left to right - Clive Golding, Norman Wallace, Lawrence Prendergast, Douglas MacDonald - behind Lawrence, Lance Seymour, Dale Keizs, Ruddy Hart, Dr. Frederick McIntosh - partly hidden).
Another year in the existence of KCOBA ( Toronto ) is now history and as we meet to elect a new Board of Directors it is time to assess our recent performance. At the start of the 2005 Fiscal Year under the theme of "Making our vision a reality" the Board of Directors outlined a set of goals and objectives as well as an action plan designed to achieve these aims. I will now address each of the goals and objectives below:
Achieve a minimum of 66% of income target .
This is an area that will require increase effort as we continue to experience challenges in "hitting the number". Our income was a moderate 43% of the target, a full 23% below expectation.
Retire all debt obligations within two years .
We have not made any progress in this area other than to keep our current debt obligation flat. We cannot afford any further slippages in this regard as this item continues to be a priority.
Increase year over year contribution to the Library, Cadet Corps and Trust Fund by 20% .
We were able to make a significant contribution to the library at the Melbourne Campus by specifically addressing a request by the librarian to supply 4 computers for use in that facility. An additional 6 computers were shipped for use in the computer lab at North Street including one computer which will be made available to the guidance counsellor. The computers were acquired through the efforts of board member Lawrence Prendergast. A number of books donated by Earle Oxford were included in the shipment for use in the library. Locksley Wright donated a set of tools for use in the industrial arts program. Alex Francis donated packages of architectural paper also for use in the industrial arts program. Additionally, we met our obligation to the sponsorship of the Citizen and Dr. Demetrius awards. The cost of sponsoring the citizen award was underwritten by George Montague who was a past recipient of the honour as a youngster at KC. Specific contributions to the Cadet Corps and Trust Fund were not made as planned. Again it will be a challenge to meet our stretch goal of year over year increase of our contributions to our primary areas of responsibilities. In the past, our most significant contribution to the Trust Fund was as a result of the Neville "Mussie" Gray tax which was a direct appeal to you our members to contribute to this important means of funding major projects at the school. We can learn from our New York brothers who have been spectacularly successful in getting their members and community businesses to contribute to this fund. Let us use this opportunity to honour our late great math teacher Mr. Edward Macdonald by contributing to the fund which was an area targeted for support by the Macdonald family in his name.
Achieve and maintain self sufficiency.
This is an area critical to the continued viability of the organization. The two key elements crucial to achieving success in this area are debt reduction and fund raising. We have been reasonably successful in managing our debt but have significant gaps to bridge in the area of fund raising. This item continues to be my primary focus and that of the Board of Directors, as it underpins our ability to fulfill our mandate and meet our obligations to the school.
Expand the scope of projects to provide benefits to the wider community.
This is an area that we are committed to as it is important that our efforts also provide benefit in our local jurisdiction. We were able to contribute some funds to the Alliance of Jamaica Alumni Association (AJAA) graduate program, which supports young African-Canadian students by awarding bursaries to help in defraying the cost of post secondary education.
I will now report on the action plan that was established to accomplish the goals and objectives:
Make fund raising the #1 priority
The fund raising committee chaired by myself draws on the experience and talent of a number of members including past presidents of the Association. A number of the ideas proposed by this committee are work in progress and some require the support of selected members. The responses to date have been less than encouraging but more time is needed to reach conclusion regarding the final outcome. The environment for generating funds using the traditional means such as the spring dance is increasingly competitive based on the high number of organizations hosting similar events in the market place. It is imperative that we remain focused on this activity and find new ways to differentiate ourselves from the crowd. The successful "Christmas Ham" project spearheaded by our Treasurer, Ruddy Hart and our PR Director, Doug MacDonald is such an example of a novel effort that affords us the opportunity to establish a new revenue source. A key to future success in the area of fund raising will be establishing partnerships with other organizations to the mutual benefit of both entities.
Communicate the successes of the organization.
It is important to communicate the successes of the organization to the membership, the KCOBA fraternity and the wider community. Demonstrating tangible results will encourage the members to become engaged and more actively participate and contribute to the efforts of the organization. Within the wider community the attendant visibility will increase the credibility of the organization and facilitate in establishing mutually beneficial partnerships as well as assist in the area of corporate sponsorship. The monthly electronic newsletter produced by Atlanta has proved to be a most effective communication vehicle. This publication has gained wide spread acceptance by the KCOBA fraternity and is truly representative of the wider KC family as all Chapters are represented on the editorial board. I must commend the leadership and management of the Atlanta Chapter for their vision and dedication in spearheading this effort and providing this valuable tool to the KCOBA family. Editor, Glen Laman and Web master Earl Adams are deserving of special mention as they are the driving force behind this venture. I am particular pleased that in addition to myself as sub-editor, the Toronto Chapter is also represented by our Vice President, Dr. Cedric Lazarus in the capacity of a contributing editor. Our PR Director Doug MacDonald contributes in the area of research with a focus on Toronto content. Of course, the distribution of the newsletter is facilitated by e-mail which has proven a wonderful means of communicating with the majority of our members. With a steadily growing directory of KCOBA Toronto e-mail addresses, now numbering well into triple digits, we have been able to keep our members informed in a timely manner.
The Board of Directors also committed to representing the Association at events hosted by other Jamaican Alumni organizations as well as selected community events. Our effort to date has been commendable and has not gone unnoticed by our fellow Jamaicans. Our secretary Dale Keizs , assistant secretary Eddie Patterson and Director Lawrence Prendergast are all deserving of special mention for their representation of the Chapter in various capacities at events hosted by the umbrella organization the Alliance of Jamaican Alumni Association (AJAA).
Initiate a membership drive to increase the active membership by 25%.
The active participation of our membership has been a source of concern for some time. The Board of Directors decided that a concerted effort be made to move individuals from our inactive list to the active listing. To this end, the Board of Directors embarked on a telephone blitz and attempted to call all members listed as inactive. This exercise proved useful and helped to reconnect with some members in addition to helping with updating our records. This task is an ongoing exercise and special thanks is due to our assistant secretary, Eddie Patterson for undertaking the primarily responsibility for this activity.
Seek sponsorship for all new projects.
Despite the best laid plans there will always be unforeseen events requiring trade off decisions or change in direction. One of our commitments at the start of the year was to ensure that such events did not result in the Association acquiring additional debt. Our approach to this situation was quite simply to seek sponsorship from our members to satisfy any spending requests beyond those identified in the budget. This situation did not prove to be an issue in the past year.
Establish a local scholarship for students affiliated to KCOBA ( Toronto ) members.
In keeping with our objective to establish projects with direct benefit within our local jurisdiction the Board of Directors agreed to establish a scholarship fund to benefit affiliates of the membership. As a not for profit organization operating in Canada this activity is in keeping with our by-laws to have local objects in addition to our primary commitment to Kingston College. Our goal to have this project in place for the start of the school year in September is unlikely to be met and every effort will be made to get this activity up and running as soon as possible.
On balance it was a very challenging year but the organization experienced some measure of success and the future is indeed promising. The rest of this report will provide additional details on the various projects, events and activities undertaken in the past year. I am particularly pleased that KCOBA ( Toronto ) will host the next Summit of KCOBA Chapters scheduled to be held August 3 - 4, 2006 . This is an increasingly important event for KCOBA fraternity as we seek to work together for the betterment of our beloved alma mater and the deserving young men attending the institution.
I thank each and every member of our Board of Directors for their hard work and commitment demonstrated during the past year.
