Reconciliation garden in Breslau ready for harvest
On this National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, a unique local partnership is being celebrated in the name of promoting reconciliation. A growing garden in Breslau, aimed at nurturing relationships and reconciliation, is bringing together members of the community and volunteers to pick produce that will go towards feeding local Indigenous families.
Work on the garden began earlier this year and since then, a partnership between the local Indigenous community and Roman Catholic Church has blossomed.
What started out as nearly 10 acres of weeds, is now home to traditional Indigenous food and medicine such as pumpkins, squash, cedar, sage and sweet grass.
A reconciliation garden that has been growing for months in Breslau is now ready for harvest. (Spencer Turcotte / CTV News)
It all began by planting the seed of an unlikely partnership. The land was provided by the Diocese of Hamilton, which is affiliated with St. Mary’s Roman Catholic Church in Kitchener. The church and Anishnabeg Outreach joined forces to create the garden and offer what grows there to local Indigenous peoples in need.
“We now support 450 families and growing,” said Stephen Jackson, Anishnabeg Outreach’s CEO.
While the garden has grown, so has the relationship between the two sides.
“If you look at our past, it's not that great. So that they're interested -- that is edifying for me because I don't know if I would do the same. (Or) if I would have the courage or the desire,” said Father Toby Collins from St. Mary’s Roman Catholic Church.
A reconciliation garden that has been growing for months in Breslau is now ready for harvest. (Spencer Turcotte CTV News)
It’s hard to ignore the rows of pumpkins at the garden. Those who have working in the sea of orange for months said it speaks to the bigger picture of what the garden represents when it comes to truth and reconciliation.
“If you work together, learn together or play together, you're able to break down the barriers of discrimination and racism and that's what this is all about. It's helping people participate,” explained Jackson.
Vegetables growing in a reconciliation garden in Breslau are ready for harvest. (Spencer Turcotte/CTV News)
That participation has branched out to local businesses like The Neighbourhood Group, which saw this as an opportunity for some growth of their own.
“One of the simplest things you can do is get your hands dirty and go volunteer. And it's amazing where the conversations will go and where you'll start to see a path,” said Court Desautels, CEO of The Neighbourhood Group.
Clearing a path for the 10-acre garden may have seemed daunting at first, but the progress made is clear in more ways than one.
Today, members of the community harvested crops that will help fill care packages. It is part of the Spirit Bundle Program which supports Indigenous families in the Waterloo region and Guelph area.
The group says it's a way to build relationships and demonstrate reconciliation in a real way.
“If we just look at all of them, that's the healing. It's about building partnerships, building relations for a future that's different. And today, on Truth and Reconciliation Day, I can't tell you how important this is," said Jackson.
"It's one of the many expressions that we can do to show that we care about Indigenous people today and about what's happened in the past so that we can walk through it to create a different present and future. One that is a lot more giving and more respectful of each other's traditions," said Father Toby Collins.
Although a big part of the Spirit Bundle Program is food-based, the group is also looking for other donations to help fill packages including cleaning supplies, diapers, toiletries, children's clothing and toys.
Donations can be dropped off at their location at 236 Woodhaven Road in Kitchener.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
'I just can't believe that it took so long': Body found in wreckage 3 months after deadly fire
A man accused of arson in a January Old Strathcona apartment fire is expected to be charged with manslaughter after a body was discovered in the burned building late last month.
No proof man lied to brother about number of kittens born in litter, B.C. tribunal rules
A man was denied a $5,000 payout from his brother after a B.C. tribunal dismissed his claim disputing how many kittens were born in a litter.
Quebec police hand out hundreds of tickets to Hells Angels and other bikers before 'first run' meeting
Quebec provincial police handed out hundreds of fines to Hells Angels members and other supporting motorcycle clubs who met for their 'first run' in a small town near Sherbrooke, Que.
Explosion at train station leads to discovery of stolen car on Montreal's South Shore: police
Police are investigating after a BMW exploded in the St-Lambert Exo train station parking lot on Montreal's South Shore.
Parliamentary report on Emergencies Act decision is 18 months past due — and counting
The erstwhile group of senators and MPs studying the federal government's invocation of the Emergencies Act over the "Freedom Convoy" was supposed to present its findings in December. December of 2022, that is.
Grandparents killed in wrong-way crash on Hwy. 401 identified
A 60-year-old man and a 55-year-old woman killed in a wrong-way crash on Highway 401 earlier this week have been identified by the Consulate General of India in Toronto.
A Chinese driver is praised for helping reduce casualties in a highway collapse that killed 48
A Chinese truck driver was praised in local media Saturday for parking his vehicle across a highway and preventing more cars from tumbling down a slope after a section of the road in the country's mountainous south collapsed and killed at least 48 people.
A candidate for Germany's key party was beaten up while campaigning for European elections
A candidate for Chancellor Olaf Scholz's center-left party in next month's election for the European Parliament was beaten up and seriously injured while campaigning in an eastern city, the party said Saturday.
Russia puts Ukrainian President Zelenskyy on its wanted list
Russia has put Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on its wanted list, Russian state media reported Saturday, citing the interior ministry’s database.