Dismay expressed over council’s decision to not support event
To the Expositor:
Re: The July 12, 2023 article ‘Mindemoya businessman takes it upon himself to raise funds for Lions’ Homecoming Weekend,’ Page 30.
Thank you to all those businesses and individuals that stepped up to support this significant community event in Central Manitoulin. It’s unfortunate that some members of the Municipality of Central Manitoulin Council felt that the Central Manitoulin’s Lions Club request for financial assistance ($2,500) to host this significant event was unworthy of their support. Much planning and organizing go into making these community events happen. It takes a significant amount of volunteer hours, before, during and after to organize such a major community event. A key role of municipal government is to showcase and promote its community(ies) and the municipality. This event did exactly that! Failing to support this event with the requested small donation because it was perceived that the request “came in too late” and “should have been received sooner” is a poor excuse for not supporting such a significant volunteer-driven event. Surely that can’t be the sole reason this community donation wasn’t supported? Perhaps the message Central Manitoulin council is trying to send to its volunteers is, “we support you, but on our timeline?”
I’m proud that our local businesses and individuals recognize the valuable work of the Central Manitoulin Lions Club, when the Municipality of Central Manitoulin failed to.
In the interest of full transparency, I am not a Lions Club member, I did volunteer at this event when asked to, and I financially contributed to this great cause and community event.
Steve Shaffer
Mindemoya
