Fall President’s Message September 2020

When I assumed the role of BCAHA Vice President, there was a clear path ahead of me and our organization was on firm ground, thanks to the diligent efforts of those that came before me. This past year we had a grand plan for celebrating an auspicious milestone, our 75th Anniversary.

The outreach program which had been in place for a number of years was set to continue and after being elected BCAHA President I was looking forward to visiting as many of our Auxiliaries as possible and personally celebrating member Auxiliary milestones. However, as we all know, the whole world has had to put seemingly normal activities on hold and we at BCAHA, as is the case with all organizations, have had to take time to reassess and regroup.

I no longer have a clear vision of what next week will hold, let alone what next year will hold but in a few months since I was elected President, I have been both invigorated and inspired by the efforts of our member auxiliaries and endeavoring to innovatively move forward despite the many  challenges they face.

The American Poet Laureate, Maya Angelou remarked, that in the face of adversity, “remember that your difficulties do not define you they simply strengthen your ability to overcome.” This is exactly the advice that our member Auxiliaries have followed in an effort to resume some degree of normalcy since the onset of this pandemic.  Our remarkable volunteers have done the research, devising workable plans which have resulted in the safe reopening of the majority of the Thrift Stores. It is true that all is not what it was pre-covid  but the fact is that volunteers are back doing what they do best, Helping Healthcare the Auxiliary Way. Our popular gift shops are also open in many hospitals, not all but some, with hopes that others will re-open in the near future.

Unfortunately, some of our member Auxiliaries due to the nature of their fundraising efforts have had to hit the pause button. Hopefully this situation is only temporary, but only time will tell. Two Auxiliaries have been forced to close their thrift stores as a result of the current unprecedented challenges.

No one knows what the new normal will be, I least of all, but I am convinced that when we emerge from this pandemic, and have no doubt we WILL emerge from it, we WILL look different and we WILL have to rebuild in some areas but we WILL survive. Through the years, many of our member Auxiliaries have survived the rigors and stresses of World Wars, the Great Depression and diminished volunteers in numbers but they still stand proudly as beacons of hope and light in communities large and small all around this Province .

 

Diane Thornton,

President