Have you ever been out and about on Bowen and wondered, “Wow...who did that?”
Practically everywhere you turn on this island there’s something that started as just a nugget of an idea.
Sally Fitz-Gibbon had a great idea. She wanted Bowen Islanders with physical limitations to
be able to enjoy Bowen’s trails. Her solution––her great idea––came in the form of an all-terrain mountain trike, a trail-friendly wheelchair held at the Bowen Island Library, powered by the energy of able-bodied friends and family.
The lighting equipment at Tir-na-nOg was fast reaching the end of its life––it was a system a patron donated and installed years before. Jack and Julie Headley’s great idea was for a new lighting control console to meet the growing needs of the school’s students and community productions for the next 20 years.
The Community School Association and Katherine Gish had a great idea for the playground at BICS––at that time the only publicly accessible playground on Bowen––for three new pieces of equipment. The new pieces were selected by a community-wide vote of parents and kids, and are thoroughly enjoyed by all.
Ann Silberman knew through her work at the Bowen Children’s Centre that licensed care for infants and toddlers was scarce on the island. Their great idea was to build a dedicated infant and toddler annex to help fill this gap.
The Bowen Bike Park Working Group with Jennifer Henrichsen leading had a vision to create a bike park for Bowen Island youth and families. The bike park provides a dedicated outlet for outdoor recreation for Bowen’s growing youth and family population.
Owen Plowman wanted to help foster public awareness of and engagement in local marine conservation issues. Along with the Bowen Island Conservancy he wanted to highlight the recovery of our marine neighbourhood by developing a marine atlas. The atlas will be given to Bowen schools and the library, sold through local stores to islanders and visitors, and provided online in PDF format.
Holly Graff didn’t like the asphalt barrenness of the landscape that she saw coming off the ferry. So she partnered with the Bowen Island Heritage Association for her great idea to create the Snug Cove Garden Gateway. We all benefit now from this beautiful welcoming garden.
Bowen Island is full of great ideas! What’s yours?
If you’d like to make it a reality, our 2020 Community Impact Grant cycle is now open. Please see bowenfoundation.com for details. Applications (500-word ideas) are due Feb.15.
Through the generosity of Bowen Islanders, your Community Foundation has been able to grant more than $635,000 to these and other projects that have helped make Bowen better.
