WHO WE ARE
Bee City Brandon is a member of Bee City Canada, and is a committee of volunteers dedicated to preserving, protecting, and promoting pollinators like this busy, buck-some bumblebee. (Clearly, we're also into alliteration).
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Bee City Brandon Executive:
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Chair: Sherry Punak-Murphy
Program Director: Deanna Smid
Communications Director: Aly Wowchuk
Treasurer: Ingrid Gatin
Student Representative: Maria Garcia
City of Brandon Liaison: Lindsay Hargreaves
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Our organization falls under the umbrella of Nature Manitoba.
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Photo credit: Sherry Punak-Murphy
WHAT WE DO
Bee City Brandon's activities fall into a number of categories:
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1. Education: Our members regularly speak at schools, community groups, libraries, and other venues. We also use social media and participation in local events such as Seedy Saturday and Eco Days to spread the love for pollinators.
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2. Promotion and Awareness: We aren't ashamed to admit that we're pretty excited about bees, butterflies, spiders, bats, flies, birds, and all creatures that pollinate the amazing prairie plants all around us. We want to share that joy and excitement with Brandon! Therefore, we pull out all the stops for Pollinator Week (the second week in June) to celebrate the amazing insects we seek to protect.
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3. Habitat Preservation and Creation: Recent studies have demonstrated that urban gardens can dramatically increase populations of native pollinators, and who are we to argue with science? Therefore, we encourage and educate people in Brandon about pollinator-friendly yards. Furthermore, we are pursuing initiatives to create pollinator gardens in public areas of the city.
4. Partnership Creation: To loosely paraphrase John Donne: "No committee is an island." Bee City Brandon seeks to create partnerships with other local, provincial, and national organizations. We have partnered with Nature Manitoba, and collaborated with the Brandon Riverbank Discovery Centre, the Daly House Museum, the Brandon Public Library, Assiniboine Food Forest, and Eco Days. If you see an opportunity to work with us, please get in touch!