The Altona & Area Family Resource Centre (AAFRC) is a non-profit, charitable organization with offices in Altona, serving Altona and surrounding communities of Gretna, Rosenfeld, Emerson, and Dominion City by providing free parent-child programming for preschoolers and their parents. They are currently looking for members to join their board and it's the perfect time to join with their AGM coming up on October 14th! Start of the season Nina Edbom-Kehler is the coordinator for AAFRC and she talked about the start of their season coming off their Summer break, "Our programming didn't start till about mid-September. Our "Stay and Play's" were, I should say most of them, are really, really busy. We run them in Altona, Rosenfeld, and Gretna. Altona, we're looking at probably 7 to 10 families, so that would be 7 to 10 adults with 15 to 18 kids. So 30 people in our space is kind of chaotic. In Rosenfeld, in Rosenfeld, crazy. A couple of years ago, we were debating whether we were going to still have a program because there was no families. This year, we're probably having seven families and 16 or more kids. But probably the biggest highlight is we've brought an oldie but goodie back. We used to do a program, a literacy program called Rock and Read. And it was where you'd come in and you'd make a book for your child. This year, we said, okay, we have a space. Two weeks, literally, we put it together. We had 10 families sign up like that." Becoming an AAFRC Board Member Nina also touched on what they are looking for in new board members, "Basically, if you have a passion for supporting the young families and especially the kids, that are not yet in school, that's what we're looking for. We're looking for somebody with a passion that if you have like, technology experience, if you have PR experience, if you have fundraising experience, policy experience, those are all bonuses. But what it really comes down to is that if you have a passion for helping with the development of the young families in the area, and it's not a lot of time, well, I shouldn't say that because it's as much as you make it. So if you want to be with me like every day, you can. Not that that's needed. But usually we have a board meeting once a month. And then if you're sitting on one of the committees, like the program, fundraising, policy, those kinds of things, you might meet more often. But it's not a huge commitment." 2025 AGM - Oct 14th Nina talked about what you can expect at the 2025 AAFRC AGM which is taking place on October 14th, "Basically, you'll get in a nutshell what we did last year. So our board chair will give kind of an in a nutshell what we all did, what happened regarding training, a little bit touch on programming that. But then each committee will give an update on what happened. So our program committee will give you more of the numbers on how many families we reach, what communities, what programs we covered. There will be a bit of a highlight on what kind of fundraising we did, what PR did with regarding how did we advertise who we were. And of course, there's the all loved numbers because let's face it, a non-profit, all of our money is donated by the community or from different businesses or grants that I write diligently every year, those kinds of things. But then the money that you come in, you can see how it's spent. And we'll showcase those kind of things. I give a bit of an update on some highlights that happened over the year. And yes, but you can see it. And then all the board members are there, more of putting a face to the organization. So then you can come in and ask any questions that you have, if you have any concerns or that you want to see more or less. and snacks!" AGM When & Where When: October 14th, 2025 - 6:00pm Where: At the AAFRC Stay & Play space, 285 5th Ave NE (Basement of Public Health Building) Register: 204-324-2352 OR aafrc1998@gmail.com Enjoy the full conversation between AAFRC Coordinator Nina Edbom-Kehler and CFAM host Zack Driedger below: