16th Annual Gardengate Salsa Challenge
On Friday, August 26th, Gardengate celebrated another year of “Growing Food, Growing Futures” during its 16th Annual Summer Salsa Challenge! Participants, volunteers, and staff were joined by community service providers and Kamloops residents to celebrate another year of hard work and friendship.
From 12:30-3:00PM, Gardengate welcomed everyone to drop-in and sample salsas from 11 community teams and cast their vote for the People’s Choice and Team Spirit awards. The Chef’s Choice was awarded by a local Salsa expert. Other event highlights included a photo booth, garden tours, music, food and plenty of opportunities to catch up with old friends and make new ones.
This year, 11 teams joined the Gardengate Salsa Challenge to compete for the best salsa sauce:
| · Overlander’s Mexican Spice Girls | · Gardengate Gauchos | · Kamloops Food Policy Council |
| · Kamloops Immigrant Services – KISalsa | · Dengarry’s 8th Street Salsations | · CMHA’s Clubhouse Tamales |
| · South Hills Tertiary’s Viva Southills Salsa | · ICS’s Options and Opportunities, | · IH MHSU’s Red Hot Community Peppers |
| · Open Door Group-Opportunities Fund & Career Pathways to Success | · Kamloops Food Bank |
Here are the winners of the 2022 Gardengate Salsa Challenge:
- Salsa cup as decided by the mystery judge – Overlander’s Mexican Spice Girls
- People’s Choice salsa – Kamloops Immigrant Services – KISalsa
- Team Spirit award – South Hills Tertiary’s Viva Southills Salsa
Thank you to everyone who joined us for this year’s Gardengate Salsa Challenge. Your laughter, your presence, and your salsa recipes made it a memorable summer afternoon. We love seeing the community in action. For those of you who were unable to attend the event this year, we captured some great moments:
Image: photo of 2022 Gardengate salsa challenge participants. From top to bottom: Kamloops Immigrant Services – KISalsa, CMHA’s Clubhouse Tamales, and South Hills Tertiary’s Viva Southills Salsa
Image: photo of 2022 Gardengate salsa challenge participants. From top to bottom: Open Door Group, and South Hills Tertiary’s Viva Southills Salsa
Image: photo of 2022 Gardengate salsa challenge participants. From top to bottom: Overlander’s Mexican Spice Girls, South Hills Tertiary’s Viva Southills Salsa, and Gardengate Gauchos
This event was not possible without the generous contribution from our sponsors. Thank you Remax for providing us with the tent and K 97.5 Classic Rock Radio for supporting the event!
Image: Photo of the 2022 Gardengate sponsors: Fresh is Best Salsa &co., The Fun Factor, The Chopped Leaf, Open Door Group- Gardengate, Kelly O Bryan’s, Let’s Move Studio, BC Wildlife Park Kamloops, The Home Depot Kamloops, Senor Froggy, Canadian Tire Kamloops, Safeway Kamloops, Starbuck Kamloops, Oxygen Yoga & Fitness, DQ Kamloops, Kamloops Community YMCA-YWCA
About Gardendate program: Gardengate is a space of healing and recovery for individuals living with addictions or mental health conditions. Through activities in the garden, we’ll support you to work towards personal goals such as healthy eating, active living, or vocational training. More info: https://www.opendoorgroup.org/programs/gardengate/
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