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DON’T feel pressured to propose on Valentine’s Day or a birthday, Christmas, or other big holiday because it’s “what you’re supposed to do.” A proposal and a marriage are unique to each couple, and individuals should abide by their preferences when making such important decisions. Only propose when it feels completely right.
Valentine’s Day can be a perfect day to propose if the timing and planning is right.
A group of UBC Okanagan students are hoping to save the planet, one meal at a time.
The students, working under the university’s Enactus program, have reinitiated Smart Meals — a program where people raise money for food banks while buying items from sustainable, plant-based restaurants and merchants.
The students have teamed up with a number of establishments, the newest being the Vegetarian Butcher a plant-based grocery and deli in Kelowna.
When a smart meal is purchased from the business, the owner contributes money to the Central Okanagan Food Bank.
The pilot project in December raised more than $230 for the food bank with 115 holiday meals purchased. This month, all smart salads purchased at the Vegetarian Butcher will raise additional funds for the food bank.
“This is more of a social movement than it is about fundraising,” says Mohana Rambe, a third-year Faculty of Management student. “We are raising money, but we’re doing it passively. People are buying a product they want from a client-friendly business, and that business is supporting us by making the donation.”
Rambe became involved with the Smart Donate project last summer through an undergraduate research award from the Regional SocioEconomic Development Institute of Canada.
Smart Meals comes out of the Smart Donate project curated by Dr. Eric Li, an associate professor in the Faculty of Management.
The Smart Donate project, explains Li, aims to create an ecosystem connecting local businesses and community members with charities and non-profit organizations through a digitally-integrated platform.
Marcelle Moreira, an ecology and evolutionary biology undergraduate student, notes that other than connecting donors with beneficiaries, there are two other goals.
“First, we envision tackling food insecurity and that’s why we direct our partners to make donations to the food bank,” she says. “Secondly, we envision doing so sustainably. That’s why we address the environmental impact of food by having our smart meals be plant-based and/or local.”
The students are working with locally- owned, small businesses that strive to be as sustainable as possible. Other than the Vegetarian Butcher other partners include Sajiva Kombucha, Start Fresh Kitchen and the Yanapana Project.
The Yanapana project offers Spanish lessons to raise money for food hampers for families suffering from malnutrition in Ecuador.
Kelowna residents can buy a smart meals at the Vegetarian Butcher and enter a draw for a free Spanish lesson.
“While we are raising money, we believe creating a social movement is more important,” says Rambe.
For more information about the Smart Meals Project visit the group’s Instagram of Facebook pages.
In just a few years, Piers Bijvoet has gone from tagging along with his sisters to their musical theatre to landing a role in Viggo Mortensen’s directorial debut.
The Penticton-born teen, who now makes his home in Toronto, has a small, but important, role in “Falling,” a drama which explores dementia, homophobia and complex family relations. The film, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in 2020, is now available on Amazon Prime, Apple Plus and other streaming services.
“Falling” is the first major project for Bijvoet, 15, who had previously worked in commercials and a handful of music videos.
“My agent sent me to audition and I didn’t have any feature film experience. There were so many kids, but you can’t dwell on that. I went in and I thought I did well. A couple of weeks later, I was informed it was between me and one other boy,” he said in a phone interview from Toronto.
“It was nerve wracking. I wanted this so bad and knew it was all down to a one-intwo chance. My agent usually emails me so when she called, I knew I had it. She asked my mother, ‘Which parent is bringing him to L.A.?’”
Bijvoet appears in only one scene (his other two were left on the cutting room floor) as Lance Henriksen’s (“Alien”) grandson.
“Throughout the film, Lance’s character has several breakdowns. He’s a nasty character, funny because in real life Lance is so nice. His character makes jabs at my sister and knows all the right buttons to push. He begins attacking me and I end up storming off.”
Bijvoet’s character, Will, is Mortensen’s nephew and Laura Linney’s (“Ozark”) son.
Bijvoet, who was 13 at the time of filming, had to dye his hair blue for the movie. While the hair colour fit his character, he was glad to be able to return to being naturally blonde just in the nick of time for his Grade 8 graduation.
Mortensen, a three-time Academy Awardnominated actor (“Eastern Promises,” “Captain Fantastic,” “Green Book”) wrote, directed, co-starred and performed some of the music in “Falling.”
As a huge fan of the movie “Green Book,” Bijvoet was familiar with Mortensen’s star power prior to being cast.
“Viggo is not a stereotypical movie star,” he said. “He’s such a generous guy. We did a lot of rehearsals and he was really helpful, a lot of fun to work with. The entire cast and crew were great.”
Early reviews of the film have been mostly positive with the Hollywood Reporter calling it, “A masterful family drama.”
Bijvoet was born in Penticton and attended Uplands Elementary School until the age of eight when his family moved to Toronto.
“I miss Penticton a lot, I still love it. I keep in touch with a lot of friends still.”
Attending the famed Sundance festival in Utah was an experience in itself. He reunited with the cast and participated in two Q&A sessions. Sundance was held just before the COVID pandemic hit.
Due to COVID and the closure of most theatres, “Falling” is unlikely to receive a major theatrical release.
This disappoints Mortensen, who’s not a fan of straight-to-video or films made exclusively for streaming. It will be shown again at both the Cannes and Toronto International film festivals, later this year.
COVID also puts Bijvoet’s next project on hold. He’s cast in a primary role in a teenage coming-of-age film, “It’s Alright Now.”
As for his future, the teen said he wants to keep acting and would love to pursue it as his career.
When asked what film genre he’d most like to appear in, he said a super-hero film.