The 2024 SSAC Annual General Meeting was called to order at 1:30pm Wednesday 20th March. Seventy-nine members were present, having scanned in at the MySeniorCenter Kiosk to confirm their membership. After the welcome, the singing of the National Anthem and a moment of silence, the current SSAC board members were introduced. The attendance of a quorum of at least 30 current members 50+ years of age was confirmed, leading to motions being made and passed to accept the Agenda and the Minutes of the SSAC Fall General Members Meeting October 25th, 2023. The Treasurer’s and President’s reports were then presented.
TREASURER’S REPORT – Alison Kowalewski
A printed detailed financial report for the year was distributed to members at the AGM. The table below shows the overall summary of the report. Expenses for 2023 were $537,376, however revenues of $564,251 ensured a net excess of $21,242. The large increase in both expenses and revenues over those of 2022 are mainly a result of a dramatic increase in the numbers of members. In March 2022 we had around 1,200 members and currently have over 1,600 active members. Both Activity Fee revenue and Kitchen sales have increased commensurately.
Month to month we are maintaining a positive balance, however it should be noted that the over $50,000 in donations that we have received in the year allowed us to withstand the considerable cost of incidental maintenance expenses.
PRESIDENT’S REPORT – Richard Ward
When I took on the Presidency in March 2023, I promised that I would try to help enhance the organisation of the Centre whilst creating an uplifting environment. I am so proud when I see newcomers coming in being astonished that there is so much activity, often remarking on the joyful ambience.
What still amazes me is that such a complex organisation with so many moving parts can run so well with one paid Centre Manager, Gillian Smith and over 150 volunteers. The dedication of our volunteers is remarkable, and the enjoyment they exhibit is infectious to the members coming in. Hopefully they know how grateful the board and members are for their efforts. The other two vital paid staff are chefs Emily and Liz. The Centre would not be the same without them. Keeping the price of the meals down by starting the Affordable Lunch program donation campaign in September has really shown the generosity of our members to each other.
Currently, the Affordable Lunch program has brought in $5,804.30 in donations.
The Centre would not run as well if we did not have a strong working board. So, I need to give wholehearted thanks to all the board members who have worked so hard supporting us this year. Thanks go to several board members that left during the year for either health or relocating-related reasons: Roy Wren, Andy Koberwitz, Douglas Smith, Gwen Austen, John Keller. Of the current board Alister Blair, Chris Hadaway and Chris O’Brennan have decided not to stand for re-election, and I thank them for their tremendous service.
This has been a year of tremendous growth and changes:
- Audio-Visual and Computer Capabilities: Thanks to $40,000 in grant funding, we now have sophisticated audio-visual systems in the dining room, in addition two portable 65” TVs with Web conference cameras allow us to offer full multi-media conferencing facilities in any room. Eight new PC laptops and a MAC powerbook give us tremendous flexibility for offering educational classes and support for office computer needs.
- Bookkeeping: We have moved to a comprehensive bookkeeping service (provided by Kate McLaughlin and Irina Paris of Luna Bookkeeping, Sechelt),
which has tremendously streamlined and enhanced monthly balance report production and payroll services. - Network Environment: We have moved from a Google Drive based network to a MS 365 environment. Fortunately, a new volunteer Myrla Bulman comes to our aid with vast previous experience in just such a transition.
- Domain Name: There were complaints that our email address ..@ secheltactivitycentre.com was too long, easily misspelled. At minimal cost we changed our domain name to ….@myssac.com. For example, to contact myself use . Other email addresses are and .
- Donation Campaign: Our much-needed donation campaign which was started in September 2023 was a great success. As mentioned already the Affordable Lunch program has helped us to restrain meal costs. The General Revenue program resulted in several large gifts that allowed us to carry out expensive maintenance and repairs to our heating and cooling systems. The SSAC Endowment Fund administered by the Sunshine Coast Foundation has given a vehicle towards sustaining the financial stability of the Centre. It hopefully will fill with in-memoriam and legacy giving through wills. The yearly interest on the fund will provide a guaranteed income stream to the Centre, which is something we do not currently have, as we have no yearly government or outside agency support.
- MySeniorCenter: The biggest change of all this year, was the move to MySeniorCenter. It has revolutionized our operations. We are indebted to Alison Kowaleski, May Jim, Chris Twaits, Pam Demers and Chris Hadaway for the months of work they put in to bring the system online. In addition, thanks to all the office volunteers that have undergone training and are coping with all the continual changes the system has brought. We are only part way to full implementation of the system. Currently you can scan into your activities of choice, and you have a virtual wallet to load and from which you can pay for your activities. We are eagerly awaiting the completion by the company of online software MyActiveCenter that will allow you among other things to register for activities online on the electronic device of your choice. There will be a secure payment option to deposit funds into your account, so you will not have to come into the Centre to fill up your wallet. By the Fall we should have everything running smoothly.
At this point in the meeting the current board was dissolved and the candidates for the Vice-President, and Directors-at-large positions were given the opportunity to give brief verbal statements supporting their candidacy. President, Treasurer, Secretary and Maintenance Director positions were filled by acclamation of the single candidate nominated. The election of vacant positions pursuant to section 59 of the Constitution and Bylaws followed. Election Committee Chair Chris O’Brennan aided by Helen Ward collected and counted the completed ballots.
Voting resulted in your 2024 SSAC Board members shown below.
Congratulations to all the members of the new board and thank you for stepping up to the task. Thanks also to the unsuccessful candidates Mark Garland (VP) and Directors-at-large Mary Flynn, Mary Pinnegar, Myrla Bulman, and Birgit Stefani. What was impressive was the experience and expertise of all the candidates. We were guaranteed a strong board whoever was elected. Hopefully, the unsuccessful candidates will be willing to lend their expertise through their involvement in our numerous committees.
