They want to help more people.
The annual general meeting of Humboldt Emergency Relief Organization (HERO) was held on March 27.
HERO is an organization that provides financial assistance to people who require medical treatement away from home. They help cover for travel, medical and other expenses approved by the board that are not covered by insurance.
It was a good year for the organization. Over the last year, HERO found a new way to raise money and were able to help two individuals.
The group took on bartending as a fundraiser last year to help raise money.
"Darcy (Leonew) and his crew (did an) outstanding job at bartending," said president David Mortensen. "They pretty well just took it on, on their own."
The bartending made the organization $750, said Mortensen.
With some of the money they have in store, they were able to help two applicants this year with a total of $9,800.
"Looking back at last year's financial report, that is more than last year and more than the year before," said Mortensen. "The money's getting out there. I think we've helped people and I think we can feel good about the people we have been helping this last year. It makes me want to stay on the board longer - knowing someone has benefitted from (the organization)."
They also received $1,591.42 in donations in the past year.
"We can only survive if there are people willing to donate to us and think our cause is a very good cause," said Mortensen.
The group also made some changes to expand their boundaries.
"Currently our boundaries go as far north as Middle Lake, east as far as Watson, south as far as Burr and west as far as Peterson," said Mortensen.
Since they only go south to Burr, the main discussion during the meeting was if they should expand down to Lanigan.
"Last time we had an application from LeRoy, we had to refuse it," said board member Darrell Wickenhauser.
They felt covering south of Burr was overlooked when the organization was created and wanted to change that.
"We will be opening ourselves up to helping more people," said Mortensen.
It was also agreed if they expanded, they may be more likely to receive help from both Potash Corp and BHP Billiton for matching donations.
All the board voted in favour to expand south to LeRoy, Lanigan and Guernsey.
Four appointments were also made on the board. Matt Schidlowsky, Darryl Ness and Marion Fetter agreed to stay on the board for another term. Craig Stomp stepped down and Tawni LeBlanc took his place. Mortensen remained as president, Marion Fetter as secretary/treasurer and Leonew as vice-president.
The organization didn't have an official financial report yet but will be available within a month or two, once their auditis finished.
Their unofficial report showed revenue of $2,387.61 and expenses of $10,221.22. Their bank accounts showed balances of $38,957.97 and $32,144.79.
