Messages from our President & our General Manager
A Message from our President
Dear Vancouver Club community,
In light of recent provincial announcements, we, like you, are longing to re-engage with our member community, and we understand that you may have questions regarding the reopening of our Club. While we realize some businesses began reopening their doors this week, our priority is protecting the health and safety of our members, while mitigating the risks of a rushed return. Your board and management are taking a thoughtful and conscientious approach to reopening in tandem with seeing the Club through a long term plan.
Throughout the closure and as we move into restarting operations, our General Manager Philip Ireland has been meeting with your Board of Directors and Finance Committee twice weekly to plan the reopening of our dear club in a COVID-19 world. With careful consideration of WorkSafeBC guidelines in mind, he and his management team are preparing a reopening strategy for the board’s input and we will update members on our plan in the coming weeks. In the meantime, I encourage you to take part in our virtual events and take-out meal programmes which have been hugely successful.
I will finish with heartfelt gratitude for the continued support of our Club; membership dues remain at 95% and our successful take out program has been and continues to be vital. Thank you for supporting our Employee Food Care Programme, these packages continue to bring a gesture of love and support to our staff members and their families.
We are our best together. We are The Vancouver Club.
Sincerely,
Stephanie Burns Staiano
The Vancouver Club President
Read our ongoing communication:
Caring for our Employees
On the days we deliver food care packages, our employees send me pictures of themselves, their partners, their families. In these grinning snapshots, the contents of a box are being joyfully emptied. The box itself is white, well-proportioned, and bears the letters VC. It will be familiar to our members, who have so widely supported our programme of “Take-Out or Delivery.”
The box is the medium, and the medium is the message.
We are conscious of our branding, but the gesture is more about who we are. I have always felt that when you enter the doors of 915 West Hastings Street you become your best self. Having dignity, the Club dignifies. This is as true for our staff as it is for our members.
Last week, members of our Board of Directors loaded up their cars and drove off to deliver our employee food care boxes. Soon enough, front door portraits of our serving staff being served came flooding in. They tell a story of human solidarity, of loving reciprocity.
For now, the Club’s doors are closed, but let us continue to strive to be our best selves. For as long as needed, let us continue to send the following message to our furloughed staff:
You belong.
If, as a member, you would like to add your voice to those who are already funding the Employee Food Care Programme, suggested donations range from $100 to $250, $1,000, or more. Your contribution will count toward your Minimum Food Spend.
If you would like to contribute, please email our accounting team at accounting@vancouverclub.ca
Sincerely,
Philip Ireland
General Manager & COO