Working Together

By Kim Dixon

James Bay New Horizons Society had the opportunity to welcome the James Bay business community to an open house in January. Owners and managers from local establishments took the time to hear about the programs and activities being offered at the Centre. A light dinner -- provided by Grilligan's of Fisherman's Wharf -- was served and there was lots of networking and sharing of information.

For some this was the first visit to the Centre, and they were quite surprised how big the facility really is. They were also impressed by the number of programs and activities available to members and will now be able to share this information with their clients.

The main thought behind this get-together was to enable some of the local business people to get to know each other. Several years ago there was an effort to get the business people and community groups to meet and share information regarding upcoming events (such as James Bay Day, Christmas, Canada Day and others). We hope to continue with these types of meetings and hold them quarterly throughout the year. If you are a community business and would like to participate, please feel free to drop by James Bay New Horizons activity centre and we will notify you of the next luncheon meeting to be held in March.

One of the wonderful opportunities that happens when groups and organizations get together is the ability to partner. When several of the business members found out that James Bay New Horizons is not guaranteed any funding other than that which is provided by the City of Victoria to offset the cost of staffing ($36,888 per year) they offered to help out. The rest of the revenue required to operate the Centre is raised by memberships, rentals, instructional and activity and program fees, donations and bequests. It did not take long for their generosity to become evident. Now there are reasons to say that "membership has its advantages," with opportunities to enjoy social, recreational and monetary benefits.

We have partnered with Serious Coffee, Cup of Joe's Café and Hair Trends, to provide discounts for our members. Grilligan's provides free chilli for our Thursday lunch program and the James Bay Square Denturist is making a donation to our society. Thrifty's continues to use our Centre for their meetings, interviews and training sessions. In return we will order items for our special events and activities from them. Pharmasave has been a big supporter by inviting us to their Senior Days and providing gift baskets for our various raffles and auctions. We look forward to telling you of more partnerships as the year goes on. 

Please take the time to drop by and see what is happening at your local community activity centre at 234 Menzies Street.