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At Rise Up Indigenous Wellness in Salmon Arm, food security is an ever-present focus.

The aim of the non-profit society, which has been in the region for about two-and-a-half-years, is to support Indigenous families, youth and children in the region who are off reserve or away from their home communities.

Executive director Launa Payne and program director Sherrelle Anderson explained they have made food security for families an integral part of the holistic programs they offer.

乌鸦传媒淎t the start we were running programs, but there was such a huge need for providing food security for families. We found that our programs were an opportunity to distribute food because, particularly during all the no-meeting pandemic guidelines, our traditional way of sharing food, which would have been cultural gatherings where people take things home after, was interrupted,乌鸦传媒� said Payne.

They started doing things such as send-home packages, while keeping in mind the aim to decolonize the diet as much as possible. They looked at sending more fish and different game when it was available, for example, or even chicken and beef. And avoiding processed foods, sugar and starch, as much as possible.

With their Helping Hands program, Indigenous people who want to lend a hand come in and everyone builds hampers together, which are then distributed to families in need.

乌鸦传媒淲hen we distribute to our groups, we found this is a good way to build relationships. It kind of takes away from us trying to advertise what we乌鸦传媒檙e doing. It乌鸦传媒檚 just part of the package. If you乌鸦传媒檙e in our group, you get the food, so it takes away the stigmatization in a way. It乌鸦传媒檚 for everybody in the group, it乌鸦传媒檚 not just like picking and choosing families. It seems like the easier way for us to help anybody. Because you don乌鸦传媒檛 always know who乌鸦传媒檚 in need too,乌鸦传媒� explained Anderson.

乌鸦传媒淭here乌鸦传媒檚 less talk-down, added Payne. 乌鸦传媒淚f we乌鸦传媒檙e doing a food group or say, one of our things was doing Cook with Kids, so we make food people can bring home to cook at home with their children. But some of the prep stuff would be the parents visiting and connecting. Just that we乌鸦传媒檙e all helping each other out, rather than a saviour mentality.乌鸦传媒�

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The women noted they乌鸦传媒檙e currently grant-dependent and are still building and growing their organization.

They have reached out to local bands and have working relationships with Splatsin and Neskonlith. They expect as they grow they may overlap with all four bands.

The women agree that building collaboration between different organizations which are providing food is important.

乌鸦传媒淲e can do it in a lot of different ways,乌鸦传媒� said Payne, noting Rise Up donated . 乌鸦传媒淲e乌鸦传媒檙e all doing the same thing 乌鸦传媒� it乌鸦传媒檚 just how can we help support each other乌鸦传媒檚 programming.乌鸦传媒�

Payne said a number of Salmon Arm businesses have been very supportive, such as Grillers Meats, Askew乌鸦传媒檚 Foods and Save On Foods.

乌鸦传媒淭hat乌鸦传媒檚 one thing we are doing well right now as a community.乌鸦传媒�

The women emphasized that direct food support is huge, particularly with current high prices.

乌鸦传媒淎ny way we can connect around that,乌鸦传媒� Payne said. 乌鸦传媒淚n the fall the last couple of years, we have done some canning and processing and workshops with families around that. How do we preserve food, how do we get healthy food on a budget 乌鸦传媒� a callout if there乌鸦传媒檚 any excess at local farms, it would be useful for that.乌鸦传媒�

Their vision for the future is to see more food programs that are holistic and family based, which would require having more access to funding to be able to feed more families and keep supports in place.

For more information on Rise Up Indigenous Wellness programs, visit the website or email: indigenousriseup@gmail.com.

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