Richmond Review · Page 3
Friday, July 12, 2013
Martin van den Hemel photo Thursday’s demolition of this garage, which was the centre of operations for The Sharing Farm—which provides tens of thousands of pounds of fresh fruits and vegetables to local needy families—served as the launch for a crowdfunding effort. For more on the fundraiser for the replacement, estimated to cost $170,000 to complete, visit tinyurl.com/ TheSharingFarm.
Community support for farm has been amazing From Page 1 Every year, the blood, sweat and tears of those who work the 4.5 acres of City of Richmond-supplied soil at The Sharing Farm, results in some 30,000 pounds of apples, strawberries, tomatoes, broccoli, lettuce, garlic, bok choy and gai lan, destined for the plates of some 1,000 people each week. This year, there were plans to renovate the multi-car garage that had served as the make-shift hub for the entire farming operation, where the perishable harvest was washed, sorted and kept cooled. But then a rodent problem, and the discovery of mould, derailed the project. On Thursday, the garage was razed, leaving the farm without a centre of operations for the foreseeable future. So added to the daunting task of running a farm on a barebones budget and extremely limited resources was yet another job: overseeing a monumental fundraising project. The goal: to build a new farm centre. The cost: $170,000. The timeframe: as soon as possible. “In reality, it would become our first real farm centre,” Frazer said of the new hub, the sketches of which are available at sharingfarm.ca. “For us, the amount of money is astronomical, more than our annual operating budget.” Further complicating matters is the fact that the hub is gone at the height of the season, when droves of community volunteers roll up their sleeves in hopes of making a real difference in the lives of needy local families. So The Sharing Farm is hoping to speed up the fundraising process through crowdfunding, hoping that the tens of thousands of local families recognize the importance of their work, and will contribute what they can afford, a few dollars at a time. The effort was launched Thursday on the indiegogo.com crowdfunding website. Details are available at tinyurl.com/ TheSharingFarm. Crowdfunding has helped with all sizes of projects, including when entrepreneurs sought to raise capital to fund the construction of a high-tech watch— the Pebble, which is currently on sale—
that links directly to smartphones. Same goes for the effort to pay the owner of a video purporting to show Toronto Mayor Rob Ford smoking crack cocaine. As well as the filming of a movie for fans of the TV teenage-detective show Veronica Mars. Frazer said this fundraiser will help countless locals for decades to come. “This is not going to be a temporary structure,” she said. It will house facilities to clean and store the harvest, as well as park crucial farming equipment. Thus far, the community’s support for The Sharing Farm has been amazing. The City of Richmond has supplied the land in West Richmond, as well as the Gilbert Road Community Gardens, for growing food, as well as the water necessary for irrigation and a variety of facilities at no cost. City spokesperson Kim Decker said the project is being reviewed for possible inclusion in the city’s capital campaign. But the need is now for a new facility, and Frazer is hoping local residents, as well as the corporate community, will recognize the urgency for the unique facility. The lack of a garage will impact the efficiency of the farm’s operations, and will eventually reduce its output, which will translate into less food for those who can least afford to go without. Mack Foster, owner of Mack Foster Building Materials Ltd. doing business as RONA (at Gilbert Road and Elmbridge), said his Richmond store will be donating $15,000 to the building effort after being impressed by what he saw during a tour of the site a couple of weeks ago. “I think it’s a really good cause. Just looking at the way they do things, there’s not a lot of big payroll going to administration and they’re putting food into people’s kitchens that can’t afford it,” he said. Vancity has also stepped forward to support The Sharing Farm, providing a $15,000 Envirofund grant. For more information about The Sharing Farm, visit sharingfarm.ca. •Richmond Cares is an occasional feature highlighting Richmond groups and individuals that help the community.
Martin van den Hemel photo Heather Kaplan and Laurel Wright beside a one-colour printing press inside their shop at 13988 Cambie Rd.
A sister act for 35 years Teens urged by father to open Presto Print in 1978 by Martin van den Hemel Staff Reporter Much has changed in Richmond since Heather Kaplan and her sister Laurel Wright ventured into the world of business as teenagers, at the urging of their father back in 1978. At that time, the Richmond High students were being taught to run an AB Dick onecolour printing press in their graphics communication class at school under the guidance of teacher Ron Zadorozny. And their dad, Allan Wright, had learned from a friend of a new printing process that eliminated the need for making a metal plate and was much faster. “It all kind of fell into place,” Kaplan said from Presto Print’s offices at 13988 Cambie Rd. Their dad had the insight to invest in the equipment for the business, which first opened on Bridgeport Road at No. 5 Road, and has provided a great career for the sisters and helped them forge long-lasting relationships with the business community.
“He decided to invest in our future that way,” Kaplan said. While Richmond has grown into a fullfledged city, and technology has advanced by leaps and bounds, one thing has remained the same in the past three-plus decades: if you keep your customers happy, they’ll continue to return and spread the positive word too. This month, Presto is celebrating its 35th anniversary of catering to mostly small and medium sized businesses, offering business cards, letterhead, envelopes, tickets, cheques, and photocopies among other things. Over all those years, they’ve never had to hire a salesperson, relying almost exclusively on drawing in customers by hanging a shingle on the sidewalk, and word-of-mouth. Presto survived despite naysayers proclaiming doom-and-gloom about the printing industry with the advent of home printers and other technological advances. Laurel Wright said she and her sister take pride in the quality of the products they create, and being able to work with customers who know very little about what they want, but who walk away extremely happy. It’s been their secret to success, one copy at a time