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LETTER: How can North Bay HELP our Gathering Place succeed?

'The Gathering Place has established itself in North Bay as an essential service that must continue'
Letter to the Editor
20201010 gathering place cd(1)
The Gathering Place. Chris Dawson/BayToday.

Editor's note: Mr. Benedict writes in response to the BayToday story Gathering Place funding request denied by DNSSAB Board.

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To the editor:

How can North Bay HELP our Gathering Place succeed?

1. Make Gathering Place’s financial records available to the North Bay District Services Board for inspection,

2. Ensure that clients using the Gathering Place for meals are truly, “in need.” Perhaps, a “Client Card”’ needs to be issued. If the Client meets the prerequisites to getting a card, then that establishes a valid base for clients in need of help. Other cities may use “food stamps.”

3. Logistics of financial reporting to an accountant is in order.

4. At the client level, it’s The City of North Bay/ NBDSSB responsibility to look after “clients in need.” Basic needs of life being food, shelter, and warmth should be met. The true mark of humanity is how a city cares for its citizens in need.

5. At the staffing level, most seem to be volunteers. Mechanisms to support staff either paid or volunteers should be done to help them through this crisis.

6. The Gathering Place has established itself in North Bay as an essential service that must continue. We must all support and quickly figure out ways to make this objective a reality. Just solidify the Gathering Place’s accounting/ financial reporting systems. Then figure out the BASE FUNDING that is required to make this essential
Service function. Solve that grey area of “Clients truly in Need” for meal funding. Having Base Funding solves a lot of headaches for a CEO trying to make a business function. Then anything over Base Funding that is generated can be used to replace capital equipment and other big-ticket items.

7. Understand that our community has two separate functioning needs. One is for emergency meals on a day-to-day basis. The other separate function is an emergency grocery need. But both types of clients need to be scrutinized/ filtered out as clients truly in need of either service.

Once these critical items are addressed, and grey areas are cleared up, the pathway to success is bright and sunny.

Don Benedict

North Bay