The inability to host traditional fundraising events this year has led the Collingwood Kinettes to disband their local service club.
Club president and 40-year member Monika McKean said the decision was not taken lightly, and the eight-member club discussed it thoroughly before ultimately deciding to close.
“Nothing that we currently to do fundraise and work within the community we were able to do at all and we didn’t foresee being able to do it well into next year,” said McKean. “We already had to cancel fundraising efforts as far back as March … we were behind the eight ball because we weren’t even able to do that.”
The group had two options to choose from, fold the club or try to bide their time.
Ultimately, it was the Kin mandate that helped guide them to their decision.
“We had a hard conversation about what it means to be a service organization,” said McKean. The club realized it might be able to cover operating costs with saved money, but that would also mean not meeting donation commitments.
“We were not going to be able to give back to the community,” said McKean. “We didn’t want to pay operating costs but not be able to do what we were there to do.”
With their remaining funds, the Kinettes are making donations in the community.
They gave $3,000 to the Collingwood General and Marine Hospital for a bassinet.
“We can at least go out on a high note,” said McKean. “Thankfully we’re going to be leaving a legacy.”
The bassinet is only a small piece of the legacy of the Collingwood Kinette Club.
The local service organization was chartered 55 years ago on June 11, 1965.
Their fundraising projects have included Diva on a Dime, Kinette cookbooks, yard sales for Cystic Fibrosis, car shows, fashion shows, golf tournaments, TV/radio auctions, and many more. They’ve also been behind several service projects such as National Day of Kindness, Books on Wheels, volunteering at blood donor clinics, Daffodil Days for the Canadian Cancer Society, and the list goes on.
Maybe you were one of the people who got a looney or a free coffee from a Kinette one Februrary for National Day of Kindness.
The Collingwood Kinettes have been the Adopt-A-Road sponsors for High Street from Sixth Street to Poplar Sideroad since the road cleanup program started.
“Just for fun,” they’ve also hosted progressive dinners, mystery weekends, craft auctions, secret sisters and pottery nights.
Their fundraising efforts have supported the hospital, school playground equipment, Collingwood Collegiate Institute productions, Magic of Children in the Arts, local bursaries and endowment funds, Cystic Fibrosis research, Big Brothers and Big Sisters, local sports teams, the Children’s Aid Society, Salvation Army, Hospice Georgian Triangle, Collingwood foodbank, the PeakFM draw, and Relay for Life.
In just the last five years, with a membership ranging from six to eight women, the Collingwood Kinette Club has raised $21,700 for the community and put in just shy of 1,000 community service hours.
“We did an awful lot, amazingly, with a small crew,” said McKean, noting their efforts were supported and helped along by businesses and organizations in the community. “We couldn’t have done what we did in this community without the support of the community.”
McKean said her 40 years in the club has changed her life for the better.
“To me, one of the biggest things this association affords is being able to meet people from all walks of life and from every edge of the country. You always have those friends,” she said.
McKean was introduced to the club by one of her teachers.
“She knew what public speaking did to me – I couldn’t do it,” recalled McKean.
And yet, the once shy teen went on to become president of the club multiple times and also served as governor of the entire district twice.
“Because of this association, and the way we train leaders … we train people to be presenters and business managers … high on my takeaway list is the personal development the association offered me,” she said. “I would never have thought that possible had I not joined Kin.”
It is possible there will be a Collingwood Kinette Club again one day. It happened with the Kinsmen club, which reformed in town last year.
But McKean said she’s going to take some time to relax. A few of the Collingwood clubs newer members are joining area clubs.
“I get really emotional. It’s a long time and it’s a lot of changes everybody has gone through,” said McKean. “It’s sad to see it go, but just like everything, change happens. It may not be what you want to see happen, but it’s gotta happen.”