Thirty partner organizations in British Columbia are ready to build year round food production infrastructure: First Nations, frontline community organizations, and education institutions. Each has the need, a site, and the intent to operate. What they are missing is the capital, and we are looking for fundraising expertise in BC to help mobilize it.
Thirty BC communities are ready. The capital is not.
Thirty Growcer Farms, sited and scoped, spread from Vancouver Island and the Lower Mainland through the Interior, the Kootenays, the North Coast and the Peace Region. Several sit at the end of long supply chains where fresh produce arrives close to spoiling, or does not arrive at all.
Partners are not named publicly at this stage. We share the full list, with project scope and cost per site, once a working relationship is in place.
Who we are
Growcer builds modular food production infrastructure. A Growcer Farm grows fresh produce year round in temperatures from -40°C to +40°C and is built to operate for 30 years and more.
Over the past ten years we have worked with more than 900 partners, including First Nations, schools, food banks, non profits, and municipalities across Canada and North America, to make communities more food resilient.
We work alongside our community partners at every step: project feasibility, securing the funding, implementation, training the growers, and long term support once the farm is running. Funding is the step where BC is stuck, and it is the reason for this open call.
Already growing in British Columbia
Alert Bay · North Island
‘Namgis First Nation
Ferry disruptions and road washouts can cut off fresh food overnight, and for most of the year local greens are simply unavailable. ‘Namgis Business Development Corp launched two Growcer Farms in April 2025 and now distributes produce to community members every Friday. The farms created new jobs, and a grant secured with our help funded three Rootcamps training BC residents in indoor agriculture.
Old Massett · Haida Gwaii
Old Massett Village Council
On Haida Gwaii, fresh produce arrives by ferry and costs accordingly. The Village Council put two modular growing units in across from the Adult Day Centre to grow vegetables year round for the community, backed by roughly $360,000 through the province’s StrongerBC Rural Development program.
Cranbrook · Kootenays
Cranbrook Urban Farm
With food bank use climbing, Community Connections Society of Southeast BC runs two Growcer Farms on city land at Pop Price Park, harvesting about 600 heads of lettuce and equivalent greens a week. A share of every harvest goes to the food bank and other food aid partners; sales revenue is reinvested in the farm.
What thirty Growcer Farms do for British Columbia
Each Growcer Farm is built to run for 30 years. Over that lifetime, thirty Growcer Farms operating year round in the province add up to this:
Calculated from per farm rates: 3,000 servings per week and 10,000 lbs of produce per year, across 30 Growcer Farms and a 30 year facility life. Water saving compares 0.2 L per serving in a recirculating Growcer Farm against 5 L per serving conventionally grown. The two production rates cross check: 3,000 servings a week is about 156,000 a year, which at roughly 29 g a serving is close to 10,000 lbs.
What we are looking for
Cabinet building
Help recruit a volunteer campaign chair with real standing in a BC philanthropic community, then build a cabinet of five or six peers who contribute to the campaign and ask their friends and peers to contribute too.
Access
Warm introductions to BC philanthropic families, family foundations, corporate giving programs, and individual donors.
Process
Run qualification through close with us: gift range chart, weighted pipeline, solicitation calendar.
Positioning
Sharpen the case for support for a BC audience and match partner projects to donor interests.
How the engagement works
- Scoping
- A short phase to set the regional goal and agree how the work is split.
- Build, 90 days
- Chair and cabinet recruited, pipeline qualified, solicitation calendar loaded.
- Readiness gate
- A checkpoint at the end of the build phase, with a stated floor. Meeting it triggers continuation of the engagement.
- Fees
- Fixed monthly retainer plus expenses.