MRBS Needs Your Help!
Message from MRBS President Vandra Masemann
You may be surprised to know that fewer than 20 Malvernites actually supported us financially last year. The MRBS Executive is facing a difficult financial future. The rise in the Canada Post rates and the downturn in donations to the MRBS in 2014 have had a negative impact on our bottom line. While we have set aside donations for specific purposes, such as the Sequester Project and the Big Book restoration, we cannot continue our work under these circumstances. It costs $1400 for each mailing of the Musings: printing, paper, envelopes, stamps, and mass emailing charges. For 2015-2016, our Treasurer has projected that we need a yearly income of $2800 for two mailings of the Musings, $500 for archival supplies, and just over $200 for website expenses. This amount of $3500 does not include special projects or Reunion start-up expenses. So far, we have not had to charge membership fees.
WHAT HAVE WE ACCOMPLISHED?
In the last ten years, with your assistance, we have accomplished a great deal. By volunteering every month since 2003, we have set up an extensive archive, going back to 1903 and serving the school for its present needs. We have helped to fund-raise to save the Malvern Pool and to restore the Malvern Cenotaph. We have organised at least four very successful Reunions. We have established a newsletter, a website and a Facebook page for Malvernites to communicate amongst themselves. We have given an annual award at Commencement, suggested speakers, and encouraged veterans to attend Remembrance Day. We have attended Malvernites’ funerals, and visited graves of Malvernites killed in wars. We have made it possible for you to find old friends or school records of your parents and grandparents. We have done this on a small budget of around $3000 and above each year.
WHAT ARE THE SOLUTIONS TO OUR PRESENT CRISIS?
There are now about 600 of you who receive the paper Musings and about 700 on email who have given consent to receive our emails. If you are willing to receive the Musings by email, please let us know. Your Express Consent to receive MRBS emails is required, so please see the Registration Page to register for digital copies.
You can get a tax receipt by mailing your donation cheque for $10 or more payable to the Onward Malvern Foundation (OMF), with MRBS on the memo line, and mailing it to us c/o the MRBS at the school address shown above in the masthead. Please do this by June 1, 2015. You can also donate online by visiting our Donate to MRBS page.
Volunteering to help out with the work is also important. We need volunteers for positions on the MRBS and the Onward Malvern Foundation. While the MRBS was founded mainly by Malvernites from the 1950s and 1960s, we need to get the grads from other decades to volunteer for some of the positions.
Running for office is also a crucial factor in the continued existence of the MRBS. We had no nominations in the last two years. If the MRBS is going to survive, it needs to be renewed. It can be remade to suit the next generation of Malvernites. Think about it!