Let’s Learn Together Market Fair

Small Scale Farms
Aug 23, 2017 · 4 min read

October 28th, 2017

(Letter to Co-hosts)

Hello Everyone!

My name is Renee, I am the Executive Director of the Niagara Farm Project, a local non profit working diligently on various well-being initiatives, as well as food security for the Niagara region.

While many of you I have met, there are some of you I have not, so I’d like to take a minute to fully explain why you have received this email.

Over the past few weeks the Niagara Farm Project has reached out to Brock University, Niagara College, Niagara Sustainability Initiative, Links for Greener Learning, Healthy Kids Challenge (Public Health), Social Enterprise Niagara, Textile Waste Diversion, the City of St. Catharines, and now also Walker Industries, with the hope of putting together an a collaborative event called the Let’s Learn Together, Market Fair.

While there are still some final decisions to make, we now have a date and a location: Brock University, October 28th, 11–4pm.

This event will be a colour coded trade show, also with tables set up for vendors, as well as various break out rooms for workshops. The colour coding will symbolize a representation of each organization’s or institution’s objectives or intentions.

Because this is a collaboration, each organization in this email is being asked to co-host this event, meaning we are asking you to each invite your partners in the community, that you think will best represent your objective in the community. Our guests will then each also have the opportunity to host a workshop that does the same.

So for example, each co-host will have a colour assigned to them. We are trying to accomodate based on brand colours as best we can, ie Brock is red, Niagara College is blue.

Because we are each working hard on sustainability, the workshops we can expect from the above 2 examples would be sustainability based, ie renewable energies from NC.

Another example would be Links for Greener Learning, we can assume they will symbolize their efforts through their multicultural, green workshops and their affiliates. Healthy Kids through Public Health, is going to make sure there are some really fun, healthy things for kids to do and learn.

Yet another example would be ours, the Niagara Farm Project will have a vendor selling homemade soap, (one of our partners), another selling homemade candles, as well as a Beekeeping workshop, and a Seed Saving workshop to name a few. These will all be colour coded (symbolized) under our name.

And hopefully… there IS overlap between a few of our organizations. For instance, the Maker Space at Brock would very likely line up with Social Enterprise Niagara. So a specific workshop could be created and end up having 2 colours beside it, to represent each organization.

For each vending/trade show table we are collecting a fee of $125. This is a well below average price for a table at a trade show, to ensure everyone can afford to come, but also, it is a collective pot of money that will go directly into buying seeds for our regional wide SEED BANK.

The idea is when you are asking your community partners if they would like to participate, you are also inviting them to do a workshop. If they agree, the fee then drops to $75.

Each co-host will be asked to invite/fill 7 tables as their community partners or like-minded organizations.That is also up to 7 workshops. If you need help with this please let us know, we will work on it until we get it right!

*Note: You do not have to have worked with the like-minded organization before. You are just simply who is formally inviting them to participate in our event because they so closely value what your company/organization values. On the other hand, because the college and university have so many departments, they likely can fill each of their tables and workshops themselves if they so choose. Possibly Walker Industries as well. We just ask then that you consider donating the price of the 7 tables ($125 x 7) into the SEED BANK on behalf of your Corporation, or contribute in other equally valuable ways to ensure this event’s success!

To clear up any confusion on who pays for what, beyond the vendors tables, we are asking each co-host to contribute $500. Brock University has graciously donated the use of their Pond Inlet however this fee is to cover food for the day, the tables and chairs, marketing materials and various small costs. Other vendors will also be invited beyond your company’s 7 tables, each with specific connections to the overall idea that this is a sustainable LEARNING event.This group of “extras” will all be colour coded green as an extra branch.

We want to offer the residents of Niagara something with substance here, and really come together to try and hit on every sustainable topic that we can. Everything from how to grow your own food, to what we do with waste, to social responsibility and public health. And yes, the average resident would love to learn about solar energy, or geothermal heat.

We talk so much about how Niagara’s problem is all of our silo’s, so this is the perfect opportunity to get past all that. Niagara wants to learn how to get past their obstacles and the Niagara Farm Project definitely wants to highlight who some of our leaders are in the community who are willing to teach how to become more sustainable.

NEXT STEPS

You will receive a follow up email to this, verifying each Co-host’s participation, within the next week. This next email will solidify our intentions and begin the process. I will draft an example letter for your community partnership vendor/workshop tables, but it is preferable if you call and speak to someone directly about attending. This next email you receive, will also highlight all of the necessary information your “partners” will need to know.

If you have any questions, or you’d like to talk further, my contact information is below.

Thanks everyone, looking forward to working together.

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