Prisoners building 50 picnic tables for South Okanagan farm workers

Prisoners are building picnic tables for farm workers in the South Okanagan.

Many seasonal farm workers in the Oliver area stay north of town at the Secrest Hill Agriculture Worker’s Campsite, which used to be Loose Bay Campground.

Inmates from the Okanagan Correctional Centre will build 50 picnic tables for the campground, according to a press release from the Regional District of Okanagan-Similkameen.

“The new picnic tables are durable and functional,” the regional district's board chair Mark Pendergraft said in the release.

“Many agriculture workers arrive with very little, so having a table to organize their cooking supplies and enjoy a meal can make all the difference to their comfort level.”

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Other upgrades to the site, not involving prisoners, will include washroom facilities, road resurfacing, fencing, and improvements to areas for cooking and off-leash dogs.

“Partnerships like this are good for all of us,” Boundary-Similkameen MLA Roly Russell said in the release.

“Building these tables provides another avenue for individuals in custody to give back while developing new skills for their future, and helps improve quality of life for the many agricultural workers that spend time at Secrest Hill. We know how important these workers are to our region and to our farms: projects like this make a difference both within the correctional centre community and in the community at large.”

The Ministry of Agriculture gave $457,000 to the regional district to fund the project.

Secrest Hill, which has 125 spaces, is one of the largest campsites for farmer workers in the Okanagan and Similkameen valleys, the release said. Those who stay there help with the production of wine, fruit, vegetable, cannabis and mushrooms.

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