Edmonton Sun columnist - Marty Forbes!
The bitter reality of running a public service agency is that it is expensive, very expensive to operate.
And just because you are helping others doesn't mean you get a break on costs.
Rent, power, phones, parking all cost the same as for profit businesses and those costs eat up a great deal of money that could flow to groups that offer much needed assistance to people in our city.
Add in the fact that Edmonton's downtown is reshaping itself and often displacing many groups from their base of operation and the fact that parking costs are rising steeply you can see it's a very challenging time for agencies.
So it's a good time to officially announce that the Jerry Forbes Centre for Community Service will officially open one year from now.
Personally it's nearly impossible to describe the honour of having a building of this ilk named after your late Father a full 37 years after he passed away. Long time Edmontonian's likely have heard Dad's voicing of 'A Creature was Stirring' that airs each Christmas on 630 CHED which was produced as a tribute to the thousands of people who volunteer for Santas Anonymous annually that Dad started in the mid 1950's.
To highlight, the Jerry Forbes Centre is a 93,000 ft² office/warehouse which will provide affordable office and warehouse space to over 25 non-profit organizations in Edmonton.
The Centre, located at 12122 68 Street NE, is primarily designed for the administration of charities and training of staff and volunteers for outreach into the community.
The facility will include state-of-the art Boardroom/classrooms, meeting rooms, and event spaces.
It's one location sharing the costs of 25 groups; no parking charges; synergy of operations; sharing of resources/knowledge; a safe and technically up to date and comfortable place to operate an agency as well as a wonderful place to give back to the community.
Since the Jerry Forbes Centre Foundation owns the building charities will not pay any base rent and will only pay for their share of the costs of operating the Centre. It's a template that makes so much sense.
Santas Anonymous was first in last year but the Jerry Forbes Centre will officially open its door to charities as of July 1, 2018.
If your public service group is looking for a state of the art home now is the time to make a call as JFC is in the renovation stage and there are openings in the building.
For further information or to complete an application for tenancy please visit jerryforbescentre.ca or contact Max Scharfenberger at maxs@jerryforbescentre.ca 780-686-1449.
If you'd like to financially support the JFC full information can be found at jerrryforescentre.ca - and there's a Facebook site, as well as Twitter and Instagram sites @JerryForbesCntr
Contact information:
Max Scharfenberger
Executive DirectorJerry Forbes Centre Foundation
maxs@jerryforbescentre.ca
780-686-1449
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Contact the writer:
Marty Forbes
mforbes07@shaw.ca
780 905 7860
Executive DirectorJerry Forbes Centre Foundation
maxs@jerryforbescentre.ca
780-686-1449
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Contact the writer:
Marty Forbes
mforbes07@shaw.ca
780 905 7860
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