Kramberger: New WICS director has plenty of front-line experience

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West Island Gazette Off-Island Gazette Columnists

Meagan Somerville knows the stark financial reality faced by non-profit organizations as she takes over the helm of the umbrella fundraising group West Island Community Shares.

Published Jul 13, 2023 • Last updated 26 minutes ago • 3 minute read

Meagan Somerville, centre, is the new executive director of West Island Community Shares. She is seen with Megan Brock, digital communications & social media, left, and Nynke Wijnalda, donor relations manager, at their Pointe-Claire office on Tuesday July 11, 2023. — Meagan Somerville, centre, is the new executive director of West Island Community Shares. She is seen with Megan Brock, responsible for digital communications & social media, left, and Nynke Wijnalda, donor relations manager, at their Pointe-Claire office on Tuesday July 11, 2023. Photo by Dave Sidaway /Montreal Gazette

The new head of West Island Community Shares knows full well the challenges facing non-profits and seeks to offset a recent decline in personal charitable donations recorded across the country.

Meagan Somerville was named WICS executive director last week, replacing Sophie McCann, who had held the position since 2018.

Somerville brings front-line experience from her tenure with the West Island YMCA, where until recently she served as its director of community initiative and operations. She holds a bachelor of applied science degree from Concordia University and worked in recreational therapy before starting at the YMCA, initially as a youth worker, then a youth program director.

“I started my career working front line, in intervention, notably with youth. That was my expertise,” Somerville said.

Somerville learned of WICS’s outreach first-hand: they provided the Y with funding for its community programs, which remains an ongoing practice. Although the West Island YMCA facility on Brunswick Blvd. was purchased by Pointe-Claire about two years ago and then renamed the Olive Urquhart Sports Centre, the Y still runs its own programs and group fitness courses alongside the city’s sports and fitness activities.

“We were one of the 40 non-profit groups (WICS) supported,” Somerville said. “It gives me a unique perspective because I’ve actually worked the front line. I worked in the community.

“Now, joining the WICS team, I can shed light on what the reality is and understand, coming from the community sector, that it’s so hard to work on a shoestring budget,” she added.

While public demand for their services is steady, West Island community groups are usually in crisis-management mode when it comes to finances, Somerville noted.

“I didn’t really have time to do additional fundraising (while working at the Y) for my own budget. We were always worried about: ‘Can we pay, can we keep it up?’” she said. “To have an organization like WICS, to have it as their main goal to do the fundraising component and support (non-profits), it’s invaluable.”

WICS organizes its own events, such as its Red and White gala and community breakfast, but it can help guide companies to carry out fundraising activities, Somerville said.

With WICS marking its 25th anniversary and having a proven track record, Somerville hopes to be innovative and look for potential gaps. She pointed out that individual donations are trending down across Canada.

Brainstorming with WICS’s board of directors is on her immediate agenda.

“We need to work on visibility. To say we’re here and supporting 40 groups. That’s so unique and a fantastic cause for the West Island,” Somerville said. “We also need to give opportunities to people who want to do fundraising on their own. We can come and help them get that started. It’s being creative in different ways.”

There are so many community organizations having a positive impact in the West Island, but not everyone knows about them yet, though WICS is there to offer financial support, Somerville said.

“The West Island has needs,” she said.

WICS, a charitable umbrella fundraising organization, has allocated about $20 million since it was founded in 1998. It financially supports more than 40 non-profit organizations, ranging from Corbeille de Pain, which promotes food security, and the West Island Cancer Wellness Centre in Kirkland to FabZone, a makerspace that opened in the spring at the Pointe-Claire Plaza. Administrative costs at WICS are offset by corporate sponsorship and its own events such as the gala, so all public donations are given to local non-profit groups.

For more information, visit communityshares.ca.

akrambergerwestisland@gmail.com

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