CAVR UPDATE - September 2003

May 16, 2008

CAVR UPDATE - September 2003

President's Update

Dear CAVR Members

The CAVR Board has committed the last nine months to four significant efforts, the first being critical to our abilities to communicate with our membership.

A special note of gratitude to Connie Cook and Ellen Bremner for all the logistical planning and efforts; to Colleen Watts, Kathy Harrison, Lenore Good, Barb Gemmell and Judy Lister for their contributions towards a superb Professional Development Day agenda; to the entire Board for their time and commitment to Board initiatives through our detailed and exhausting meetings and finally to our Treasurer, Bernard Cyr for the most entertaining Financial Report I have ever witnessed at an Annual Meeting.

I would like to say how much CAVR has valued the support and participation of our new sponsors - Is It a Boy or Girl, Baby Photographers. Representatives, Todd Jaspar and Gary Farrow were present at the Certification lunch, our hospitality suite and throughout the conference with a gracious and positive presence.

Congratulations to our newly Certified member Gwenda Coombs of Manitoba and to the many re-certified members: Wendy Guest, Sonya Jahn, Jackie Edwards, Barb Gemmell, Colleen Watts, Michael Large, Aileen Feicho, Lenore Good, Donna Hamm, Sharon Haubrich, and Kelly Cameron.

We are also delighted to share some exciting new developments. CAVR has successfully established the Affiliation Agreements with Edmonton's Volunteer Management Group (VMG) and the Administrators of Volunteer Resources, British Columbia - AVRBC. We are working toward the development of affiliations with other associations across Canada and anticipate future announcements in the coming months.

CAVR's first web based Newsletter was launched in August by our new national Communications Committee. I wish to extend appreciation to Jennifer Young of New Brunswick for moving forward with this idea, and assisting the Chair, Judy Lister in making this Newsletter a reality!

I am pleased to draw to your attention the results of the national survey and research on CAVR as a Learning Organization. In her major project, Marjolaine Lalonde surveyed Administrators of Volunteers, staff and Executive Directors for their feedback on the sector.

These findings are being shared as part of the McGill and McConnell Masters Program in Montreal. Marjolaine's thesis, in its entirety, will be available on our web site by the end of the summer. Congratulations Marjolaine - CAVR is very proud to have been a part of your great project!

Once again I encourage members to visit our web site "www.cavr.org" regularly. Why not add this URL to your desktop and make a habit to drop in? Please familiarize yourself with the new information available to the profession. You can also stay up to date on what is occurring with the Canadian Volunteer Initiative (CVI) and the fast paced implications this has across the industry.

As President of CAVR, please join me in congratulating Marlene Deboisbriand, the new President of Volunteer Canada. Marlene will continue to oversee the CVI in addition to her new operational duties. On behalf of CAVR, Bernard Cyr and I will be meeting with Marlene Deboisbriand and Ruth MacKenzie of Volunteer Canada in October, to review our national relationship and to ensure continued networking.

In planning ahead for June 2004, I know many of you are as excited as I am to descend on beautiful Nova Scotia for our 2004 Annual Conference. An extraordinary sponsorship has been secured with Human Resources Development Canada by the Chair of the Conference Planning Committee, Janet Foley. The labours of Janet and her Committee will undoubtedly result in an incredible 2004 Conference experience.

Best wishes to everyone for a productive Fall - the start of a new volunteer year! I will continue to update you on CAVR events and activities again prior to the New Year.

Mary MacKillop, CAVR
President

Canadian Administrators of Volunteer Resources
Volunteer Resources Department
1H43-4480 Oak Street
Vancouver, B. C.
V6H 3V4

CAVR Membership Services:
Suite 204-5555 Balsam Street
Vancouver, BC V6M 4B5