HERON EMERGENCY FOOD CENTRE
2009 ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING
REPORT OF THE CHAIR
The past year has been another successful year of serving the needs of the community for emergency food assistance. My thanks to our Executive Coordinator Louisa Simms and to our many volunteers who provide the service. Despite difficult financial times, the City of Ottawa managed to provide a modest increase in our grant and the Ottawa Food Bank continued to provide the bulk of the food that we distribute.
I also wish to thank the churches and individuals who have provided food donations and financial assistance which allows us to provide more than we could if we had to rely solely on the food we receive from the Ottawa Food Bank and the grant from the city.
Many of the activities are annual events. This year there were two Christmas concerts that had a collection for HEFC. We received $1,412.42 from the concert held at Immaculate Heart of Mary which was televised on Rogers cable and $922.30 from the one at St. Timothy's. The LCBO boxes which have become a regular source of funds raised $1,202.84. Susan Killeen-Ramsay again did stellar work for us in organizing the collection. These fundraising efforts are important as the Roger's Independent Grocers Store Valu-Tape Programme has been suspended because of a change in management.
This year we were able to reduce the cost of our insurance from $900 to $300 thanks to the group insurance policy that was negotiated by the Ontario Association of Food Banks. This is an example of how food banks are striving to stretch the financial donations we receive so there is more available of the purchase of food.
The Ottawa Food Bank completed its project to revise the boundaries of its many member agencies. As a result, Better Beginnings, Better Futures will be closing and HEFC will be delivering service to its clients. Although food prices are rising and the recession is leading to an increase in numbers coming to HEFC, the strong financial position developed through years of frugal management means that HEFC should be able to absorb the extra demand.
Among the highlights of last year, I wish to single out two that were completely unexpected and greatly assisted:
Mariam Majaess and Majeeda Khan of St. Patrick's High School did a presentation on HEFC as a project for the Toskan Foundation which was started by Mac cosmetics founder Julie-Toskan-Casale. Their project was a winner and HEFC received from the Foundation $5,000. thank you to Mariam and Majeeda and to the Foundation.The grade 8 students of Fielding Park Public School held a Multicultural Food Fair where the students brought in food and sold tickets on the food and donated the money to HEFC. They raised $1,000.It is truly wonderful to see such support from youth in our community.
My thanks to all the members of the Board for their support. In particular, I wish to thank Muriel Curran who has ably stepped in whenever business kept me away from meetings and Danielle Rosmarin who is now officially our media person and who has succeeded in getting much positive coverage for HEFC. Phoebe Gowdy remains a pillar on the board and as a volunteer. She has handed over her duties as buyer after many, many years . Lindsay Frank handled the difficult and vital job of Treasurer but has had to step down because of a change in his job that requires him to travel extensively. My thanks to Harold Black for taking over the job of buyer and to Ron Ketcheson for stepping forward to become our new Treasurer.
We have so many dedicated volunteers but I believe it is right to mention that Donald Curran continues to volunteer at the age of 90!
Finally, on behalf of all the board, I wish to thank Jean-Marc Raymond who served 15 years on the Board including 4 years as chair. His experience and wisdom will be missed.
Respectfully submitted,
Greg Yost chairman HEFC/CAUH
Copyright 2010 by Heron Road Emergency Food Centre
Donate using : www.CanadaHelps.org
Heron Emergency Food Centre (HEFC)
P.O. Box 39110
Ottawa ON K1H1A1
Phone: 613-737-9090
Heron Road Community Centre Bldg
1480 Heron Road 2nd Floor
Ottawa ON K1V 6A5
