Welcome to Frog Hollow’s Community Connections Blog

Check out our Calendar of Events It’s updated regularly.

For more information see our About Us page.

 

Quote: It’s How Much We Enjoy that Makes Happiness

“It is not how much we have, but how much we enjoy that makes happiness.”

Tot2Teen Dental/Laughing Bean

Yesterday afternoon we have an opportunity to visit two places in East Hastings.  (One is a dental office and the other one is a coffee shop.)  Dr. Gartner is a specialist in paediatric dentistry and with a great deal of personality indeed.  She explained in depth of how she sees the need of dental care for children and not finding one in East Vancouver.  So she sets up her own dental office going through a long process.  She has taken the time to tour the office with us.  It has a very comfort atmosphere.  I can see her love and care for children and those with special needs too.   Though she is Canadian born her parents are from Germany.  The second place that we have visited is a coffee shop.  They started their business in 2003.  They loved the location because  it is close to anywhere and there are no coffee shop in the area before them.  Dr. Gardner and the coffee shop owners both have two daughters.  Another similarity is they both have therapy dog.  Children love dog in the dental office for comfort and customers in the coffee shop love to take the dog out for a walk as a relaxing exercise.  I love to hear stories and cherish my friendly neighbourhood.

Join us for our 16th Annual Pumpkin Patch

The Annual Pumpkin Patch is just a month away. Come join us for the fun with activities, story telling, games, entertainment, and more. Event starts at 10am till 4pm. This will be a great family event!  CLICK HERE to see last year’s photos.

 

Community Walk

We walked from Frog Hollow to Nanaimo and Kitchener today.  We were introduced by Marcy to Renzullo Food Market.  A family run business since 1964.  The family immigrated to Canada in the 1950s and the father has retired 15 years ago.  Since then it is taken over by his daughter Mirella and her husband.  Mirella is born in Canada.  The shop has lots of Italian products of which mostly from Toronto but the prosciutto is from Italy.  They sell 1st pressed extra virgin olive oil.  Mirella has given us a taste of it to dip with bread.  It is very good and the coffee is very good too.  Thanks to Frog Hollow for the coffee.  We have a wonderful time there talking to them and get to know the young generation of the Renzullo family.

Promoting Food Security

On Thursday August 25th we were at the Drive Youth Employment Centre armed with a second hand blender and a bushel of kale.

The goal was to promote food security and healthy eating among youth in the city. Eva, our Food Security Coordinator demonstrated how to make a nutritious and delicious kale smoothie and shared the fruits of her labour with the youth involved in the Frames Film Program. This is a great project that helps kids express themselves and their viewpoint though film (to learn more about this fantastic program check out their link HERE).

Eva making smoothies

While Eva was blending kale, blueberries, bananas, coconut water, yogurt and almond milk she was sharing the benefits of eating kale, how to access it and what to do with it. Not only were the smoothies delicious but appreciated as it was chock full of vitamins and minerals that not only promote physical health but learning and creativity too.

This visit to the Frames Film Program meeting was a part of a larger scheme of promoting food security at Frog Hollow Neighbourhood House. The Food Security Programs consists of monthly potlucks, gardens, cooking programs, informational and educational food security workshops. We provide hot lunch to families with children ages 0 to 6 in the Family Program drop-in involving the parents/caregivers in the kitchens in assisting and preparing the hot meals, thus building capacity as they gain Canadian experience. Our volunteers also engage in the many garden projects involving seniors, youth and community members from a diverse group of language and culture. Other sustainable food programs provided to our programs families that help meet their daily nutritional needs are from the support and generosity of several funders (United Way, Sustainable Food System Grant, Community Action Plan for Children (CAPC), and local organization such as Intercity Packers, Greater Vancouver Food Bank, Uprising Breads, Quest, Van Whole Produce and Donald’s Market. With their support they assist in sustaining healthy growth and development.

If you haven’t worked kale into your diet yet give it a shot. Here are some easy and delicious recipes.  What’s your go to kale recipe?

If you want to learn more about food insecurity in Vancouver and how you can help, contact Eva at eva@froghollow.bc.ca or  604-251-1225 ext. 238

 

Fun with Clay

Last week we have two mornings playing with clay.  It was messy but fun.  On Tuesday morning we started to make out something on clay and Thursday morning we painted on our creations.  Today we have a new project and have to wait till Thursday to let it dry to give the finished touch.  I am so excited to see the new creation for next week and it will be the last two sessions.  Thank you Ken for giving us so many ideas on the Art Workshop.

Community Walk

I am glad to be able to join the group again after two busy weeks on my adventures with the inspiration pass.  Today we walked from Frog Hollow to 17th Ave. E and Slocan to the Italian Cultural Centre then to the Beaconfield Park nearby.  We all have a good time enjoyed the lovely community garden there.

The Carnival Band at the Harvest Festival

We are always excited to see the Carnival Band with their entertaining music and funky outfits. The band performed for us at the Harvest Festival again this year and celebrated with us our final day for “Frogs in the Park” at Clinton Park.

Vegetable Contest at the Harvest Festival

Another amazing year at the Harvest Festival and it was our last day at “Frogs in the Park” on Thursday, September 1st. Unfortunately, the rain didn’t hold up halfway through the event and it poured on us quite a bit. Luckily, it eventually stopped pouring. Check out the amazing vegetable contest entries at the Frog Hollow Harvest Festival. See the video I’ve captured below.

Last trip with the inspiration pass

We do not have time to visit Vancouver Maritime Museum during our trip to the Museum of Vancouver and H.R. MacMilan Space Centre though they are so close together.  Many seniors express interest of visiting the place so to make good use of the pass (the two weeks inspiration pass due on August 31st).  We managed to do it yesterday and we were glad that we did because it is so interesting to see so many different type of vessel model displayed there.  We also went to Maplewood Farm on the same day too.  This is another interesting place to see many different kind of animals.  You can feed chicken,ducks and bunnies.  Thank you to Frog Hollow for helping us to get the pass.  Altogether I have made 11 visits it is quite a record to me and certainly I have made good use of it. I would like to say a special “thank you” to Diane Chan, Manda and Rosa to make this possible and I hope you all enjoy the visit.