2021 Sustainable Project of The Year Award Winner - Monte Creek Winery
Monte Creek Winery was selected as the 2021 Sustainable Project of the Year Award Winner!
This summer, Monte Creek Winery ran a fundraising and awareness campaign around BC badgers. The species is red listed endangered in BC and the winery learned that the leading cause of their death is highway kills on HWY 1 between Kamloops and Prtichard, the stretch of highway the borders part of the winery's property. With fewer than 350 badgers left in BC, Monte Creek Winery took action with realizing their responsibility to advocate for BC badgers. The winery sold post cards, badges, and accepted donations to support the BC Badger Society and the BC Wildlife Park. They also posted content on social media and their website to bring awareness to the need for conservation.
Endangered Badger Conservation Fundraiser Highlights
Two commissioned abstract paintings created by BC Wildlife Park’s resident BC badger Bloom, were auctioned off
All proceeds raised from the postcard and button sales were donated to Badgers in BC, a badger conservation group
Additional donations and partial proceeds were donated to Bloom’s upkeep
Fundraiser Number Breakdown
The total fundraised amount was $905.50
The two paintings were sold for a total of $730.00
25 donations were made
75 buttons were sold
15 postcards were sold
“Sustainability is one of the core values at Monte Creek Winery. The team believes in and practices regenerative agriculture, a practice that includes the rehabilitation and conservation of the ecosystem. BC badger conservation is important to us at Monte Creek Winery as the stretch of Highway 1 outside of our winery between Lafarge and Pritchard is reportedly the worst in the province for badger mortality. Since we found out, we have been actively working towards reducing badger mortality rates. Our team was pleasantly surprised with the response and the support for the campaign. We know there is a long way to go to stabilize the badger population, but we are looking forward to continuing campaigns in the future and also working closely with the BC Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure as well as the Manager of the Wildlife Program to make badger travel safer.”
-Ashley Demedeiros
Photo: Whiskey & Wine
