MADD Yarmouth County facing tough time
Chapter planning info session for Jan. 9 for people who might be interested in joining board
“It’s not a huge time commitment that we’re expecting from anybody ... One month you might put in three hours and the next month it might be a half-hour, so it has its ebbs and flows, but an average of two hours a month.”
The board of the Yarmouth County chapter of MADD is down to two members and a spokesperson for the group says unless they can find more, they will have to look at reducing the chapter’s status or closing it altogether.
Candice Phibbs, the Yarmouth chapter’s interim vice-president, says the decrease in board membership has been a gradual process.
The board used to have 10 people, “which is a great number for a board,” she said, but “it’s been declining over the past two years, individuals moving away, jobs taking them away.”
Ideally, she said, they would like to bring the number of board members back up to between six and eight.
The Yarmouth chapter, which was established in 2004, normally meets once a month – except for a month in the summer – and the time commitment for a board member is, on average, two hours or so per month, Phibbs said.
“We run a few fundraising campaigns or awareness campaigns through the year, so that may add a little bit,” she said. “It’s not a huge time commitment that we’re expecting from anybody ... One month you might put in three hours and the next month it might be a half-hour, so it has its ebbs and flows, but an average of two hours a month.”
An information session for people who might be interested in joining the chapter’s board is planned for Jan. 9.
Unless they can get more board members, Phibbs said, the Yarmouth chapter may be reduced to “community leader status” or shut down completely.
Referring to the first of those two scenarios – community leader status – she said, “That’s how most chapters start and then they grow into a chapter, so it would be a step backwards.”
The other option would be to close the chapter entirely.
The Yarmouth Chapter of MADD was founded to raise awareness, prevent impaired driving and to support victims of impaired driving. On a national scale, MADD Canada, along with its chapters, provides support through victim/survivor services, youth services, public education and awareness, promotion of public policy, etc.
Phibbs, who has been involved in the Yarmouth chapter since 2010, says they just can’t run a chapter with only two board members.
“I’m definitely optimistic and hopeful,” she said, “but I do understand that there are a lot of causes and we’re in a limited population area.”
She invites people who may be interested in getting involved as a board member to attend their session early in the new year.
“We felt January would be a better time for community members to come out, once the holiday season is over,” she said. “We didn’t want to put pressure on through December, so we are planning an information session on Jan. 9.”
It will be held at Sip Café and the plan is to have it at 6 p.m.