Image Credit: Curtis Goodrum / CFJC Today

By Curtis Goodrum

SALSA CHALLENGE

Gardengate Salsa Challenge puts community groups against each other in a battle for the flavours

Aug 22, 2025 | 4:34 PM

KAMLOOPS – Eleven teams took part in the 19th annual Gardengate Salsa Challenge in Kamloops Friday (Aug. 22), a free event that supports local community groups.

The challenges consist of two awards – a people’s choice award and a team spirit award.

“This event is kind of created to build a sense of community within the mental health community, as well as invite others who are not, as in that community, to learn something new or meet new friends,” said Alexis Tyson, program assistant for the Gardengate Salsa Challenge.

Each team was responsible for putting its own spin on the challenge.

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“Gardengate provided us with the base ingredients. We got red onions, tomatoes, some Halloween O’s, and green peppers. Then we bought limes and watermelon. We mixed all of that together,” said Dallas Gardner, who was part of the Intensive Health Management team with Interior Health.

Another group picked apricots due to a large abundance of them being produced by their tree this year.

“It’s got to have tomatoes in it, but none of the ingredients we had cannot be cooked or anything. What’s going to be the best combination of flavours without altering the food too much,” said James Maine, the Salsa Creator for the Gleaning Abundance Program

It’s not just about who has the best salsa, but the connections between each of the teams.

“Everyone is coming together, and all the effort that Gardengate puts into it. Like it’s so cute. You get to try all the different salsas, and it’s just a really fun event,” said Gardener.

“The fact that it brings together a bunch of really important community organizations on a beautiful, sunny summer day with great music and food,” added Maine.

“It’s the human connection that we have here. For us to be able to showcase what we do here as a program and to connect back with community partners and a lot of people, just from the public who haven’t maybe connected with us before and are kind of interested to learn more about what we do,” said Robert Wright, program coordinator of Gardengate.

While the event is technically a competition, it’s more about showcasing the importance of mental health supports and building social connections.

“It’s open to the public. It’s a good opportunity to come in and learn more about maybe some of the other activities that are going on in your community and things related to to mental health or other activities going on in the community,” Wright said.

“If you need to reach out at some point, you have kind of a starter.”