President Report - Derrill Henderson
Spring is approaching and as Mother Earth starts to energize herself for the year to come, it is time for us within our association to do likewise. With this in mind, your Board of Directors is reviewing our accomplishments (and failures) during 2009 in an effort to move forward with the task at hand of fulfilling our Mission.
One thing is evident, some are approaching burnout and we need some new blood at all levels of the organization. There are many tasks, some only requiring an hour or two a month, for which we need assistance. It is time for some soul-searching. Perhaps you have some free time over a short time period - there are specific tasks within projects that you might have the exact skill for the job. If you have a few minutes here and there, we have telephone follow-ups that must be completed. We are not asking for long-term commitments. The maximum task is limited to a two-year commitment, but most are of a much shorter time frame. We don’t have all the details sorted out yet, but if you can help out to any extent, please give your Region officers a call. Even if there isn’t a task suitable to your talents and time availability, it is important that we build a list of resources so that we might act quickly when the need arises.
As I mentioned above, the BOD is looking at all aspects of our activities. We still have the landscaping of the Memorial Wall site, but this is well in hand. We will be reviewing our other goals such as education of Canadians, both youth and adult, on the Hong Kong Story. We shall also be gathering ideas on other related activities we should be undertaking, and hopefully you, our membership, will be passing your thoughts along to your Executive in this regard.
One certainty, we need to grow our membership. We are losing the older section at a discouraging rate. If every member could recruit one new member a year, we could resolve this problem. I am certain the $15.00 membership fee is not a hindrance. If we are to honour our HK veterans in an appropriate manner, every vet should have at least one family member in the association. For the few without any family, we need to start an “adopt-a-vet” project.
Visit our Web site (hkvca.ca); see what is in the works and ask yourself how you might help. Pass along your ideas and help grow our unique association into the future with challenges that make all envious of our accomplishments. The Memorial Wall has achieved a degree of envy among military organizations around Ottawa, so we know we can do it. Let’s step forward boldly into the new decade and keep the spirit of our HK “Band of Brothers” alive.
Email: Derrill Henderson