I have spent the last couple of days answering many of your questions around membership. It got me thinking about what membership means to me, to us, to others.
What does membership mean to the association?
Membership means we have a dedicated collective of individuals who come from the same community and want the same thing. In our case the community is Ram Alumni and what we strive for together is bettering the Sir Wilfrid Laurier high school experience for students now and in the future.
The membership fee is a way to build a fund to cover association administration expenses, like website hosting, incorporation, insurance, etc. and more importantly to give the majority to the student programs, teams and clubs that need help the most.*
So while it’s $50 individually, it could be $25,000 if we meet our Chair’s goal of 500 members by the end of December.
This would be a great start for the association and its capacity to support the school. Can you imagine how many bake sales, silent auctions and small fundraising events it would take to achieve the same? Way too many and taking so much more effort and time.
What does membership mean to me?
Membership means I am joining with my peers to make a difference in our community (even as a Lion and not a Ram, lol). Together our support of time and/or money will have a positive impact without a doubt.
The school and the students are already feeling it - as alumni have come out in droves to cheer on the teams and join the Facebook group this fall. The fact that 1.1k alumni joined the group in just a few short weeks is inspiring to say the least.
What does membership mean to the students?
The association is a group of cheerleaders, mentors, and resources the students can look to. Plain and simple, it means there is a community behind them that believes in them, that has their back in helping them succeed.
When I asked Jamie Calwill (our Chair) for a quote of what membership meant to him - I asked him for a sentence or two. But like the rest of this, he had more to say; starting this association has truly become dear to us.
It has given me (Jamie) the opportunity to reconnect with so many people that I haven’t seen in 30+ years. It gives us a chance to give back in a way that helps alleviate the growing costs associated with being a student; this is wrong in so many ways, and most likely deters many current Rams from playing sports or joining various clubs the school has to offer. It is my goal or mission so to speak that all students can join in any program and have the same advantages as I had to ensure I could succeed while attending Laurier.
The time is now, the school has existed for 55 years, this Rams for Life Alumni Association is long overdue, let’s stand up, be heard and join as members for the Rams of today and tomorrow. They can only succeed if we succeed in growing our association to its fullest potential. Thank you and let’s IRON EM OUT.
To sum it up… This small committee that started this journey, cannot do it without you. We need you, we need all of you. We got this if we work together. We will be champions of high school alumni associations. We will set the bar, the standard that others will want to reach. Let's do this. Spread the word. Join today at https://www.ramsforlife.ca/howyoucanhelp *The association will be a transparent volunteer run not for profit that will be accountable for the dollars raised and the dollars spent. Alumni Members will have opportunities to provide input and will be informed continuously along the way. If you have any questions, please contact info@ramsforlife.com
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