Awesome Ottawa is giving two awards this month: one to Chris Osler and Ottawa Outdoor Gear Library to support winter gear loans and programming, and the other to Emily Andruchow and the Overbrook Community Association to support a winter evening event at the local skating rink.
Ottawa Outdoor Gear Library. Photo: Awesome Ottawa.
“As we approach our third winter season,” says Chris, “the Ottawa Outdoor Gear Library is gearing up for a busy few months! We are Ottawa’s first all-season outdoor gear lending library, with an extensive, diverse inventory,” he continues. “We have outdoor books, binoculars, camping equipment, roller blades, ice skates, soccer cleats, baseball gear, and so much more!”
“During the winter season,” explains Chris, “in addition to our main location on Boyd Ave., we have a pop-up location in Overbrook with cross-country ski equipment and snowshoes. We also support our partner organizations with winter programming like cross-country ski, snowshoe, and skating outings.”
“Our mission,” says Chris, “is to respond to barriers experienced by marginalized communities to nature-based experiences and outdoor recreation. And we prioritize sustainability by promoting a circular economy—all the gear in our library is donated from the Ottawa community, and we take time to repair gear or repurpose parts into new items to reduce waste.”
Chris is a co-founder of the Ottawa Outdoor Gear Library, and has been working as a community developer for the past 20 years.
Overbrook Community Association. Photo: Awesome Ottawa.
“I am a community board member on the Overbrook Community Association,” says Emily, “and I and other board members are planning to throw a fun winter evening event at our community skating rink.”
“A hot chocolate bar with marshmallows, candy, and sprinkles,” she begins, “and donuts from a local bakery! Games on the ice, a craft room inside the community centre, music, fire pits and chairs, skate rental … just a super fun winter evening event.”
Winter is my absolute favourite season,” she says, “and I’d love to shine some light on what can be a very dark time of year for lots of people!”
Emily has been volunteering on the Overbrook Community Association board for the last year, and works for the city on the Light Rail Transit project.
Awesome Ottawa is part of a global movement of self-organizing chapters forwarding the interest of awesome in the universe, $1,000 at a time. At each chapter, 10 or so “trustees” each contribute $100 every month, and review short applications received online to decide on the recipient of the pooled funds—usually a local project, but occasionally a particularly awesome one far away from home. Globally, more than $6 million has already been awarded – $172,000 of that by Awesome Ottawa. For more information, visit awesomeottawa.ca.
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