The Snow Lake Emergency Fund (SLEF) has been around for close to three decades and is still one of the most misunderstood groups or endowments within Snow Lake.
That’s likely because people don’t look at, or for, it until they need help, and understandably there are other more pressing things on their minds at that point.
The trust was originally set up in 1985 as the Kris Blake Fund. It was established in order to send the young victim of Cerebral Palsy to New York for an operation that through spinal cord stimulation could eventually provide him the ability to walk.
Approximately $42,000 was raised for that fund and Kris’s resultant operation. Much of that money came from friends and relatives from across Canada, as well as from within Snow Lake.
The cost of Blake’s operation was $27,000, and this left about $15,000 in the Kris Blake Fund.
Rather than disperse the money and close the fund, the administrators felt that it should be kept alive and used whenever a Snow Lake resident in similar circumstances requires it. This was the birth of the present-day Snow Lake Emergency Fund.
Since its inception, there has been money from this fund go toward several transplant operations, as well as travel and lodging costs involved with major surgeries, cancer treatments and sick/premature infants.
The fund has also helped countless others in Snow Lake to the tune of $200 to $500 for travel on short trips, and some longer trips to the states.
SLEF Committee members say that in the last 10 years, the fund has been accessed on about eight different occasions.
The administrators of the fund set it up so there would never be too many hoops to jump through in order to draw from the endowment.
The basic criteria of the fund is that you must be a Snow Lake resident and that it will only cover extended medical expenses.
To receive money from the fund, all that is required is a letter to the committee giving minor personal and health information and explaining the hardship and requirements of it.
Replenished
The fund is replenished by way of fundraisers and at present has close to $15,000 in it.
This includes $1511 in the trust’s main account. There is $6,019 in a fund t-bill and in a t-bill raised expressly for Bryson Foy, there is a further $8,034. This money was raised well over 10 years ago and is earmarked specifically for continuing expenses involved with surgeries and prosthetics Foy will require over the years.
Additionally, several weeks back, member Jill Arpin deposited $6,300 into the main account from the recent community fundraiser; however, that money too has already been allocated.
The SLEF Committee operates under a loosely worded policy that has been handed down since inception. However, all members seem aware that policy and by-laws are an area they need to focus on in order to cover issues such as how membership is chosen.
Rumours abound about a recent feeding frenzy on Facebook over the fund, and when asked what they thought the biggest misconception people have about SLEF, the committee’s answer was quick: the fact that people in the community think they have the right to know who has accessed money from the fund.
“What is said here and is done here is confidential,” said SLEF chairperson Kim Stephen. “When we go out that door, I don’t want to hear another word about what we discussed here tonight.”
Another misconception is that the fund is for people needing diapers, milk or food. Although those are emergencies in many people’s minds, social assistance covers such things. SLEF is for medical emergencies.
Members also note that the fund isn’t always accessed during an emergency. They say some people just aren’t on board with the checks and balances when accessing the fund, and choose to fundraise on their own using a less stringent approach.
Nevertheless, SLEF isn’t about to change; they have to be sure that the money goes for the express purpose it was raised and only that purpose – and if there is any residual money, it goes back into the fund for others in need.
The SLEF Committee consists of Kim Stephen (chair); Darlene Abromovitch (vice-chair); Sharon Stubbs (secretary); Hazel Kitzler (treasurer); and members Brenda Forsyth-Flamand, Jill Arpin, Tammy St. Pierre, Len Abromvitch, Marie Compton, Tammy Leaman, Bill Chudobiak and Jenine Dupont.
My Take on Snow Lake runs Fridays.
Members of the Snow Lake Emergency Fund Committee (from left): Brenda Forsyth-Flamand, Jill Arpin, Hazel Kitzler, Tammy St. Pierre, Kim Stephen, Darlene Abromovitch, Len Abromvitch, Roxane Lamontagne (onlooker) and Sharon Stubbs. Missing are Marie Compton, Tammy Leaman, Bill Chudobiak and Jenine Dupont.
PHOTO BY MARC JACKSON
