Northern youth grateful for opportunity with Ballantyne Project
Kyle Olson, 17, began his journey into entrepreneurship a couple of years ago, when he went berry picking.
Some got used up and he had some leftover. What to do with them?
At the same time, he was interested in making a little money for himself. He decided on Jam – making Blueberry Jam.
Olson make Blueberry Jam and took it to sales and fairs around the community. He sold most of it his first year.
As he continued into his second year, Olson decided to make his jam a little less sweet.
This involved experimenting with his jam, by adding less sugar. He found, he had to work on balancing the amount of sugar he added to allow the jam to still congeal.
He was successful and in 2024, he sold all of his 60 jars of jam. Then he took his entrepreneurial experience farther.
While on Facebook, he discovered the Ballantyne Project, was offering an entrepreneurial event in Vancouver in November 2024.
He inquired about the camp and was successful applicant and he was off to Vancouver for a five-day event.
Kyle Olson is on his way on an entrepreneurial journey.
“I liked what the Ballantyne Project was doing bringing youth from all across Canada,” Olson said in an interview with the Northern Advocate.
The first day in Vancouver was spent touring around the city.
“It was our ice breaker,” he said.
They then went La Salle College and spent the remaining days learning all the aspects of preparing, cooking and serving food in professional kitchen.
“I had not expected it to be as hands on as it was,” he said.
The experience has made him “more interested in the culinary side now,” adding, “now I know what it’s like being in the kitchen.”
They ended the camp by preparing, cooking and serving a six-course gourmet meal.
But, that it not the end of Olson’s story.
The Ballantyne Project recently announced that Olson will be a participant in a new camp, “for kids that have a passion for cooking or baking, or both, and also have an interest in opening up a business that has to do with food. That could be opening up their own little coffee shop or getting into catering or getting into some sort of community-oriented food program, or something like that,” Denise Trottier, executive assistant with the Ballantyne Project said of the upcoming Spring 2025 Culinary Experience, in Vancouver.
The Ballantyne Project is a non-profit organization created by Dwight Ballantyne, a member of Montreal Lake Cree Nation (MLCN) to “support young Indigenous Peoples on their journey, uplift them regain their voice,” according to the Ballantyne Project website.
