Shakeup at Fredericton food bank leads to almost entirely new board
Greener Village's incoming president was holding back tears as he talked about the progress the Fredericton food bank has made over the years since it began serving clients out of a small basement window on Grandame Street.
"Here it's such a wonderful and friendly space, you actually get to know the people, their stories — that's what does it," Ken Little said Monday at the food bank's current home on Riverside Drive, after a new board of directors was announced.
"I really believe in it."
The shakeup on the Greener Village board follows months of low morale among some longtime volunteers and donors.
- Mysterious moves at Fredericton food bank sap trust of supporters
- Head of Fredericton food bank fired after 'internal decision': board chair
Little is one of eight new members of the board of the city's main food bank, also known as Fredericton Community Services Inc.
The previous board was made up entirely of members of the Seventh Day Adventist Church, and only two of them will remain.
The Seventh Day Adventist Church founded the food bank, but for most of its existence it had a mixture of church and non-church members on its board.
In late 2016, however, the Green Village directors decided to enforce a bylaw that was on the books but not being followed, stipulating all board members must also be members of the church.
The recent board included six people from three families.
The board's strict enforcement of the bylaw began shortly before the firing of longtime executive director Elizabeth Crawford-Thurber in June, which demoralized and upset many food bank volunteers and supporters, some of whom eventually abandoned the food bank.
The reasons for her firing were never explained to the public.
Little, who doesn't belong to the Seventh Day Adventist Church, played down the dissatisfaction over the loss of Crawford-Thurber and the way things have been run since.
"There were a few volunteers that got dissatisfied and left, but 95 per cent of everybody hasn't blinked," said Little, who doesn't belong to the Seventh Day Adventist Church.
The restrictive bylaw was recently dropped, and Greener Village issued an appeal for community members to sit on the board.
"The organization hasn't lost any momentum and hopefully the public stays with us," Little said.
Although he said Crawford-Thurber "put everything she had" into the organization, she won't be returning to the food bank. He shares some of her ideas, however.
"My vision is to teach these clients how to eat healthy … at a much, much lower cost," said Little, a former vice-president of NB Power.
Changes in the works
Little served as a volunteer with Greener Village for 13 years and was also part of the recent selection committee for incoming board members.
He said they will be in their official roles by Jan. 1 and will meet soon after to go over their mandates.
Two existing members will serve in 2018 to "help transition to the new community-based governance structure."
"They've both worked for more than a decade around the board level," he said. "I personally would not have taken the role as chairman without having some continuity."
The New Maryland resident said he was impressed by the wide range of skills, from social media to business skills, offered by the new board members, most of whom also have experience on boards.
What's next for Greener Village
But Little said there's a lot of work to be done in the next six months, including making decisions about the executive director position.
Alex Boyd, the interim executive director and former president of the board of directors, said earlier that he won't stay on at Green Village after his contract expires Jan. 31
He would not comment Monday on the new board, but Little indicated he wanted Boyd to stay on for a while.
"In my view I think we'll extend that contract a bit so we have time to get our feet under us," Little said.
The board also plans on updating Greener Village's vision and business plans and the execution of its strategy.
"We are also trying to involve more community members," he said.
Members of the community, as well as the board members, are part of the corporate membership and elect the board of directors.
Little said he's hoping for a total of 30 people in the community to volunteer for the corporate level of the food bank, offering different skill sets and a passion for Greener Village.
Little said he found out he would be president of the board on Sunday during an annual general meeting, which was only open to members of the corporation.
He said he hopes to continue expanding the vision of Crawford Thurber and the previous board.
"To actually move away from just giving away free food and clothing to actually helping people learn how to help themselves," he said.
