Abbotsford Community Foundation (ACF) has awarded a total of $60,000 to two recipients of its agricultural enhancement grants.
A cheque ceremony was recently held in the courtyard of the Gur Sikh Temple.
The recipients were the BC Chicken Growers Association and University of the Fraser Valley's Food and Agriculture Institute.
The Chicken Growers Association received the grant for a project to enhance its Poultry in Motion trailer and its website.
The trailer will integrate state-of-the-art technology to provide immersive experiences to schools, fairs and public events.
The organization also plans to expand their website's multilingual capabilities to reflect Abbotsford's diversity.
UFV received the grant for the Agritech Pitch Toolkit project, which will be tailored to meet the specific needs of the agriculture industry in the Fraser Valley. The project will link local entrepreneurs and stakeholders with interested venture capitalists and mentors.
ACF board chair Satwinder Bains congratulated the recipients.
“We are excited to see projects that will advance our local agriculture sector while demonstrating agricultural innovation in unique and inclusive ways. Our
partnership with the City (of Abbotsford) continues to provide significant opportunities for Abbotsford’s farmers," she said.
ACF executive director Areni Kelleppan said the organization has awarded more than $1.3 million in grants to the city's agriculture sector.
"Since 2013, ACF has supported projects from saki to saffron, strawberries to chicken, along with agri-tourism, drone technology in field management, robotic harvesting and so much more," she said.
"Our agricultural industry is innovative, adaptive and creative. We hope to offer this funding now and for always to ensure a thriving agriculture industry in Abbotsford.”
ACF’s Agricultural Enhancement Grants open in January of each year. Visit abbotsfordcf.org (click on "granting") for more information.