Help Us Secure Our Community Dinners
Over the past year, ROCKS has grown from an idea into something truly remarkable.
Together, we have built a community hot meal program that provides nutritious, welcoming dinners to residents who need them most. We have created a space where people can connect, volunteer, share a meal, and feel a sense of belonging. We have shown what is possible when a community comes together around food, dignity, and care.
Today, however, we find ourselves at a critical turning point.
While operating out of the WMSC has been incredible, we are approaching our annual limit of temporary food permits, with only three remaining for the year. As the WMSC is not a commercial kitchen, we have to apply for a Temporary Food Permit for each dinner. Without a sustainable path forward, the continuation of our community meal program is at risk.
This is not a challenge unique to ROCKS. Across the Sea to Sky corridor, communities are recognizing that food security, affordable meals, and school nutrition programs are no longer “nice-to-have” services—they are essential.
We have three parallel streams that we are working on:
- Purchase a mobile trailer for ongoing use throughout Whistler. This allows us to take ROCKS on the road, so we can serve hot meals outside and attend community gatherings.
- Rent a space (approx 1600 sq foot), to store the trailer, store large kitchen equipment such as freezers, prepare meals and of course host ROCK dinners (zoning permitting).
- Develop a hot lunch program for our schools in Whistler. Squamish CAN has recently launched a hot lunch program, demonstrating that a community-based food model can work, can scale, and can make a meaningful difference in children’s lives. We believe Whistler can build on that success and help sustain ROCKS to pay for the space and trailer.
To help guide these next steps, we are inviting YOU to take a short survey. This survey is designed to better understand:
- How people view the role of ROCKS in Whistler
- Support for a sustainable operational model
- Potential interest in funding a paid operational role
- Willingness to contribute financially or through other forms of support
Your input will directly inform our funding strategy, operational planning, and long-term model.
The survey takes approximately 3 minutes and is anonymous: https://forms.gle/YpY4FPbZw34KFaCW9
Our Vision Is Simple:
- Continue providing hot community meals to those who need them
- Increase local food security.
- Create a sustainable long-term kitchen solution.
- Support school food programs and ensure children have access to nutritious meals.
- Build a model that can serve Whistler for years to come.
But vision alone will not get us there.
Over the coming months, we need community support in a way we never have before.
To make this possible, we are currently evaluating two key investments: a long-term operational base (estimated rent: ~$5,000/month) and a mobile food trailer (~$60,000).
Over the past year, ROCKS has received approximately $56,000 in grants and donations (separate from meal contributions), which has helped build a foundation for this next phase.
Dive into our public ROCKS data to learn more about our Operational costs. Our previous newsletters and meals can be views online at whistler-rocks.ca/blog, should you want to learn more about our journey.
If you have access to industrial space, storage, equipment, trades, professional services, or expertise, we would love to hear from you. We already have some amazing partners and our Thanks page is growing longer and longer every week. This is what fuels us to keep going, knowing the community is 100% behind us.
What We Already Have
Volunteers:
The most dedicated and hard working volunteers (including the board) who have stepped up and made every single meal possible and so enjoyable.
Strong Partnerships:
The Four Seasons and Residences Whistler have partnered with us to source the food we need for each meal. This has been an incredible help and saved many hours per meal.
WCSS have supported us at each step, sending their food bank clients our way, taking our donations of unused bulk supplies and advocating for us.
100WOW gave us our first ‘break’ and our large first donation, while Whistler Community Foundation and just this week the Whistler Blackcomb foundation have given us grants that has given us some stability. Each of these grants takes a lot of time, but it shows how much the community are behind us.
The reality is that doing nothing is not an option. Demand for our services continues to grow, and the need in our community is greater than ever.
This Is Crunch Time
The next few months will determine whether ROCKS continues to grow into a long-term community asset or whether we are forced to scale back what we have worked so hard to create.
We believe Whistler is a community that rises to meet challenges. We have seen it time and time again.
If ROCKS has ever served you, someone you know, or simply represents the kind of community you want to live in, we invite you to stand with us. We will be holding a public strategy session on July 23rd and if you are able to attend, please watch out for the details.
Together, we can build something lasting. If you ever intended to donate to ROCKS, now is the time. What we gather in the next few months will set us up for another year of operations and secure a long term lease, food trailer and help us continue our journey.
If we are unable to proceed with the proposed operational plan, any unused funds will be returned or directed to the Whistler Food Bank.
Thank you for your support, your belief in our mission, and for being part of this journey.
The Whistler ROCKS Team