The St. Paul and Community Family Benefit Society plans to host one final bash before dissolving the non-profit group.
For the last 11 years, the society has raised money for families affected by unexpected crisis or tragedy. Qualifying families are those who are unable to receive assistance through other charitable organizations.
According to the communications co-ordinator for the group Lynda Munro, the decision to dissolve the society came after several committee members expressed a desire to step down at the organization's last meeting.
“This is my fourth year. The other girls have been there right from the beginning and life has changed for all of us. We don’t have the time to focus on it anymore,” said Munro. She said the seven people on the executive committee are all in completely different places in life than they were when the benefit started in 2008.
According to Munro, the group is hoping the annual fundraiser will be taken over either by another not-for-profit in the area, or by a new group of people.
“We would love to show them the ropes and let them continue on, but unfortunately we’ve learned over the past 12 years that it’s hard to get volunteers,” said Munro, noting it has been then same core group of people involved for most of the society’s existence.
“Every year, we’re scrambling for volunteers. Us on the executive, we’re not just doing our jobs, we’re helping everyone else. Nobody wants to help.”
If it’s not taken over, the Community Family Benefit Society will dissolve as of March 31, 2020.
“So we’ve decided that any monetary funds we have will go to a non-profit organization, or a couple of them that do have something to do with children,” said Munro. She said there’s also a number of kitchen and decorative items they’ve used over the years, which they’d like to give to another group that will use them.
Another challenge the group has experienced in recent years is difficulty finding families who meet their donation criteria, specifically “the nominated family must not have received other community fundraising benefits (e.g. GoFundMe) or be receiving government funding for the nominated crisis.”
“And then there’s other non-profit organizations too,” said Munro. She said once people receive help from groups like Haying in the 30’s or the Second Chance Trail Ride, they’re no longer eligible to be helped by the Family Benefit.
The St. Paul and Community Family Benefit Society was founded in 2008 after a local mother gave birth to twins at 25 weeks gestation, requiring a long stay in the hospital in Edmonton. Since then, the group has given a total of roughly $170,000 to 35 families in the St. Paul area.
“It’s sad to see something in the community that has grown so much saying ‘now we’re done' . . . It’s sad to see it close down, but we’re all excited about being able to focus on our lives too, and the new adventures to come. And we’re all excited about this year’s dance,” said Munro.
The final fundraiser for the Community Family Benefit Society will be hosted on New Year’s Eve. Tickets for the family friendly dance customarily go on sale on Dec. 1 of each year.
