Cottonwood Fire
Donation protected
At 2 am on July 3,2017 there was a fire at Cottonwood Community Gardens and our greenhouse and the attached tool/bee shed burnt to the ground. Many of the nearby plants, shrubs and trees were burned and scorched and may not survive the damage.
Nothing was salvageable from the fire and apart from the building itself, the largest loss is the beekeeping supplies. These include a community honey extractor, protective clothing for lessons and beekeeping tools, boxes and frames. We have a thriving apiary and a thriving bee team. Strathcona Beekeepers Association and the Cottonwood Beekeeping Coop are two of the groups that use the garden.
This shed also held our "good" and more specific tools and equipment: sets of loppers, a long-handled pruner, a weed eater, construction and irrigation tools and supplies, plus ladders, including 2 aluminum orchard ladders that melted in the fire. The greenhouse had a sink which is no longer usable and all the shelving, seedlings and plants were destroyed in the fire.
Cottonwood Gardens is an Eastside Vancouver oasis in Strathcona, a neighbourhood with few public green spaces. Cottonwood is a volunteer organization that operates on a shoestring — our funds come mainly from our yearly plot fees. We have dedicated gardeners who represent a diversity of residents with a common love of gardening and sense of community.
What needs to be done? The burnt remains of our tool shed and green house will have to be hauled away. We'll need a structure to replace them. Replacing the beekeeping equipment is a priority and then we need to replace the tools we lost that we use on a regular or seasonal basis.
We're asking for your financial support to help us to keep the beehive operation running and to get the garden functioning well again. And to keep it as an oasis!
Please let us know if you would like a tax receipt for your donation.
Nothing was salvageable from the fire and apart from the building itself, the largest loss is the beekeeping supplies. These include a community honey extractor, protective clothing for lessons and beekeeping tools, boxes and frames. We have a thriving apiary and a thriving bee team. Strathcona Beekeepers Association and the Cottonwood Beekeeping Coop are two of the groups that use the garden.
This shed also held our "good" and more specific tools and equipment: sets of loppers, a long-handled pruner, a weed eater, construction and irrigation tools and supplies, plus ladders, including 2 aluminum orchard ladders that melted in the fire. The greenhouse had a sink which is no longer usable and all the shelving, seedlings and plants were destroyed in the fire.
Cottonwood Gardens is an Eastside Vancouver oasis in Strathcona, a neighbourhood with few public green spaces. Cottonwood is a volunteer organization that operates on a shoestring — our funds come mainly from our yearly plot fees. We have dedicated gardeners who represent a diversity of residents with a common love of gardening and sense of community.
What needs to be done? The burnt remains of our tool shed and green house will have to be hauled away. We'll need a structure to replace them. Replacing the beekeeping equipment is a priority and then we need to replace the tools we lost that we use on a regular or seasonal basis.
We're asking for your financial support to help us to keep the beehive operation running and to get the garden functioning well again. And to keep it as an oasis!
Please let us know if you would like a tax receipt for your donation.
Organizer and beneficiary
Pam Killin
Organizer
Vancouver, BC
Rose-Marie Larsson
Beneficiary