What You Need to Know

Read this if you can't read everything

• The EFCL Annual General Meeting was held yesterday (June1) as a hybrid – so, both at Calder Community League hall and online on Zoom. Are you keen for our meetings to stay as hybrids? Let us know your thoughts with an email.
   
• We're co-hosting a community bazaar (June 18) to help launch our SafeWalk program in partnership with Sisters Dialogue. You're invited. 
   
• Organization is critical and our workshops reflect it – What Do I Do With All This Stuff? (June 7), to help your League with records management, and the first of a two-part workshop on Moving Your Organization Online (June 8). 
   
• We've revised our approach to Planning and Development news. It's streamlined and easier to use quickly. 
  
  Need more info? Read on.

The AGM Reconnection

Our first hybrid meeting combined new and old 

Big Rental Opportunity

If your League hall and facilities fit the bill, here's a revenue generator 

Free Play for Kids is looking for League halls to rent on weekdays to offer (paid) multi-sport children's programming from September 2022 to June 2023.

The group will pay standard hall rental rates to run sessions between 6:15 and 8:45pm once a week. 

Free Play requires:

• the hall (which must be large enough to accommodate fitness activities inside for 20 children plus three adults)
• outdoor field and rink
• access to the hall washroom. 

These paid community programs are separate additions to the free Start to Play program. Free Play for Kids will market the programs; Leagues need only to supply rental agreements. 

If you're interested, be in touch with Free Play. 

Photo by Robert Linder on Unsplash

COVID Recovery from EAC

Fund specifically targets groups including Community Leagues

From the Edmonton Arts Council:

"In response to the impacts of COVID-19 on the arts sector, the City of Edmonton and the Edmonton Arts Council (EAC) have launched the Arts Presentation Fund for COVID Recovery, a new funding opportunity for arts organizations, festivals, community leagues, and other presenters/venues. 

Managed by the EAC, grants between $500 and $10,000 per applicant will be available to presenters for the purpose of compensating local artists, for performances or presentations in Edmonton."

Photo by Martin Sanchez on Unsplash

Indigenous History Month

Our Resource Library is vast. Here's a peek at a tool your League can use

June is National Indigenous History month. Beyond learning the deep history of Indigenous nations that precede settlers in Edmonton by thousands of years, consider taking a look at EFCL's Indigenous Protocol, Practice and Culture section of our resource library for ideas on how to put nice words into action. And make sure to download our land acknowledgment poster (pictured) for your hall.

What Do I Do With All This Stuff?

Workshop – June 7, 6:30pm

This one-hour workshop will focus on the basics of records management: the collection, retention, storage and eventual disposition of records.

Get answers to these questions:

• What personal info can our League collect?
• How long do we have to keep it?
• When can we share it?
• How do we destroy it?
• What policies and procedures do we need to have in place?

Moving Your Organization Online

Workshop series – June 14, 28

A Google certified trainer will walk us through the steps of making Google work well for what we need as Leagues. We’ll start with the basics in workshop one. In workshop two, we’ll talk about how to make documents secure and safe.

Moving your Organization Online: Protect and Manage your League Documents Online
June 14, 2022
12-1pm

• Why using Google for Nonprofits will save your board time and stress
• Learn how to set up Google for Nonprofits with a trained facilitator

Moving your Organization Online: Getting the Most of your Shared Online Accounts
June 28, 2022
6:30-7:30pm

• Creating safe online spaces for your League board documents
• How to set up your League board on Groups
• How to create email lists
• How and why to set permissions on files
• How to ensure important information isn’t lost

Community Cultural Bazaar

June 18, 11-4pm

Edmonton SafeWalk is a program to increase safety for people walking that will pilot in the Fraser, Bannerman and surrounding communities this summer. To learn more about SafeWalk, join us on June 18 for a Cultural Bazaar, from 11am to 4pm at Bannerman Community Hall. (14034 23 Street).

Edmonton SafeWalk is a partnership between EFCL, Sisters Dialogue and the City of Edmonton. Link: edmontonsafewalk.ca

Sports Directors Cafe 

June 8, 6:30pm

Join the Sports Directors Café to share ideas on what to do with your community and how to coordinate sports activities.

Topics to get us started:

• Summer sport programming
• What sport and recreation organisations do you partner with?
• What kinds of recreational activities run at your hall?

Bring contact information for your favourite sport/rec vendors to share with other Leagues. Learn how other Community League members do what they do. Get together to share ideas, skills, resources and experiences to help each other succeed.

Being Treaty People within the League Movement

Community Inclusion Cafe, June 15, 6:30pm

This cafe will show you ways your League can plan for and observe the National Day of Truth and Reconciliation on September 30, including creating an appropriate engagement strategy with Indigenous neighbours and communities.
The Community Inclusion Café is a meetup space to discuss successes and challenges related to inclusion and allyship within Edmonton’s Community League movement. The format follows a Community League, community member or organization giving a brief overview of a topic, as identified by Leagues, followed by informal discussion among Leagues facilitated by the EFCL.

EFCL Update

Civics and Planning Directors community of practice, June 30

• Our next civics cafe is scheduled for June 30. We’re talking about co-creating a vision for inclusive, healthy, urban and climate resilient neighbourhoods. Register below.
   

• Get one-on-one support as you engage your community to dream about and experiment with planning and design. Connect with an advisor or schedule a meeting below.

City of Edmonton Update

New podcast, project updates, engagement

• The City has launched Making Space, a new podcast about zoning. There's just a teaser on offer so far. Listen here. 

• The City has project updates on the River Valley Planning Modernization project and National Urban Park Initiative.

• The City is seeking public engagement on District Planning. Make sure to share your perspective. 

• The City invites one board member of each Community League to participate in a private virtual workshop to provide feedback about the proposed Community Parks Framework. The Community Park Framework is proposed to replace the Neighbourhood Park Development Program. There will be two workshops: Wednesday, June 8 from 7-8:30pm and Thursday, June 9 from 7-8:30 pm. 
  
  Register here.

Community Feast

The Gathering, the second in a series of five community feasts

Avonmore Community League is pleased to introduce Matt Rivers, an Indigenous Chef in Edmonton, who has joined us to create the menu and prepare the meal for “The Gathering”, the second in our series of five Community Feasts to celebrate the diversity of our community.

Elder knowledge keeper Phillip Campiou, a traditional Woodland Cree, will be with us to share Tipi Teachings.

Youth Report

How to offer youth opportunities in Leagues

The City's Community Services branch along with Edmonton Youth Economic Ecosystem Collaborative (EYEEC) is excited to present Leagues with Employment for All: A Youth Perspective on Economic Equity in Edmonton.

This report captures the economic context youth ages 15-30 living in Edmonton face today. Some highlighted points were the value of connection to community and opportunities to develop employable skills – things that could be harnessed through more intentional volunteer work with their local League.

To connect with EYEEC about increasing youth engagement at your League or have them present at your board meeting, contact Tricia Boonstra, community social worker.

League Anecdote: Free Membership 

It changes the conversation

An anecdote emerged from North Glenora Community League at our last Membership Summit on the power of free memberships.

“Change the conversation of door to door membership drives, from a sales pitch, to an invitation,” the League said. “When we offered memberships for free, it changed the whole dynamic.”

The League saw a 30 per cent increase in membership when they became free or by donation, though income went down. Most importantly, their volunteer base expanded. 

Want to read the Membership Summit resources on this? Email leaguesuport@efcl.org 

Photo by MARK ADRIANE on Unsplash

Stars of Alberta

Nominations open for several categories celebrating volunteers

Will you take the time to help celebrate Alberta volunteers?
 
Nominations for the 2022 Stars of Alberta Volunteer Awards are now open. Nine awards will be presented this year, two in each of categories of youth, adult, and senior. In the Breaking Barriers category, three awards will be presented to outstanding volunteers who are addressing racism, advocating for 2SLGBTQQIA+ inclusion, and fighting gender discrimination. 

The deadline for nominations is Thursday June 30, 2022.

Photo by Dakota Corbin on Unsplash