Newsletter
January 2018
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Happy New Year to all the agency representatives and members of Lady Flower Gardens! Every January I tell Doug, "This is going to be a VERY pivotal year!" And every January he replies, "You always say that." But IT IS TRUE. Every year brings us to new opportunities built on the foundation we have worked on together in the past. |
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FIRST MEETING
Our first meeting has been moved from January 26th to Monday April 9th from 5:30 pm - 8:30 pm at 'The Annex' (11434 120 Street) which is south of Edmonton's Food Bank because our helpful facilitator, Rob Hagg, is available in April.
We will have an evening meeting this spring in order to accommodate the work schedule of Anna Bishop, the representative from Aspen Centre for Integral Living (ACIL). ACIL is one of the new member agencies that will help support a goal we set last year - 'Develop & transfer garden knowledge and skills.'
ACIL is in charge of that little permaculture garden that is going up on the Western Edge of LFG and Anna will be explaining ACIL's land use agreement with LFG.
Anna has facilitation experience from volunteering with other non-profits, from social justice organizing, and from her work in academia, and has offered to facilitate a discussion at the Spring Meeting regarding one our our goals - 'Innovative ways to generate income'
Most of you agreed that LFG needs a consistent manager in the garden, other than Doug and myself, in order to improve programming in the garden. That means we must raise money to hire a full-time intern student every season. I will outline the proposed budgets for 2018 and 2019, which includes the salary for the summer student, and go over the resources and income generation techniques we already have. After the budget outline, Anna will facilitate a group discussion to determine how to acquire the funds necessary to hire a summer student manager at Lady Flower Gardens.
Please get in touch with me if you would like to lead a discussion of one the goals. Reps who expressed interested in joining these 'Goal Committees' are listed below:
Our first meeting has been moved from January 26th to Monday April 9th from 5:30 pm - 8:30 pm at 'The Annex' (11434 120 Street) which is south of Edmonton's Food Bank because our helpful facilitator, Rob Hagg, is available in April.
We will have an evening meeting this spring in order to accommodate the work schedule of Anna Bishop, the representative from Aspen Centre for Integral Living (ACIL). ACIL is one of the new member agencies that will help support a goal we set last year - 'Develop & transfer garden knowledge and skills.'
ACIL is in charge of that little permaculture garden that is going up on the Western Edge of LFG and Anna will be explaining ACIL's land use agreement with LFG.
Anna has facilitation experience from volunteering with other non-profits, from social justice organizing, and from her work in academia, and has offered to facilitate a discussion at the Spring Meeting regarding one our our goals - 'Innovative ways to generate income'
Most of you agreed that LFG needs a consistent manager in the garden, other than Doug and myself, in order to improve programming in the garden. That means we must raise money to hire a full-time intern student every season. I will outline the proposed budgets for 2018 and 2019, which includes the salary for the summer student, and go over the resources and income generation techniques we already have. After the budget outline, Anna will facilitate a group discussion to determine how to acquire the funds necessary to hire a summer student manager at Lady Flower Gardens.
Please get in touch with me if you would like to lead a discussion of one the goals. Reps who expressed interested in joining these 'Goal Committees' are listed below:
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Communicate & Collaborate
Mary, Devon, Ashley, Laryssa, Art, Janos |
Interagency Collaboration (Accessibility)
Josh, Devon |
Complementary Programming
Lydia |
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Develop & Transfer Garden Knowledge & Skills
Abbi, Leanne, Mary-Anne, Tracy, Laryssa, Judy |
Innovative Ways to Generate Income
Mary, Amy, Art, Janos, Rebecca |
Empower Agencies to be more Self Reliant
Tracy, Rebecca, Laryssa, Anita |
We aim to have formal 'Goal Committees' struck by the end of the Spring Meeting with committed members who will pursue each goal in a more in-depth way.
Some of you may know retirees who have a wealth of experience and knowledge that could help us achieve our goals. Former teachers, social workers, gardeners, police, fundraisers, recreation therapists, IT specialist etc could be recruited from your circles to serve as your proxies on the 'Goal Committees' if you are unable to make the commitment yourself this year. |
GOVERNANCE Doug and I have met with his lawyer and we are in the process of turning LFG into a Part 9 Corporation. This formal registration as a 'Not For Profit' (NFP) will allow us to access new sources of support, including grants. LFG will not have a board. Instead it will have 2 directors, Doug and myself. The member agencies will continue to renegotiate land use agreements every year as well as provide their own supervisory staff, transportation and insurance. LFG will continue to develop more grassroots, democratic governance through bi-annual meetings, where member agency representatives continue to set new goals and join 'Goal' committees; in order to develop protocols, implement processes, evaluate outcomes and report back at the next LFG meeting. At the April meeting, we will open up 10 observational seats for potential 'Proxies' who would like to learn more about LFG and how it operates and quite possibly join one of the 'Goal Committees'. (These recruits can also work in the garden with your agency after signing a waiver and submitting a Police Information Check). If we are to move these goals from dreams into reality we need people who have the skills, time and energy for these committees! So ask the special person that you know if they would like to attend our Spring Meeting and then send me their contact info. I will put them on the list. |
ONE-ON-ONE MEETINGS
If any of the member agency representatives need to meet with me for a one-on-one meeting, I am available through-out the day on January 26th at Doug's house. Please contact me to reserve a time between 10:00 am until 6:00 pm.
If any of the member agency representatives need to meet with me for a one-on-one meeting, I am available through-out the day on January 26th at Doug's house. Please contact me to reserve a time between 10:00 am until 6:00 pm.
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Success is not the key to happiness. Happiness is the key to success. If you love what you are doing, you will be successful. Albert Schweitzer. |
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