Annual Report 2014
A Word from the Chair ››
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014 was another great year in Fernwood! Fernwood NRG was happy to play its part with both on-going events and new initiatives. In addition to our fabulously fun FernFest weekend in June and sprucing up neighbourhood poles in September, these are a few other highlights that aren’t as apparent to all. The development project at 1310 G ladstone Avenue is moving through
the development process; it’s slow but we hope to break ground late this year or early next. We have been canvassing neighbours in the past few months and finding strong support for the proposal which is both very e ncouraging and c ritical to the ultimate success of the project. While the Gladstone project is large and complex, it has not taken our focus away from other core aspects of our work. In September we opened a Before and After School Care Program focused on serving families at George Jay School. Both the school strike and the temporary closure of George Jay for seismic upgrading got in the way of filling this program this year but we anticipate being full in S eptember 2015. That will bring our total child care spaces to 65, up from 45 spaces in p revious years. It will also mean that neighbourhood children can be cared for in the neighbourhood from before their first steps until they are old enough to walk home and let themselves in after school. The tremendous attendance at our
Lisa Matthaus
weekly Family Dinner program at the Community Centre through the past year demonstrated that there is both a real need for food security in the neighbourhood as well as a strong desire for social connection between families, especially those with young children. On average, over 100 people (adults and c hildren) attended each week through the year, adding up to more than 5,000 meals for neighbourhood families. This program is only partly covered by donations from those who attend and generous food donations from corporate partners like Cold Star Freight Systems. If you would like to help us by sponsoring this program for a week, a month, or even the whole year, please give us a call at 250-381-1552 ext.107. There are few better investments in the future of our neighbourhood than enabling families with young children to sit together and build community over a shared meal. In part based on the real need we see at the Family Dinner, we expanded our Give the Gift of Good Food donation
program just before Christmas. Unlike many Christmas donation programs that provide a one-time seasonal gift to families in need, we wanted to provide year-long support to families with a biweekly Good Food Box. With generous support from individuals, offices and businesses across the region (and even some from out of town!), we raised over $11,000 and are able to support 24 families in Fernwood this year with a Good Food Box every two weeks. We will be running the donation program again this year and hope to make it bigger still, as we know there are many more families in Fernwood that would benefit immensely from such a gift. All of our hardworking staff, v olunteers, and our members, donors and supporters can be proud of what we’ve achieved as an organization in 2014. All of us on the Board of Fernwood NRG look forward to seeing you at FernFest again this year to help celebrate the dynamic, creative and welcoming neighbourhood we’re all building together! 2014 Annual Report page 1