SSAC Echo | April 2023

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SEASHELL ECHO CENTRE INFORMATION 2023 Board Members President: Richard Ward Vice President: Roy Wren Past President: Douglas Smith Secretary: Valerie Galat Treasurer: Alison Kowalewski Maintenance Director: Andy Koberwitz 2023 Directors at Large Gwen Austen Alistair Blair Lisa Brown Bert Carswell Mark Garland John Keller All directors may be reached by email at communications@secheltactivitycentre.com. Please indicate to which director you would like the email sent. Manager: Gillian Smith Custodian: Jim Coffin Chef: Emily McPherson April 2023 Seashell Echo is the official newsletter of the Sechelt Seniors Activity Centre USEFUL PHONE NUMBERS Emergency 911 Sechelt Hospital 604.885.2224 SC Community Services 604.885.5881 Senior’s Advocate 877.952.3181 (www.seniorsadvocatebc.ca) Seniors Crisis Line 604.872.1234 Seniors Abuse and Information Line 1.866.437.1940 Community Information and Help Line 211 Healthlink BC 811 Community Resource Centre 604.885.4088 Sunshine Coast Transit 604.885.6899 HandyDART 604.885.6897 CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 Let There Be Light To Bert Carswell an enormous thank you for his volunteer work over the years, and congratulations on being our newest lifetime member. The announcement was almost lost in the darkness. To all the Program coordinators, thanks for your boundless enthusiasm. To the tech crew, a big thank you for getting all the microphones working, including floor units for those of you who had questions, I am sure they would have all worked flawlessly, had we had any power! To Rick McGowan and Ken Legge thanks for their tireless effort to get the bus trips up and running again. To Maureen Moorby thanks for resurrecting the library. You can start borrowing books again and please until further notice, “NO MORE BOOK DONATIONS.” Finally, to all of you who attended the AGM and stayed through the dark period, all business necessary to ensure the required and regulatory operation of the SSAC was discussed and approved, thank you. Meet our new Board Many thanks to the following sponsors for contributing to our weekly ad in the Coast Reporter. When out exercising your consumer vote, it is always good to be aware of those businesses that help our community to remain strong and vibrant. Val Galat, Lisa Brown, Gwen Austen, John Keller, Alison Kowalewski, Bert Carswell, Mark Garland, Richard Ward, Roy Wren, Andy Koberwitz, Douglas Smith 2 | April 2023 SEASHELL ECHO | SECHELT SENIORS ACTIVITY CENTRE NEWS
President’s Report Moving Forward BY RICHARD WARD It is a tremendous honour to become the new President of the SSAC. The Centre is well positioned to move forward to fully provide those activities and services mandated in our constitution. We owe a debt of gratitude to the past Board of volunteers, which was led by President Gillian Smith, for stabilising the situation at the SSAC. We now are fortunate that she provides her wealth of knowledge and expertise to us as the Centre Manager. I would like to thank outgoing board members, Sylvia Hockley, Jim Quirk, Viktor Kiss, and Ken Legge for their tremendous work. I have put an organisational structure in place where all the aspects of our operation have been assigned to individual board members, who will give detailed reports monthly to the board. Important information will be quickly disseminated to our Centre members. One of my main goals will be to rectify all our communication issues. We are fortunate, for continuity, to retain our invaluable board members, Vice President Roy Wren, Treasurer Alison Kowalewski, Secretary Val Galat and Past President, Doug Smith. The new board brings with them a variety of expertise. Andy Koberwitz with his past experience in owning building construction companies brings a wealth of expertise and connections to his role as Maintenance Director. Bert Carswell, our latest lifetime member, will be updating our Policies and Procedures manual for Board approval, Lisa Brown will coordinate special events and Gwen Austen will oversee the volunteers. The combined Audio-Visual and Information Technology backgrounds of Mark Garland, Alister Blair and John Keller mesh perfectly with our need to acquire, install and implement use of all the new Audio-Visual and computer resources funded by two recent successful grant applications. A grant of $15,000 was received from the Sunshine Coast Community Forest Legacy Fund for audio-visual equipment and we have just learned that the New Horizons for Seniors Program has awarded us $22,900 for computer equipment to be used in enhancing computer literacy in seniors. Over the next year there will be bi-monthly workshops offered on various topics relating to computer literacy. Please let us know if there are any particular topics you would like to see covered such as email, windows operations, internet searching, computer security issues etc. There will be a box next to the main reception where you can complete and deposit suggestion sheets. We are in decent shape financially, owning the building with a small manageable mortgage in place. At the recent AGM, treasurer Alison Kowalewski presented a proposed budget with a positive bottom line. It however does rely on achievable growth in some of the revenue streams. Revenue from activities is increasing as participant numbers increase, along with the number of activities offered, as we are emerging from the effects of COVID. My hope is to hold firm on no activity fee increases and even in the right financial climate be able to reduce some activity fees. There will, however, be an increase in the membership fee to $35 on July 1 st , which was voted in by the previous Board. Revenue from rentals of the auditorium, craft room, Farrish room and dining hall, is also increasing. Thanks to equipment purchased through the recent audio-visual grant, we will be able to offer additional features for room rentals, such as computer technology and video conferencing. As a non-profit, seeking funding through grants, sponsorships and donations is vital. Our grant writer, Helen Ward, has had three successful submissions for funding for the dishwasher, audio-visual equipment and computer technology and will continue to seek out opportunities for grant funding. We are deeply indebted and grateful to those who have sponsored or donated in the past. As we move forward and show that the SSAC is well run, we will pursue targeted sponsorships and donations for programs that will improve the Centre and the well being of our members. Over the next months, we plan to initiate a process of Strategic Planning. This is vital for us to set year by year goals to be successful in fulfilling our stated mission whilst maintaining financial stability. I look forward to leading the Board by creating effective, cooperative, and transparent governance. Fostering even more enjoyment for our community members, whether by participating in activities, or just socializing and enjoying the delicious meals offered by our amazing cook, Emily and her fabulous crew. SEASHELL ECHO | SECHELT SENIORS ACTIVITY CENTRE NEWS April 2023 | 3
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Page 7 and 8: MAINTENANCE VOLUNTEERS NEEDED There
Page 9 and 10: Feature Benefits of Yoga for Older
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SSAC Echo | April 2023

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