On Oct 15, 2025, Free the Fern Executive Director, Grace Nombrado, was honoured to accept a Heritage Award from the City of Vancouver. The Award was under the catagory of “Education and Awareness” and was in acknowledgment of the stewardship & reconciliation effort that has been done in the Douglas Fir Teaching Garden and Food Forest, Champlain Heights Trails. Grace accepted this award on behalf of the over 1,500 event volunteers who have helped make this stewardship effort possible.
After receiving the award, Grace was congratulated by Vancouver Greens Councillor Pete Fry. She also took took a commemorative photo with Mayor Ken Sim. Grace extended an invitation to Mayor Sim to go on a walking tour of our neighbourhood in the coming months. The Mayor is an adocate for the green spaces in our neighbourhood, as he spent 1979-1982 living in our neighbourhood, collecting tadpoles and releasing them in, what is now, Everett Crowley Park. The Mayor expressed how excited he is to return to see the forested neighbourhood of his youth.
