Second Vice President
PROGRAMS 2001-2002
Each year the FSCA tries to provide programs to inform, help and entertain our members. We hope that this past year we provided something of interest to each of you. If you have ideas for other activities please contact the office . We need your input to make the FSCA successful.
October 10 marked the 25th Anniversary Celebration of the FSCA. In place of our annual Wine and Cheese to welcome back people coming home from abroad we held a reception on the ninth floor for all members of the foreign service, past and present . For this special occasion we produced an historical timeline showing the accomplishments of the FSCA in each of its 25 years. On October 11 we held another luncheon for all members of the 25 Executive Committees. These two functions were very successful and provided a great opportunity to catch up with many of our alumni members.
On October 25, we held a coffee morning in SERV for returning spouses and partners. This gave us an opportunity to connect with spouses and partners to encourage membership in the FSCA and provide them with information on services available to them through SERV.
The FSCA is now on the checklist of places for new recruits to visit on their initial rounds. The office co-ordinator also briefs the new recruits in small groups on the existence and activities of the FSCA. In order to encourage membership and participation we held a "Pizza at Pearson " party for new recruits on November 14 . This year we had over 70 attend and most of them had already joined or were intending to join the FSCA.
This was the year we started a new support group. It started out to be for foreign-born spouses but we soon realized there was more of a need for a spousal and partner group to be held during the day for spouses wanting to have contact with other spouses for social and informational activities. This group has met three times and plans to set up monthly meetings in the fall. If you are interested in this group please contact the office for more details. The group's name is Spouses and Partners or SAP.
On December 5 we held our annual Christmas dinner. This year it was held at the Chateau Cartier in Aylmer. We had dance music, a lovely dinner and door prizes. We hope you will keep this activity in mind for next Christmas and plan to join us.
Also in December we held our annual Christmas Craft and Bake Sale. This is held to encourage our artist members and dependants who make crafts at home to sell. It is always well received by the department. A percentage of the sales goes to the Shepherds of Good Hope in Ottawa to support their Christmas program and last year we were able to donate $750.
In March, we spent three days selling daffodils for the Cancer Society in advance of their regular campaign. This year we had sales at DFAIT , old city hall and Bisson. We managed to sell $3.416 worth B the largest pre-sale of any government office, according to the Cancer Society.
The beginning of April we held our Enterprise Fair for two days in the lobby outside the cafeteria. This is a fair for members, spouses or dependants to advertise their home-based businesses. It is a great opportunity to get word out that your services are available. Each year the number of participants increases. This year we had thirteen entrepreneurs who were all very pleased with the interest shown by the workers in DFAIT.
April 16,17 and18 we held our annual Art Exhibition. It was a huge success with over 220 people attending the opening (including ministers Pettigrew and Kilgour) on the hottest day this spring! The show was made up of diverse works from thirty-two artists. The next two mornings we served coffee and muffins to members of DFAIT who came to visit the exhibition on their morning break.
This year's activities are wrapping up with our AGM on June 13. We decided on an International Pot Luck Dinner to follow the formal meeting. We will be electing our new executive for next year and hope to have a good turnout. Please plan to attend and contact me Dorothy Johnson at 745-1105 to let me know what you can contribute to the dinner.
As you can see we have had a busy year. I would like to personally and on behalf of the executive thank all of you who volunteered and participated in these activities. We cannot run the FSCA without the help of our members. We need you!! If you have any particular area of interest or any time to contribute please contact the office.
Have a great summer !
Dorothy Johnson
Second Vice President / Hospitality