Forced to find a new home, Woolwich Community Services will be turning to the public this fall to help raise the money needed to fund the move.
The busy organization is now looking for a location that will provide more space, with greater accessibility for staff and clients.
![Sandy Shantz is the fundraising chair of “Sometimes …” the fundraising campaign set to raise $1 million for Woolwich Community Services’ new location. [elena maystruk / the observer]](https://www.observerxtra.com/content/images/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/post_wcs1.jpg)
“They are looking specifically to build a new facility that will house their administration, the thrift store and the food bank,” fundraising chair Sandy Shantz said this week, noting larger quarters are long overdue.
“It gives them a little more room to operate. They are operating in very cramped quarters right now and have done so for a long time. They really do more with less,” said Shantz in a July 16 interview.
All of the services currently operated out of the 73 Arthur St. S. resource centre will be moved to a new location to be announced shortly, explained WCS executive director Don Harloff.
The current WCS facility was sold as part of the deal for the old township hall, forcing the organization to relocate. Shantz said the sale of the land provided an opportunity to find more suitable premises.
The fundraising project dubbed “Sometimes…” is currently in the “quiet phase,” Shantz said. The goal of the campaign management team – Shantz, deputy chair Darcy Krahn, Brad Martin, Chris Adams and WCS employee Leigh-Anne Quinn – is to spread the word in Woolwich. The target is $1 million for the move that will bring more confidential spaces and much needed parking for WCS clientele.
Staff wanted to create a team of community leaders to take on the fundraising project. A chairperson and trustee for the Waterloo Regional District School Board for six years and a former Woolwich councillor, Shantz was an ideal candidate, said Harloff, who’s working on finalizing an offer for a new site.
“We are right down to the wire on negotiating,” he said.
“Sandy was at the top of our list. She’s had a lot of experience in a leadership capacity, both through local government and also through the school board.”
Shantz said leading a fundraising campaign is a new experience, but she is happy to be a part of the process.
“Woolwich Community Services does very good work and they reach so many people. They reach out to over 6,000 people a year and that’s significant work in the township.”
Some of the fundraising will also go towards covering the cost of the organization, Campaign Coaches, that assisted with fundraising efforts for the Woolwich Memorial Centre. They will help the team with organizational tasks in the coming months of the campaign. Fundraising in the community is scheduled to start this fall with a goal of raising the money by spring 2014.
