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The Roger Inman Memorial Award
16th Annual Roger Inman Memorial Award. The winner is Discovery Organics! Congratulations to Randy Hooper, Annie Moss and their team.
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Emma Kivisild, Board member presents Award to Annie Moss &
Randy Hooper at CCEC AGM January 21, 2010.
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Discovery Organics is a certified organic wholesaler located in Vancouver, BC servicing natural food retailers, the food service industry and consumer food co-ops with an emphasis on local fruits and vegetables. They are primarily a transportation company bringing food in from all over the Americas, repacking it in their warehouse and sending it out to their clients throughout North America.
Their business is built on four cornerstones: truth, transparency, trust and relationships. They establish binding, long-term friendships with employees, customers and farmers. From their farming roots, they began in 1999 with a mission to bring more certified organic fruit and vegetable, berry, nut and mushroom farms in B.C. into the commercial marketplace. They have increased the number from a handful to 90 B.C. farms.
In addition, Discovery Organics helps farmers develop co-operative shipping docks, uniform packaging, proper seed selection, crop contracts and marketing plans. They visit all their suppliers and work with growers to help them move to larger and more financially sustainable operations.
In May 2009, Discovery Organics shipped BOS Bananas from Peru to Vancouver. The 300 farm families of the Asociación de Bananeros Orgánicos Solidarios (BOS), each with the equivalent of one city block of plantation per family, made the first direct export of their fruit. This was a huge accomplishment for their co-operative, their town, and their future. Discovery Organics is proud to have been chosen as their first direct sale and, as of October 1, 2009 has been voted by BOS as their shipping and distribution representatives
Prior to this ‘coup’, 90% of BOS’ production was controlled by a major US corporation. These banana growers have been living in poverty. Taking this step and exporting their own product in their own boxes is a huge amount of vindication for them and a significant step towards freedom. It has not been without its challenges and repercussions from the US corporation. Discovery Organics, through their support, is paying the banana co-operative a fair rate for their certified organic and fair trade products which will increase the farmers’ family income by 50%. This is a huge impact in a small community.
Discovery Organics continues to expand their connection with growers’ co-ops, working with organic, fair trade mango growers in Peru, and their latest venture, a growers’ co-op in Chile who will be directly exporting the first fair trade organic blueberries anywhere in the world.
Their commitment to community economic development is demonstrated by building the capacity and ensuring the sustainability of organic, fair trade farmers. Daily, Discovery Organics is living their values
15th Annual Award Winner - The Vancouver Folk Music Festival Society
Visit www.thefestival.bc.ca for further information.
Above: Katherine Ruffen , a Trustee of the Roger Inman Memorial Award Trust Fund presented a cheque to Patty Gibson, Director of the Folk Festival Society
Vancouver Folk Music Festival receives CCEC Credit Union Inman Award
Patty says, “We are thrilled to have been chosen as this year’s recipient. The Festival celebrates the power of music and culture to create a better world. It’s that spirit of co-operation and collective achievement, embodied by Roger Inman, that’s at the heart of the festival.”
She continues, “Like CCEC, the festival is deeply rooted in community. It’s built by the folk, for the folk. And because it truly belongs to the people, it continues to live on as one of city’s most loved cultural events.”
Patty says, “Over the years, the festival has pioneered important environmental and inclusive practices. They’re aimed at protecting the environment, respecting the surrounding residents, and making the festival accessible and welcoming.”
Jill Kelly, General Manager for CCEC Credit Union says, “Among other things, the Festival supports the community with free and discounted tickets to groups and organizations who would not otherwise have access; volunteer opportunities for 1200 individuals, many of them youth; an ongoing commitment to environmental sustainability; and an important economic opportunity for small vendors who participate in the food and market areas of the festival site.”
For more information and tickets to the Folk Music Festival, visit www.thefestival.bc.ca
Background on the Award
Annually, CCEC presents the Roger Inman Memorial Award for Community Economic Development (CED) in recognition of a project that has made a significant contribution to the economic development of the community. CCEC is committed to keeping our money and resources working in our community by actively supporting and promoting the development of strong, successful community businesses, projects and organizations.
CCEC over the years has been very important for our theatre and helped to provide a financial foundation/friend to work with. We were so very honoured to receive the Roger Inman Memorial Award for CED in 2004.” ;Jay Hamburger, Artistic Director, Theatre in the Raw Society
Any group, business or individual affiliated with CCEC Credit Union is eligible for this special recognition/cash award.
Nominations are evaluated taking into account the following criteria:
Being self-directed;
Basing itself in the co-operative principles:
- Voluntary and Open Membership
- Democratic Member Control
- Member Economic Participation
- Autonomy and Independence
- Co-operative Education
- Co-operation among Co-operatives
- Concern for Community
- Benefiting the community on a continuing basis
- Defining a goal that addresses an identified community need
- Benefiting the community in a broader nature than a purely economic one
- Bringing together diverse awareness regarding community economic development
At CCEC we take all of "Community Economic Development" seriously. For us, the community part is essential to the economics, and we work to foster both for growth and change. It’s one of our basic principles. From the list of past winners you can see how they are working at CED in your community — from theatre to farms to loan guarantees. Every one of these groups is building community in creative ways, with courage and persistence.
Past winners are:
2010: Discovery Organics
2009: Vancouver Folk Music Festival Society
2008: East Vancouver Celebration Society
2007: Rhizome Café
2006: Fraser Common Farm Co-operative
2005: Spartacus Books Educational Society
2004: Theatre In The Raw Society
2003: Compassion Club Society of Vancouver
2002: Hebrew Assistance Association of Vancouver
2001: Your Local Farmers' Market Society
2000: Vancouver Co-operative Radio
1999: Watari Research Association
1998: East End Food Co-operative
1997: Philippine Women Centre
1996: WomenFutures Loan Guarantee Fund
1995: Teaching Support Staff Union of Simon Fraser University (TSSU)
1994: Peer Assisted Lending (PAL) through Cal Meadow Foundation
Background on Roger Inman:
This Award for Community Economic Development honours the memory of Roger Inman, a past president of CCEC, whose contributions to the wellbeing of the credit union were numerous. Roger became a member when CCEC first opened in 1976 and shortly after joining began serving as a volunteer teller. He was also a member of the credit committee, and later joined the Board of Directors where he served as co-chair and spearheaded the newsletter.
Roger always contributed his time, his insights, and his humour to the many community initiatives with which he was involved. He was also active in local politics, where his keen mind and natural optimism were always appreciated. "He didn’t have grand aspirations. He was very people-oriented, and he saw the world in human terms. He was humble," says friend Ross Gentleman. "He was a guy with a real commitment to community economic development."
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