MULTIPLE BIRTHS CANADA/NAISSANCES MULTIPLES CANADA 

PO Box 432, Wasaga Beach, ON   L9Z 1A4

Toll free: (866) 228-8824

 

INFORMATION CIRCULAR

BO-08-08-05-#1

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

 

August 8, 2005

 

News & Information from Multiple Births Canada including July Monthly Activity Report

Wasaga Beach, ON:  Multiple Births Canada (MBC) is pleased to provide ongoing updates to its members, chapters and colleagues.  Your commitment to Supporting Multiple Births Together is of great importance to Canada’s multiple-birth community.

 

Chapter Representatives:  Please forward the information below to your Chapter Executive and members.

 

Information Circular Contents:

 

1.                Board Monthly Activity Report - July

2.                Trillium Proposal Denied

3.                Follow-up Package/Information from ‘Back to Basics’ Volunteer Development Retreat and AGM

4.                Business Office Closed for Summer Holidays

 

1. Board Monthly Activity Report - July

This July 2005 Board Activity Report is intended to inform MBC members of work performed by the Board of Directors on behalf of all multiple-births individuals, families and supporters in Canada.  It does not include the many activities coordinated in the business office by our Business Services Manager or the many worthwhile projects currently being handled by our valuable national volunteers.

• Handled all MBC correspondence.
• Attended Board Meeting through MSN.
• Responded to on-going requests from Members, Chapters and the multiple-birth community.
• Responded to two inquiries from women facing difficulties with their Employment Insurance.
• Attended the EI Hearing to offer support to a family with newborn multiples in regards to her EI benefits.
• Sought the help of a student volunteer to aid in advocacy related work.
• Worked with H & E Committee to prioritize projects and move ahead on most important items.
• Continued work on accounting review and additional research with Frank Portugaise of Bennett Gold Chartered Accountants on financial procedures for MBC.
• Began work and compilation of 2005 Annual Report.
• Continued work on the finalization of Retreat Financials.
• Continued work on surveys completed with MBC chapters.
• Compiled information from MBC Representative PJ party discussion from Volunteer Development Retreat.
• Wrote IC on summer use of discounts as well as other ICs.
• Began work on the conference report to be provided to Chapters in mid-September.
• Began work on the Fall Multiple Moments and Report From National.
• Finalized letter to the Super Nanny Show on behalf of MBC and NOMOTC to request the show seeks assistance from both national organizations, and promotes our contact information within their credits.
• Followed up with Volunteers who came forward to assist MBC.
• Began discussions with a prospective Eastern Chapter about Conference 2007, as well as discussions about sending a request to western chapters to come forward for 2008.
• Mailed national volunteer service recognition certificates to volunteers who were unable to attend “Back to Basics”.
• Finalized the Volunteer Development Retreat evaluations.
• Assisted the 2006 Conference Committee with questions from Trillium about their proposal.
• Began preparations of items to send to 2006 to assist with conference preparation (i.e. template for worksheets used by 2005 Committee)
• Met with and presented Anthony Rota, M.P. Nipissing-Timiskaming with a copy of Multiple Moments (Quarterly Issue 2, 2005).
• Managed and cleaned up MBC’s discussion forums.
• Sent request to all 2005 delegates for their conference reports.

 

2. Trillium Proposal Denied

In July, MBC heard that we were, unfortunately, not one of the recipients for the latest round of funding from Trillium. While the Board of Directors and Volunteers were discouraged to hear that once again a very well written proposal was rejected, we have put that behind us and will meet early in the fall to determine next steps.  We are unsure if we will attempt to submit a further proposal, but feel that at this time it is an unlikely possibility.  We will meet instead to determine how MBC, its chapters and Volunteers can work together to ensure that the plans set forth in this latest proposal can become a reality without this funding.

 

The Board sends our sincerest appreciation to Diane Myers for all of her hard work and dedication in writing this proposal.  The plans laid out in this proposal are not lost and will become the basis for the future of MBC.

 

If you have any questions about the proposal or suggestions for possible funding sources, please feel free to contact Kim Weatherall at chair@multiplebirthscanada.org.

 

3. Follow-up/Information Package from ‘Back to Basics’ …

This year’s Volunteer Retreat was a blast!  There were a lot of positive comments about the fun the delegates had during the weekend!  Many people commented on how much they learned from talking to members of other chapters and sharing their experiences, as well as the resources given at the information sessions.  Conferences are a great way to get to know others, use other chapters’ experiences to help your chapter try new things and learn from the speakers’ expertise. It also helps to unify us as MBC chapters.  We are all working for the same thing, to help make the lives of multiple-birth families better!

 

A follow-up package from the 2005 Volunteer Development Retreat is "Under Construction" and will be forwarded to chapters in the fall.  It is our hope to be able to provide those who were not able to attend, information, resources and tools to help chapters and volunteers to better support their membership.  In addition, we would like to share the excitement and vision of the attending delegates so you may have a better understanding of why it is important for chapters to send delegates to the AGM and conference each year. We hope that you will start fundraising early in the fall so that you can join us in Chatham-Kent in May 2006.

 

In addition to this package, stay tuned for this and additional information to be posted in the Member's and Chapter Executive Only portions of the website. The full ‘Back to Basics’ program package is currently posted in the Chapter Executive section as a PDF file.

 

We are extending the deadline and wish to remind all delegates that were in attendance to submit your thoughts, learnings, pictures and even your after hours fun and friendship stories to add to the package!  Please submit these to Nicole at membership@multiplebirthscanada.org by August 19th.

 

4. Business Office Closed for Summer Holidays

Please note that MBC’s Business Services Manager will be on holidays for two weeks in August.  Therefore, the Business Office will be closed from August 10^th to August 29^th.  If you have any questions and require an immediate response, please contact Kim Weatherall at chair@multiplebirthscanada.org or 613-837-3854.

 

 

Multiple Births Canada/Naissances multiples Canada

PO Box 432

Wasaga Beach, Ontario   L9Z 1A4

Toll-free (in Canada): 1-866-228-8824

Tel: 705-429-0901

Fax: 705-429-9809

mailto:office@multiplebirthscanada.org

http://www.multiplebirthscanada.org/

 

National Multiple Births Awareness Day – May 28th, 2005 - What a celebration it was!  Check out the pictures and articles from events across Canada.

 

The content of this email is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment.  Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition.

 

Multiple Births Canada Information Circulars (ICs) are a mass email service managed by the Board of Directors of Multiple Births Canada and is for information sharing purposes only.  Opinions and conclusions expressed through this service do not necessarily reflect the views of either the Board of Directors or the caring volunteers of Multiple Births Canada.  If you wish to be removed or added to this list, please contact the Business Office.