Copyright vernonmorningstar
Tucked off Victoria Road along Ninth Street East, a Revelstoke farmstand that’s spread love, flowers and more this year is closing for winter after an overwhelmingly successful fundraiser for emergency relief in Gaza. Jennie Sosnowski, who convinced her husband Chad Deschampes last summer to build the setup, reeled in thousands of dollars by putting out home-grown bouquets, teas, bug sprays and beyond for purchase by donation. By Friday morning, Oct. 31, the Flowers for Palestine Farmstand has raised $8,506 since late July — all of which will help finance Doctors Without Borders (MSF) in the emergency aid it’s providing communities in war-torn Gaza. “People are hurting and we needed to do something to help,” Sosnowski told Black Press Media, explaining how MSF works to ensure displaced and conflict-ridden Palestinians can still access essential supplies, including for babies. “They have things like incubators and baby formulas at checkpoints.” Over the course of three months, her original fundraising goal was surpassed by a whopping seventeenfold. “I genuinely thought if we raised $500 by Halloween, that would be amazing,” she said, though that much money rolled in within just 24 hours of erecting the stand. Sosnowski emphasized that donations and other contributions that have since filled the stand — produce, jams, vases, art and more flowers — didn’t come from just the current Revelstoke community, but also former residents, tourists and other communities. A Palestinian business owner in Squamish who caught wind of Sosnowski’s farmstand even mailed keffiyehs and black-white-green-red pins, bracelets and scarves that’ve adorned the interior. Local children, classes, businesses and artisans were among some of the biggest supporters, and Palestine solidarity group Humanity in Revelstoke helped fill the stand with art and messaging. Sosnowski’s first three-figure donation came from a Grade 2 boy named Finn, who poured in $100 from his own pocket. “Palestinians and the health-care workers in Gaza have taught me that when communities show up in the face of tragedy and unimaginable odds, they are capable of accomplishing incredible things together,” Sosnowski previously wrote to MSF. “What Revelstoke lacks in population, they clearly make up for in pure heart, kindness and generousity.” For Sosnowski, who has quite the green thumb and excels at growing flowers, running the stand also pushed her to learn a new skill of arranging her dahlias into bouquets. In a statement to Black Press Media, Awo Fahal, community giving and events coordinator for MSF’s Canadian arm, said Flowers for Palestine “has been a beacon for those in Revelstoke and a fantastic example of a close-knit community coming together for such a worthy cause.” Moved by Sosnowski’s organization, determination and compassion, Fahal added that the Revelstoke community taking support for Palestine into their own hands and pulling together to quickly surpass the fundraising goal “is beyond inspiring.” “We are grateful for the support of Revelstoke here at MSF Canada and to Jennie, I say thank you!” Fahal said. “Your sheer will and being a community-first thinker is a beautiful example of the work it takes on the ground that feeds into the ability to do our work globally.” Sosnowski will be packing up the stand this Saturday and Sunday, Nov. 1 and 2, though it’s quite possible the thought, frame and community spirit behind her initiative will return after the snow. “I might open it up again in the spring,” she said. “The world changes so quickly, there might be a different (cause) that people want to help with.”
