Submitted
The Battlefords Boys and Girls Club held their Annual General Meeting May 21, at which the 2018 year was discussed and celebrated.
According to President Neil Georget, and Executive Director Nicole Combres, “2018 can be described as a revelatory year for us here at the Battlefords Boys and Girls Club. We uncovered many areas of growth and truly feel that 2018 has been a tipping point where all of our hard work has lent itself to this positive state and new outlook.
“Firstly, a strategic planning session was held with the support of the national team – this broke new ground for the future development of our organization. The four pillars (Strong Clubs, Strong Voice, Strong Communities and Strong Together) encompass our Mission, Vision and Core Values, providing us a clear direction in services and programs for the upcoming five years.
“Moving our Business Plan forward and working to achieve higher levels than ever before, we recognized the need to invest in our staff and ensure they have the skills and abilities they require to be successful in supporting the children, youth and families of our community. Staff training and development were a priority and the outcome great; we saw very little staff turnover, high employee satisfaction and incredibly safe and happy children and youth attending our sites. The dedication and passion seen among our program leaders and program supervisors is astounding and we could not be more grateful for their continued hard work and commitment to our members and organization as a whole. Supporting our program staff were our director of programs, executive assistant, nutrition co-ordinator and executive director. Unfortunately, we experienced a vacancy within our nutrition co-ordinator position; however, that did not stop us from ensuring we provided healthy snacks and meals to our members. Toward the closing of 2018, we welcomed Corla Berg, who begun providing assistance in the kitchen and we are so lucky to have had her join our team. This year, we also welcomed Marnie L’Heureux as our director of programs with the commencement of Teagan Harty’s maternity leave. Marnie’s knowledge and work ethic compliments our strong office staff team. Our executive assistant, Erin Cooper, celebrated her one year anniversary with our organization and we are so thankful for her continued commitment to our organization. Nicole Combres, our executive director, saw her three year anniversary and we’re proud to have her continued leadership.
“Guiding our organization is our devoted board of directors. We saw a change among our executive and welcomed Neil Georget as our president and Darcy Woolfitt as our vice-pPresident. Sandra Favel-Rewerts continues to serve as secretary and Ian Hamilton as treasurer. Our directors, Bernie Etcheverry, Molly Pederson and Jane Kenny, also remain engaged, dedicated and in tune with the vital nature of our organization. This group of loyal individuals ensure our vision, mission and now strong strategic direction is accomplished.
“Without the community’s support, we would not be where we are now. 2018 saw high level contacts being made, provincially and locally as well as with national business leaders. In addition, we are thrilled at the recent development of a partnership with the Ministry of Social Services – this will allow us to ensure we continue to support the children, youth and families who need us most.
After having broke new ground and securing a solid foundation, we were able to see forward progression and expand on the services and programs being offered. Moreover, we were able to focus on debt reduction as we worked hard to reduce our mortgages. Although we’ve always had a bright future, we truly feel the future has never been so bright at the Battlefords Boys and Girls Club and are excited to see what 2019 holds.”
