A good turnout for the Weyburn Wor-Kin Shop's Annual General Meeting on Monday. Reports were heard from Board Chair Lloyd Montgomery, Executive Director Jeff Richards, and Taylor Marcotte of Grant Thornton LLP delivered the Financial Statements and Auditor's Report.

Three service awards were presented as well. Employee Cassidy Leas for five years of service, former board member Denise Guest for 15 years of service, and former board member Deanne Miller Jones for 16 years of service. 

awards(L-R): Cassidy Leas, Denise Guest, Deanne Miller Jones, and Lloyd Montgomery.

Montgomery said in his report that it has been a good year at the Wor-Kin Shop.

"Our leadership team and all staff have done a great job providing a good life for those we serve. I appreciate working with a board of committed people," he shared. "We do our work behind the scenes but try very hard to keep the organization at its best."

He said one of the things they use is a balanced scorecard to keep track of their level of success. For instance, they were able to fully utilize funding from the Ministry of Social Services.

"The Ministry funds us quite well for programming and sometimes, at the end of the year, you go, 'we didn't spend all our money on programming', and it's like, 'well that's the most important thing we do'. So we committed ourselves last year to say we absolutely will spend every cent they give us and we managed to do that and I think we want to do that going forward, because if we don't spend it all, they want it back. And we're not doing anybody any good doing that."

Montgomery noted they used 101 percent of the government funding.

As for participant goals, they were able to achieve 90 percent, with room for improvement. Attendance for the programs the Wor-Kin Shop offers was at 79 percent.

"This has been a struggle over the years. We have worked from many directions, social media, interesting programming, and much more," he said. "We will continue to work on this one review all policies yearly. Our goal is 100 percent and we have met that goal with the help of review by leadership and staff."

SARCAN, he said, is required to process 8 million containers a year in order to maintain their extra large depot status. 

"This provides some. Extra resources from SARCAN. Last year, we processed 8.4 million containers, an excellent job from this staff there. There are a number of other areas we measure regularly to provide the best service we can. Thanks to all the staff for working hard at making reaching the goals."

Montgomery added the Wor-Kin Shop has been a great organization to be part of. 

"I had the pleasure this spring to spend a full day in the building. It was so good to see how smoothly everything works and the smiles and laughter from those we serve." 

"The numbers that we throw out there as objectives, they're just what we think we should be hitting. But it's a good way to see if we think we're getting where we wanted to be, and I think that's very important. 

He said one of the highlights for him was bringing in an honor student artist from the Ontario School of Art, who hosted a painting program with the program participants.

"That was probably one of the most wonderful days I've spent in the organization in a long time. It was just so much fun."

Executive Director Jeff Richards said the Wor-Kin Shop has 40 people including staff and directors. They are approaching being a $2 million organization.

Richards said their goals include improved employee turnover rates, as industry participants in their lifetime can have upwards of 800 to 1,000 different supports. 

He said they continually invest in professional development training, and they are also continually wowed by the support from the community. Businesses, in particular, are supportive of the Wor-Kin Shop by hiring their participants as well as choosing to purchase shredding services, pallets, and Harvest Pies from the Wor-Kin Shop, adding that they aren't doing so out of charity, as their quality products are competitively-priced.