A clay tile mosaic that involved close to 400 contributors and depicts many of the church’s programs has been unveiled at Emmanuel Baptist Church near the University of Victoria.
The mosaic on the outer wall of the church facing Cedar Hill Cross Road was conceived seven years ago by then-pastor Joan Dosso and artist Richard Motchman.
“We have both English- and Mandarin-speaking parishioners and this project was a way to draw both members of the church and the community closer together,” said Dosso.
She said that the mural was also a way to engage international students from nearby University of Victoria and Camosun College who would drop by for free meals every Tuesday evening.
“We would give them a meal and offer them a welcoming place to just hang out or do homework,” said Dosso. “Some would pick up some clay and add to the mural. In total, the mural represents close to 400 contributors.”
The mural depicts church programs such as free dinner for students, a neighbourhood market that distributes free food to those in need, daycare and after-school programs, free English as a Second Language classes, Chinese New Year celebrations, Mandarin dance and Beijing opera groups, events for seniors and drop-in badminton, as well as basketball and chess.
All the tiles are hand-made of clay, with three-dimensional sculptures that depict familiar landmarks in the neighbourhood such as the Cadborosaurus, the observatory on the Elliott building at UVic, and Camosun College. Others are symbols of spiritual practices such as communion, baptism, scripture reading, worship and preaching.
The 1.5-metre by 2.4-metre mural can be found on the exterior wall of the church (as you enter the parking lot) at 2121 Cedar Hill Cross Rd.
>>> Tickets to Hungry Hearts
Tickets are on sale for Hungry Hearts, a culinary competition involving teams of chefs representing well-known dining establishments, organized by Our Place.
The largest provider of emergency meals in Greater Victoria hopes to make a big dent in rising food costs through its annual fundraiser, which takes place in September. “We need to find $175,000 this year alone just to purchase protein,” said Our Place kitchen manager Brian Cox, whose team serves more than 1,200 nutritious meals each day to those in need.
On Friday, the eight chefs competing in this year’s competition drew from a chef’s hat to find out which protein they will each be working with during the Hungry Hearts broadcast (Sept. 2) and culinary gala (Sept. 9). “It’s exciting to think that nine years ago, Hungry Hearts started out as a simple soup and sandwich competition amongst five local restaurants,” said Julian Day, Our Place CEO. “Now it has grown into the region’s favourite culinary gala fundraiser.”
Chef competitors will represent Delta Hotels by Marriott Victoria Ocean Pointe Resort, Fairmont Empress, House of Boateng Café and Catering, Inn at Laurel Point, Oak Bay Beach Hotel, Sysco Victoria, Virtuous Pie and Zambri’s. Since its inception, the event has raised more than $1 million in support of programs and services for those struggling with poverty and homelessness in Greater Victoria.
• Tickets are available for the gala at hibid.ca/events/hungry-hearts-2023 or by calling 250-940-5064.
>>> Community Wellness cash
Island Health has announced its 2023/2024 Community Wellness grant recipients, with 51 new projects and initiatives across Vancouver Island and surrounding coastal communities sharing nearly $800,000 in funding.
Projects receiving funding include a facilitated support and activities group for women aged 50 and up recovering from domestic violence in the capital region; a partnership project in Alert Bay focused on intergenerational learning about Indigenous food security; an open school gym night series for families in Nanaimo; and a community dialogue on reducing smoke pollution in the Cowichan Valley.
• For more information and a list of grant recipients, go to communitygrants.islandhealth.ca.
>>> Go Great Canadian Giving
The South Island FarmHub and the Victoria Community Food Hub Society are taking part in the Great Canadian Giving Challenge, where every $1 donated to the charity through sa国际传媒Helps is an entry to win $20,000.
The money raised will go toward the Farmbucks program, an initiative founded in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The program subsidizes local food for Victoria-area charities, community organizations and schools.
“Barriers to accessing healthy food didn’t end with the pandemic, but many funding sources did, leaving the community groups we work with in need of more support to be able to buy good food for their participants,” said Laura Gair, programs and resource development manager at the society.
The goal of the program is to increase access to fresh, healthy food for those who need it the most while also supporting the region’s farmers.
Since its founding, the Farmbucks program has purchased $305,000 worth of local food and distributed it to more than 30 charities and six schools.
• For more information, go to
sifarmhub.ca/farmbucks-program. To donate to the Great Canadian Giving Challenge, go to canadahelps.org/en/givingchallenge.
>>> The puck drops here
Registration is open for NHL Street in Victoria, a low-cost, accessible street-hockey series for Greater Victoria youth this summer.
The event’s first season will see teams of seven youth, in five age categories (from ages 6 to 16), face off as the local street hockey representatives of an NHL team.
This season is short, with only four weeks of play. Next year’s season is expected to last a full eight weeks.
The Victoria Royals, Victoria Police Department and the Victoria City Police Athletic Association have partnered with the NHL to make the event possible, with the series hosted by the Victoria Royals.
The NHL Street in Victoria series takes place every Tuesday evening over a four-week period, starting July 4 in the parking lot of Save-On-Foods Memorial Centre, 1925 Blanshard St.
• For more information, and to register, go to nhlstreetvictoria.ca.
