By Dawn McCormick
The Barriere and District Food Bank Society’s Annual General Membership meeting (AGM) is on March 5, 2014. At this time, we have a small membership base that we would like to see grow.
A year’s membership is $2. What do you get for a Toonie?
Your membership gives you a voice in the direction that the Food Bank will take in the upcoming years. The more members and the more voices we have will only serve to make the Food Bank a really great organization.
I thought in this article I would talk about what made me volunteer at the Food Bank. I moved to Barriere a little over two years ago. I didn’t know anyone here and thought that I would start to volunteer in order to meet people and to get involved in the community. My husband and I looked long and hard to find a home in the type of place that we would want to spend our retirement in – well once we retired anyway. We looked at several communities before coming to Barriere. Once we came here we knew our search had ended.
The past two years have proven our decision to move here to be the right one. Not only is it a beautiful place, but the people in this small community really care about each other.
Once I got settled in, I started looking for ways to get involved with the community. Since I was a quilter, that seemed to be a good place to start. And guess where the quilters meet? The Food Bank. One of the ladies at the quilt meeting really made me feel welcome and when I told her I was looking to volunteer – she steered me directly to the Food Bank. That was about a year and a half ago.
I love volunteering at the Food Bank for a number of reasons. The volunteers are a great group of people who really care about the community. I like feeling part of something that does so much good. I am involved with an organization that touches many different parts of the community. And I love the fact that the food bank does really makes a difference to so many people’s lives.
Having said all that, there is the point I am trying to make. We are a small group and we need to be a larger group. We need more people to become members of the Barriere and District Food Bank Society. We need more voices in the decision making process and to help guide the Food Bank’s future.
Becoming a member does not mean that you are obligated to volunteer (although we need volunteers as well). It simply means that you support what the Food Bank does for the community and it means that you have a say in the future of the food bank.
So please become a member and come to the AGM on March 5, at 1 p.m., at the Food Bank building at 4748 Gilbert Road, Barriere.
Anyone who wants to join the Food Bank prior to the AGM should contact Antoon Houben at antoon@aol.com.
Anyone wishing to serve on the Board of Directors should submit a short paragraph about themselves and why they want to serve on the Board by Feb. 28, to Antoon Houben.
The Food Bank is open every Wednesday from 10 a.m. to 12 noon for hamper pick-ups.
For any inquiries, please call the Food Bank at 250-672-0029.
Messages are checked daily.