The Greenwood Military Family Resource Centre (GMFRC) held its annual meeting June 18, marking an important milestone – and ending – after a year of change.
The meeting marked the official transition to the sole governance of the GMFRC Childcare Centre from the re-organization of the GMFRC. Due to legalities and their charitable status, the organization will continue as the GMFRC Childcare Centre at this time. The decision to transfer the bulk of the GMFRC’s programs and services to Military Family Services (MFS), was announced at the last AGM.
“2025 was a significant year for the GMFRC,” said GMFRC board chair Natasha Appoloni. “The staff and board worked diligently to maintain the programs and services that we could, but we continued to find challenges in hiring for an executive director, which led to the transfer of governance of our military and veteran family services and programs to a Non Public Fund entity (Military Family Services).”
“MFS Greenwood has now stood up as an organization and offers the programs and services to families from the same building and offices that we had before, with the same goals of supporting the 14 Wing community through the military lifestyle and beyond.”
The GMFRC officially relinquished its military and veteran programs and services to MFS March 31, while working to ensure the community’s much-needed childcare centre would remain open after the transition.
“Daycare for us is not just a convenience, it’s a critical service for thew. It enables our family members to focus on their duty, knowing that their children are safe and in caring hands, and it also supports our broader community by providing stability and continuity for families,” said 14 Wing Colonel Luc Vachon. “It’s truly important. It directly supports our military family and contributes to the operational readiness of the wing, and this is just essential.”
While the passion and dedication of board members past and present was recognized during the AGM, Appoloni reminded the community the childcare center will continue to be governed by a volunteer board.
“We are always looking to recruit interested volunteers. It is a great way to give back to the community in a purposeful way, whether your child uses the centre or not. We need your help to continue offering and improving upon our programs and services in childcare.”
In the past year, the board assisted GMFRC Childcare Centre executive director Brenda Virtue-Ellis in expanding services to include both full-time and casual spaces. During the AGM, Virtue-Ellis acknowledged possible expansion of the current hybrid program’s hours: while the team strives to accommodate the community’s needs, ratio, licensing and staffing considerations unfortunately prevent the program from expanding at this time. Virtue-Ellis also recognized two childcare centre staff for their longstanding service: Amanda Whaley, five years, and Lorraine Beers, 10 years.
Member-at-large Laura Graham was re-elected for a two-year term during the AGM, in addition to the election of five new members: Erin Boudreau, Allyson Little, Erin McElroy, Jeneva Moxon and Frederique Dugas. The assembly appointed Morse Brewster Lake Chartered Professional Accountants as the independent auditor for the 2025-2026 fiscal year, and voted on to amend the GMFRC by-laws to reflect the recent transition of the GMFRC’s governance structure and ensure important stakeholders in the GMFRC Childcare Centre, such as parents of registered children, are entitled to a vote during the society’s meetings.
