2015 AGM: Spreading Christmas cheer in June

Written by Admin, published on July 7, 2015 Donate Today

Christmas trees, turkey dinner, reindeer and caroling in June!? Our amazing supporters make every day feel like Christmas, so we thought, why not celebrate year-round?

More than 80 donors, board members, staff and friends of Operation Eyesight gathered at the Delta Calgary South Hotel on June 25 for our “Halfway to Christmas Party” and Annual General Meeting. It was a fun evening filled with inspiring stories and updates, a delicious holiday meal, lots of Christmas cheer and, best of all, great company!

We were especially pleased to have three of Art Jenkyns’ children, Tom (left), Linda (middle) and Arleigh (right), join us for the occasion. They posed for a quick photo with “Santa Claus.” Art founded Operation Eyesight in 1963 here in Calgary, and we’re so grateful for the Jenkyns family’s ongoing support! [Photo by A. Sabir.]
Holiday Harmony a-cappella group kicked off the evening with Christmas carols, getting everyone into the holiday spirit. Santa Claus couldn’t make it to the event, but we were fortunate to have Brian Foster, our Executive Director, fill in for him as emcee.

Special thanks to Holiday Harmony for helping us spread some Christmas cheer! [Photo by S. Zheng.]
Our international staff and partners were also with us in spirit; many of them sent along special video messages to say thank you and wish us all a merry Christmas.

Sophia Langlois, Vice-Chair of the Board of Directors, facilitated the board meeting portion of the evening. She shared highlights of our work in 2014 – a financially strong year, filled with rejuvenation, reconnection and renewal. (Check out our 2014 Report to Donors for more information.)

We’d like to thank Sonya (far left), Namrata (second from the right) and Maggie (far right) for their special presentation about “Youth for Operation Eyesight.” We’d also like to thank Sisi (second from the left) for volunteering as our event photographer. [This photo by A. Sabir.]
We enjoyed a presentation from Maggie Wang, Namrata Sharma and Sonya Soh, members of our new youth club, “Youth for Operation Eyesight.” Susan Deike, our Senior Philanthropy Officer, also shared stories of legacy donors who cared deeply about our work.

We treasure all of our donors, and we head into the coming years healthy, optimistic and proud of the great work we’ve accomplished together!

We’re especially grateful for our generous sponsors who made our “Halfway to Christmas Party” possible:

  • Active Accounting;
  • Collis Insurance;
  • Data Group;
  • EBI Group Benefits;
  • Greg McKernan Graphic Design;
  • HCB Canada;
  • MNP LLP;
  • Servantage;
  • Sure Systems;
  • Topline Printing; and
  • Western Union Business Solutions.

 

We would like to thank all of our friends and supporters – in Canada and across the world – for making every day feel special. On behalf of all of us at Operation Eyesight, thank you for an incredible 2014… and merry Christmas! We hope you will help us keep the spirit of giving going all year-round.