BARRHEAD – Barrhead and District Family Community Support Services (FCSS) needs you — more specifically, they need you to volunteer.
FCSS executive director Karen Gariepy told County of Barrhead councillors during their July 5 council meeting that the not-for-profit organization, which provides many support programs that residents have come to depend on, needs more volunteers to ensure they can continue to deliver those services.
"We have many different positions and roles," she said. "Everything from Emergency Social Services (ESS) to the food bank, school lunch to the Blue Suede Music Festival."
The Blue Suede Music Festival is a three-day Elvis tribute concert from Aug. 5-7 in Westlock. In addition to being a popular entertainment event, it is a vital food collection and fundraising event for the Barrhead, Westlock and Morinville food banks.
"From September to June, we usually have enough volunteers, but in the summer months, we are lacking," she said.
Gariepy added that is troubling because for many of FCSS' clients, the summer is when they rely on the not-for-profit organization's programming the most.
She added that this is especially true of young families whose parents may rely on FCSS programs as other programs they would have otherwise accessed through the schools are no longer available to them.
One such program is the hot lunch program at Barrhead Elementary School (BES).
As the name suggests, the hot lunch program provides a hot, nutritious lunch for a nominal $3 per meal fee.
Regrettably, Gariepy said they might have to raise the fee to $4 in the fall due to rising food costs.
"Sandy McCarthy (program coordinator and chef) does a great job of providing hot, nutritious and tasty meals, economically, but at current grocery prices, we have little choice in upping the fee to $4 per meal," she said.
Gariepy said she hopes the increase will not result in a loss of students signing up for the popular program in the fall.
"We do have several students that we subsidize," she said. "So, we might see more of those requests come in, but we will just have to see where we are when school resumes and try to adjust."
On a related note, for the last year, Gariepy said FCSS has been piloting a seniors' hot lunch program in conjunction with the one for BES students. The program, which is on hiatus until the resumption of school, has been capped at 20.
Gariepy noted that reception has been positive, with many seniors asking to be added to the list. However, she said over the summer they will be re-evaluating the program, adding that while she appreciates that many seniors would enjoy having the meals, that wasn't its intended purpose.
"It was meant to be a type of wellness check, so come September, we will have a tougher screening process," Gariepy said.
Although FCSS has pressed the pause button on many of its programs for the summer, its senior programming remains largely unimpacted.
Gariepy noted that its Collective Kitchen, Senior Support and Seniors Coffee programs will continue throughout the summer. The only senior program that has been paused for the summer months is the weekly exercise sessions.
She added that FCSS staff continues to plan to bring several organizations involved in seniors’ issues together for a one-day conference on Sept. 12 to attempt to form a Seniors Advisory Committee.
"We want to look at what some of the gaps are, what are some of the good things we are doing, and how can we work better together to help provide services for seniors," Gariepy said, adding the meeting is part of a larger provincial initiative.
One of the gaps she said FCSS knows about and is working on solving, she said, is the difficulty many people have attending medical appointments outside of the community due to a lack of transportation.
"We are working with (Drive Happiness Seniors Association) and are looking for volunteer drivers to drive seniors to mostly medical appointments," Gariepy said.
Drive Happiness, an Edmonton-based not-for-profit, connects volunteer drivers with seniors in need of a ride for a small fee.
"They are the leader in this. They screen all the drivers, drivers abstract, insurance, et cetera, and we would do all the recruiting and promotion," she said, adding drivers are reimbursed for their costs based on the present provincial government mileage rate.
Seniors needing a ride would call a toll-free number and talk to a Drive Happiness volunteer who would access their database and connect them with a driver available to drive them to their appointment.
"The charge to the senior is very realistic," she said, adding in Edmonton the fee is $10 for 90 minutes or 40 kilometres.
Due to the distance Barrhead is from the major urban centres, Gariepy said, the charge would likely be more, noting they are looking at $60 per trip ($30 there, $30 back).
She also added several FCSS offices in the region have already or are looking at partnering with Drive Happiness, including Athabasca and Westlock.
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