WEST COAST HOMEOPATHIC SOCIETY
Annual General Meeting: September 19, 2003
TOPICS:
A. Report from the President
B. Treasurer's Report
C. Election of Officers
A. REPORT FROM THE PRESIDENT
During the past 15 months since the election of this Board in June 2002, our Society has become re-focused and re-vitalized. Many new projects have become reality and the outgoing Board is as proud of those changes as of the fact that we have managed to accomplish them while still maintaining affordable membership fees.
This Board has overseen substantial changes in areas of finances, membership, and Public Education, all of which will be discussed separately. The result has been to make the Board more fiscally responsible, more consistent, and more streamlined, with increased delegation to committees. As a result, this Board has had more freedom to look forward to investigate and develop future projects.
Some of the major achievements of the 2002 - 2003 Board are:
• The What is Homeopathy? brochure was revised about a year ago with input from over a dozen homeopaths. Since the release of the new version, 15,000 copies have been printed, over 10,000 of which have been distributed to members across the country.
• The Directory of Member Practitioners is being updated twice a year – in February and September – so that the public has access to up-to-date information on homeopathic treatment available in their communities.
• A printed version of our newsletter – now named Homeopathy Now – has been revived. The Board responded to member interest for a hardcopy newsletter by developing a creative way to fund the production costs and to reduce postage rates.
• A new website was brought online a year ago, as the previous service provider had become too expensive. January 2003 saw the most number of page hits ever, but it is interesting to note that the number of individual visits continues to steadily increase.
• Regular e-mail bulletins have kept members up-to-date with news and announcements concerning the homeopathic community in Canada.
• The range and number of Membership benefits and Retail Supporters has increased considerably in the past year.
• Public exposure to homeopathy has increased dramatically through public talks and lectures and participation in health-related shows and conferences.
• A Scholarship Fund has been established, which will ease the burden on future students preparing for a career in homeopathy. We encourage all members to contribute to this fund. We also need input from a broad range of members about how the fund’s capital will be managed and how its proceeds will be distributed.
• For the first time in nearly 3 years, the Society undertook two ambitious fundraising projects: one is the raffle to be held later tonight and the other is a silent auction in conjunction with the HANP’s annual conference to be held in Vancouver at the end of October.
A less positive development to report has been the withdrawal of WCHS from the Canadian Coalition for Homeopathic Medicine (CCHM). The reasons were several but primarily it was due to the fact that there did not appear to be any future for the CCHM under its current leadership. The Board still believes that an economic sector study would be beneficial for the credibility of homeopathy, but the circumstances would have to be substantially different to justify further involvement.
This Board has also set in motion several projects that we hope will come to fruition in the next year:
1. Charitable Status
For the last 6 or 7 years, successive Boards have promised to re-apply for charitable status. This involves much more than simply filling out the application forms. A great deal of supporting documentation and a re-examination of our Constitution and By-laws will be required before this process is concluded. The end result, though, will be a tax break to our members and donors, which we expect will result in an increase of contributions and gifts in kind.
2. Homeopathy Awareness Week
WCHS plans to celebrate a week-long public and media awareness blitz in communities across the country next June. We invite all members to participate in some way:
• speak to a group about homeopathy
• offer homeopathic advice at a natural health store or pharmacy
• participate in a health-related event or forum
• encourage your local print, radio, and television media to feature homeopathy in
their health coverage
We hope to involve practitioners, schools, retail supporters, advertisers, and other organizations across Canada. All events will be co-ordinated on the website, with links to the individuals and businesses involved.
3. Extended Medical Coverage Plan
We are investigating an optional Extended Medical Plan for our members that would provide a menu of services such as dental, glasses, chiropractic, naturopathic, and (of course!) homeopathic treatment. This will have 3 goals:
• to provide extended medical coverage for those members who need it
• to assist members who wish to visit qualified homeopaths
• to indicate to insurance companies that homeopathy is a viable and cost effective
form of treatment
4. Community Building
Events such as this AGM provide an opportunity for people interested in homeopathy to start building a network among like-minded people. This can only be good for homeopathy in general. The outgoing Board hopes that similar opportunities will be scheduled regularly throughout the next year, perhaps in conjunction with talks by leading homeopaths, perhaps in ways we have not yet even considered.
As our term of office comes to an end, this Board wants to encourage members to become more actively involved in the Society. We hope that you will choose one of our projects and make a commitment to help out. There are 4 committee projects that the Board has identified as a priority for the coming year:
• Membership
• Fundraising
• Newsletter
• Public Relations
Join a committee. Work with others towards a common goal and see it through to a successful completion. You will find that it will be a rewarding experience on many levels.
And for those of you who like to see the larger picture and welcome the opportunity to make decisions that will influence the future of this Society and homeopathy in general, I personally welcome you to stand for a position on the next Board.
Thank-you.
Jo Twiss, President
B. TREASURER’S REPORT
The year 2002 brought a few changes to the WCHS financial situation, the main one being a change of the year-end date from May 31st to December 31st, to reflect better the timeline and relationship between our revenues and expenses. This is why the current financial statement covers only 6 months, from June 1st to December 31st, and why there appears to be a negative balance of <$2,132.01>. The shortened fiscal year is missing most of our revenue for 2002, the bulk of which was collected between January and June.
Other improvements to the financial status of our Society were brought about by Jo Twiss, who was Treasurer until last March. She clarified our books, mostly through dropping the hand written journal and adopting typed synopsis, revenue, and monthly income statements. She also produced an operating budget for 2003, for the first time in WCHS history. This budget will help the Board to make decisions in regards to spending and to make changes when necessary. She was able to produce this budget with the help of Judy Chorney, who estimated how much she could produce in revenues fairly accurately. We’ll have more on this story next year.
Notable numbers in the financial statement include:
• Petty Cash is not an asset anymore, it’s been officially erased from our records.
• Bank Charges refer to monthly fees charged to our account by Toronto Dominion
Bank, but as of March we have switched to a commercial account for community groups at HSBC: they don’t charge fees and even pay interest (a few pennies every month!)
• the Sector Study expenses are nil because we are not members of the CCHM anymore. The President has discussed this in her report.
At the end of the year in 2002, our books and bank account held a balance of $2,627.52. The Financial Statement produced by the accountant Ken Aiken follows on the next 2 pages. I would like to take questions on my report and on the Financial Statement now.
Thank you.
Nathalie Desrochers Allen, Treasurer
C. ELECTION OF OFFICERS
Members elected to the 2003 - 2004 Board of Directors are as follows:
President: Jo Twiss
Vice-President: Marc Archambault
Treasurer: Nathalie Desrochers Allen
Executive Secretary: Elena Cecchetto
Directors at Large: Tania Bouchon, Tammy Colleton, Bonnie Pennell
PLEASE NOTE: Members may request a copy of the Statement of Accounts approved at the Annual General Meeting by contacting Judy Chorney at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..