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As most of you know, my name is Sandra Gardin, current President of the Italian Canadian Cultural Association of Nova Scotia. On behalf of our current Board of Directors, it is my sincere pleasure to be here before all of you today. This time last year, the fate of our ICCA was definitely in jeopardy. Post Covid and lack of events taking place left our ICCA weakened financially and in spirit.
I am elated to announce that we truly made miracles happen this year and it could never have been done without each and every person you see sitting here before you today and so many of you. So many of our amazing members who answered the call to get involved and help in any way they could to once again build our ICCA.
Allow me to sum up this past year…
On March 26th we took over the books after learning of the bleak reality, that without generating any revenue, our ICCA would not make it past November of 2023.
Well, simply put, that was NOT an option for the team you see here before you and our loyal members.
Right out of the gate we needed to do some serious repairs on our aging ICCA.
Many people have said “run it like a business” but as President, I immediately understood the unique challenge that lied ahead - that of ensuring that indeed the lights remained on but that this would not come at a cost to our community.
Our ICCA, after all, is a community, our community. Over the years we have lost the involvement of many of our members. I immediately set out to ensure that each and every person who came through those doors would feel a sense of welcome into something bigger than themselves.
I recently had the pleasure of being interviewed by Olivia Ward, grand-daughter of an elder in our community and an NSCC student studying Public Relations and Media. One of the questions Olivia asked was what I would like our members to know about our Club - my answer is that each and everyone of our members know that our ICCA belongs to all of us; this is all of our community and as such, we need to come together as a family to make it the strongest it has ever been. I feel we have done this this past year.
Our Festa della Repubblica was one of the most attended ever and the debut of our first ever Italian Heritage Night was a resounding success.
Then came our Festa Italiana, formerly known as the Italian Weekend. Well, to say that we made miracles happen that day and a half is a true understatement! With an unbelievable generation of revenue one would think that this was the true success, but the aspect that proved to be this Board’s and everyone involved in the Festa’s true measure of success was the pride that we all felt when countless people attending and many of our 120 volunteers remarked, that this Festa Italiana somehow felt like no other before it. There was an undeniable energy at the Club that made anyone there not want to miss a single moment of the festivities. It was truly something!
At last year’s AGM, a motion was passed to finally increase our membership costs plus introduce a corporate membership structure. As our year got underway, the benefits that come from being a member, whether it be at the single level or right up to our Platinum Corporate member, became more and more clearer. Please be sure to have a read through the new Membership Structure to see what membership best suits you.
We have looked into grants and fundraising, and our monthly fundraising 50/50 Rafflebox draws. We need your continued support by sharing those posts online from the ICCA page not the Group site and by word of mouth.
Finally, what’s to come? I will continue to work on creating events for all ages. This is a huge goal for this year but one that is attainable and necessary to ensure the future of our ICCA.
Cordiali saluti • Cordially yours,
Sandra
