Dear Editor,
While the Woodford Community Center Volunteer Board of Management very much appreciates being mentioned in your article “Time To Shatter Some Glass” (Monday June 21 2010), we feel we would be remiss in not drawing your attention to
Each of the three rural municipality centers are managed and run by volunteer boards of management.
These boards manage their own particular building, plan & run fund raising events, accept bookings, and work along with the people who have rented the facility to name but a few board responsibilities. Each board is also responsible for paying all monthly bills including telephone, heat, hydro, purchase of paper & cleaning products etc. etc.
These financial obligations are met through fund raising, donations and rental fees.
At any given time, each and every board member of each of these facilities, can be found with their sleeves rolled up cleaning the facility, washing dishes, sorting re cycling, cutting grass, shoveling snow ,painting, gardening and a myriad of other jobs that keep any facility “ticking over.” A general rule for all of these facilities seems to be “Don’t ask anyone to do anything you aren’t prepared to do yourself.” Other community volunteers pitch in as well but we try not to ask too much of any one volunteer to avoid “volunteer burnout.”
We are often “on the edge” wondering if we can meet our monthly financial responsibilities as well as all of the other unexpected costs that occur with the maintenance of any building. If we are lucky and have a little extra money left in the bank account, we put that money towards upgrades to the building, Presently at the Woodford Community Center we are buying new chairs for the upstairs of the building (20 chairs at a time). Last winter, the combination of a donation plus Hall Board funds paid to have the maple dance floor in the building refinished. Hard work mixed with a touch of humour seems to keep us all going.
The intent of this letter is to add details to a model of management that to date has been referred to in general terms only. We would be happy to provide additional information or answer any questions about the workings of these volunteer boards of management.
Yours truly,
Norma Collis, Meaford
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