds the mouths of children in nearly 13 schools, 3 daycares and the Maternity Children’s Clinic at Cowichan District Hospital.

Nourish Cowichan works closely with local food providers with the support of volunteers who back in 2019 dedicated over 4,200 hours making and delivering meals.

hOMe Grown acknowledges the importance of delicious and nutritious food and so without any hesitation jumped on board in supporting this cause. We are honoured to donate $500 to Nourish Cowichan – which will feed a local child for 1 year.

Nourish Cowichan is always welcoming new businesses, artists, farmers, bakers, or any skill, talent or expertise you can offer, to help better a child’s life.

‘Child poverty is a complicated issue, feeding a child is not’ – Jeff Bridges