Dear Friend,
We are part of a wonderful new experience “A Port in the Storm”. A Port in the Storm is a non-profit organization incorporated in February 2005 to address the need for safe affordable home-like accommodations for rural and northern adult patients and their family members who are required to travel to Winnipeg for treatment.
As a result of the overwhelming need A Port in the Storm is moving towards building a facility to provide this home like accommodation. This is a capital campaign with a goal of raising $6,400,000 towards construction and developmental costs will set A Port in the Storm Inc on solid footing to move forwards.
A Port in the Storm was founded by two oncology nurses, Joanne Loughery and Patricia Benjaminson and a patient volunteer Greg Pilgrim. Joanne shares her story of inspiration that encouraged her and her partners to dedicate their time to establishing this charity ”A young single mother from Minnedosa required a lengthy stay in Winnipeg to receive aggressive outpatient treatment for a life-threatening illness. Regrettably she lost her battle to cancer but her last wish was “if I only had one wish I would want a house built in Winnipeg for people like me similar to the Ronald McDonald House for children. I would call it my house of hope."
“Our mission is to make this dream a reality”
We need you and your friends to help us: “we have all lost someone to cancer”.
A Port in the Storm Summary of Activity June 2009
We currently have a seven-person board of directors that meet quarterly. We are developing a provincial wide board with representation from regions across the province. Active recruitment of potential board members is occurring over the summer months. We are planning our 2nd AGM for September 2009 and hope to fill the remaining three spots at that meeting. We plan to open our AGM to the public to report the exciting activity of the charity.
Our current board includes Joanne Loughery-President and Board Chair (Wpg), Pat Benjaminson-Vice President, Secretary (Wpg), Val Strath-Treasurer (Souris), Greg Pilgrim-Building (Wpg), Tina Krieser-Policy (McCreary), Lana Meier-PR and Communications (Stonewall) and Penny Byer-Northern Liaison (Thompson).
Advisors to the board include Rick Adams (Legal Advisor), Reg Johnson (Accounting Support), Dr David Szwajcer (Oncologist, CCMB), and Gord McDiarmid (Capital Campaign).
We have a number of very dedicated volunteers, who sit on the various committees within this organization structure including Dale Smeltz, Evelyn Yarn, Del Sexsmith, Albina Morgan, Nancy Johnson, Sue Lockhart, and Roland Charbonneau. There are many other very valuable volunteers across the province who are strong advocates, assist in raising awareness and fundraising as needed. Too many to name them all but we are including all their names on our website so we can acknowledge their important and valuable contributions to this organization.
Building Committee
We have an active building and land committee who are reviewing potential land and/or building sites in Winnipeg. We have a realtor looking at potential apartment blocks that might suit our needs. We are in discussion with the province of Manitoba and school divisions, looking at empty schools within the city limits. We have a City of Winnipeg contact seeking vacant land sites in the city. We have one particular site that could be a possibility and we are currently in discussion with city counsellors in regards to a possible donation of this piece of land as one possible option.
We feel that it is now time to have early drawings of the building concept established. We were privileged to have a landscape architect draft some drawings of the home on a potential site. These will help potential funders visualize the home and what they are contributing to. We want the home to be more that just bricks and mortar but a supportive environment with services and supports that go beyond a place to sleep. We are seeking architectural support to draft the internal structure of the building. We have applied for a grant from CMHC to support these expenses.
Communication
We have a number of plans to increase communication and awareness across the province.
Newsletter- Nancy Johnson, editor for our quarterly newsletter and is planning the next submission to be issued in the Fall 2009. The newsletter will be sent to over 1000 people across the province.
Website- our website is also updated quarterly, managed by Pat Benjaminson. We have plans to increase provincial communication through the website. Coming soon.
Manitoba Community Newspapers- Lana Meier heads this initiative. The provincial rural newspapers have committed space on a regular basis to A Port in the Storm Campaign. This ongoing awareness will put our project in the “top of mind” of Manitoba citizens. These advertisements started in May 2009.
Del Sexsmith- GM of Corporate Media Services has joined our campaign steering committee and provides enormous expertise in the field of public relations and communication. Del will assist us with PR issues, media events, campaign kick-off events, naming opportunities and billboard campaigns.
Campaign Office
The Kinsmen Club of Winnipeg has provided us with a generous donation of ongoing office and board/committee meeting space throughout the campaign. With the help of Tom Sills Foundation, Len Andrusiak, Seerx Technologies, Bill Milne, Milne Equipment, Neil Graveline, Elm Computers we are up and running. We have hired a full time campaign director, RoJean Anstett, who is running the day-to-day activity of the campaign and the organization. Her contact information includes:
Ro-Jean Anstett
Campaign Director
161 Rue Grandin
Winnipeg MB R2H 0A8
(204) 231-0720
admin@aportinthestorm.ca
Capital Campaign
We have a Campaign Steering Committee that meets on a weekly basis. The members on this committee include Joanne Loughery, Greg Pilgrim, Gord McDiarmid, Dale Smeltz, Del Sexsmith, RoJean Anstett, Penny Byer and Evelyn Yarn. We currently have over 3 million dollars worth of requests in the hands of prospective donors. We have one leadership gift confirmed and are close to establishing our second. We also have a number of smaller pledged donations confirmed and ongoing donations coming in on a regular basis. We have a number of exciting leads for the position of campaign chair.
We have set a tentative date of October 2009 to launch the capital campaign. Our goal is to have 25% of the capital campaign goal achieved in pledges and a campaign chair in place.
We have started the process of running some of our rural campaigns. We have started with some activity in the northern part of the province, with Penny Byer as our northern liaison developing teams of people who will take on fundraising goals in their regions. We are planning trips throughout Manitoba in the near future to build our teams in those areas as well.
Other Fundraising
We have been involved in selling Kinsmen tickets for this year’s draw in June at the Red River Ex. Half the proceeds of all ticket sales are going to APITS. To date we have raised over $4000.00 for our charity with a number of dedicated volunteers across the province selling tickets. We have also raised awareness with this fundraising event providing a brochure, for every ticket sold.
“Congratulations” to Leslie Harvey, The Pas, who was the Grand Prize Winner of the Kin Kar Ticket Draw. The ticket seller was Jenna Sutton who was assisting Elizabeth Bennett (who is a volunteer with A Port in the Storm) in ticket sales in The Pas Region.
Storm Kits
Coming Soon! Storm Kits! The Storm Kits are canvas bags containing useful items (e.g. map of Winnipeg) for rural and northern residents who must spend days or weeks in Winnipeg for medical investigations and/or treatments.
If you would like to contact A Port In The Storm for general information please contact:
RoJean Anstett
Campaign Director
A Port in the Storm
161 rue Grandin
Winnipeg MB R2H 0A8
(204) 231-0720
admin@aportinthestorm.ca
or for a presentation please contact:
Joanne Loughery RN. Con(C)
President & Board Chair
A Port in the Storm
161 rue Grandin
Winnipeg MB R2H 0A8
(204) 231-0720
aportinthestorm@mts.net
www.aportinthestorm.ca
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