The United Way Centraide SDG hosted its 2024 Annual General Meeting on June 26 at the Saunders Hydro Dam Visitor Center. The event reflected on a year of impactful work in 2023/2024 and highlighted significant milestones, fundraising achievements, and the election of the new Board of Directors for 2024-2025.
Gerard McDonald was elected as Chair, succeeding Craig Fuller, who now serves as Past Chair. The new board also includes Chantal Gilmour as Vice Chair, Kris McCarthy as Secretary, and Wendy McDonald as Treasurer. Other members are Heather Megill (Labour Representative) and directors Scott Szabadka, Chantal Bakker, Binal Bhavsar, Shannon Ferguson, and Mel Merpaw. The youth directors are Leland Selwood, Jacob Pilon, and Olivia Soares.
The financial statement presented at the meeting revealed a clean audit opinion from MNP and a notable increase in revenues to $1,559,243, up from $955,601 the previous year. Of this, 71% was directly reinvested into the community, with substantial contributions from campaign revenues, donors, The Last Resort Project, and fundraising events. A new fundraiser, Over the Edge, played a crucial role in raising a part of the $217,804, a significant increase from $155,461 in 2023.
Community investment remained a priority, with the United Way disbursing $388,000 in Community Investment Grants to 13 agencies supporting 16 different programs, including Meals on Wheels Cornwall and SASS For Women. Additionally, $315,000 from the Community Services Recovery Fund was allocated to eight organizations, such as Centre 105 and Diversity Cornwall. Nine youth-led projects received $17,000, while $440,635 was directed towards housing initiatives like Last Resort.
Outgoing Chair Craig Fuller expressed the organization’s commitment to long-term solutions for community issues, stating, “The team is about making significant changes in the community… we’re focusing on certain issues and looking for long-term solutions.”
Juliette Labossière, Executive Director of the United Way Centraide SDG, underscored the importance of community support and fundraising, highlighting the success of the Over the Edge event.
Labossière also addressed pressing issues such as homelessness, food insecurity, and mental health. She noted, “As a full-time single mom of two, I would need to be on the sunshine list to qualify for a mortgage in our region. Only 24% of people in our region, if they had to start all over again, could afford to get into home ownership.”
She also cited alarming statistics on mental health from a 2022 Eastern Ontario Health Unit study, revealing that 45% of the population felt hopeless at least twice a month, and 11% had suicidal thoughts or self-harm intentions.
Newly elected Chair Gerard McDonald emphasized the organization’s future focus, saying, “We will focus on addressing poverty stigma and creating awareness by leveraging data-driven engagement, fostering a community of change-makers, communicating our impact, and sharing knowledge and information.”
The meeting included the presentation of several awards. Craig Fuller received the Board Award for his six-year term and service. The 2024 United Way Community Award was bestowed upon the St. Lawrence Seaway Management Corp, while the Kinsmen Club of Cornwall was named Business of the Year. Bobbi Latour received the Lew Stanley Award, and Diversity Cornwall was honored as Agency of the Year.
