When Basil Fuller first arrived in Castlegar from Jamaica 12 years ago, it wasn't very common to see a Black man walking down the streets of the small town.
Fuller recalls a visit to the grocery store where he had an encounter with a small child who had never seen someone with such dark skin. In response to the child's curiosity, Fuller stooped down and had a conversation with the girl about his home country, being "Black and proud" and why he looked different than she did.
That same heart of caring and love of his homeland sparked Fuller to create the Can Jam Link Up in 2017. Fuller wanted to share his Jamaican culture with his new community while also supporting children by fundraising for the local school meals program.
"I am just a simple guy trying to make a difference in the community," says Fuller, who is also known as "Razzle Dazzle Basil."
The Link Up has become an annual event styled as a Jamaican food festival held in honour of a local non-profit organization, school lunches, or camps for kids.
Last year, the event raised about $3,000 for the Kootenay Emergency Response Physicians Association (KERPA). KERPA physicians respond rapidly to 911 calls, working alongside emergency medical service partners to provide advanced and critical care at the scene of life-threatening incidents.
"We have some guardian angels here that a lot of people don't even know exist, so I wanted to shed some light on them," said Fuller.
This year's event will also benefit KERPA.
The ethnic diversity of the West Kootenay continues to grow and there are now around 20 Jamaican families in the area. Many of them come out to volunteer and support the event.
Fuller says most of the local Jamaican families are involved in the trucking industry.
"We are here to add to the infrastructure, just like everyone else, and to help build Canada even greater than it already is," said Fuller.
Fuller says he had the benefit of being raised in what was considered a more privileged home in his district of Jamaica. Both of his parents were educators and headmasters of schools.
But his mother came from more humble roots and was passionate about helping others. Fuller learned the importance of lending a hand at an early age.
Every week when payday rolled around, the Fuller family would buy 100 pounds of flour, 100 pounds of sugar, and 100 pounds of rice. The children would then divide the staples into two-pound parcels to be distributed around the district to those in need.
"My mother's motto is 'no child can learn on a hungry stomach'," said Fuller. "That is what inspired me to take on the hot lunch program at first."
Fuller is hoping this year's event will be the most successful so far with enough proceeds to help several organizations.
"My father always drilled it into me, 'Son, to be financially viable is good, but what makes you a man is not the money you acquire in life, it is the footprints that you have left in life on your journey.'"
You can add your footprints alongside Fuller's on Sunday, June 29 at Millennium Park. The event starts at 12:15 p.m. and runs until 5 p.m. with food service beginning at 12:30 p.m.
Meal tickets are available in advance on eventbrite.ca or at the event. Prices vary depending on what you order. Oxtail, curry goat, jerk pork, jerk chicken and curry chickpeas are some of the options, each served with fried plantain and your choice of rice and peas or callaloo rice.
The event also features reggae music and live entertainment including Emcee Jason Dannee, Gold Mynd, DJ Masterdon, and TruckVanCar.
For more information, go to the Can Jam Link Up Facebook page.
