HKVCA

 

ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

 

TREASURER’S REPORT

 

AUGUST, 2011, GRANBY, QC

 

 

 

 

 

Good Afternoon Everyone:

 

            My name is Barry Mitchell and I am the Treasurer for the National

 

HKVCA as well as the Manitoba HKVCA. I am the son of WG Lieut. Vaughan

 

Mitchell and nephew of WG Lieut. Eric Mitchell, both from Winnipeg and

 

both  buried in Sai Wan Bay Military Cemetery.

 

 

            I have available copies of the audited financial statements for the

 

Hong Kong Veterans Commemorative Association for the year ending

 

December 31, 2010. I would like to read some of those numbers into the

 

records and offer a few comments along the way. Hope you can stay

 

awake.

 

 

            The Commemorative Association operates with 2 bank accounts, a

 

General Account and a Book Account.

 

 

            Each month I prepare a statement for the national executive which

 

shows the status of each account---where the money came from and where

 

the money went---plus a consolidated summary of those accounts to

 

complete a monthly snapshot of our financial position.

            The audited statement I referred to is prepared each year by the

 

Winnipeg accounting firm of Heisinger & Montgomery, and they do so for a

 

very small fee which I doubt covers their expenses. I truly appreciate the

 

service provided by Jim Montgomery as I value the opportunity to have our

 

books examined from the outside.

 

 

I am going to mention a few items in the audited statement for your

 

clarification. I should point out that the drive for funds for our Memorial Wall has been underway for over 3 years and the donations received have had a significant impact on how our financial statements appear. This drive for funds has truly been remarkable. Our first quote to build a wall was $60,000, but once we found out how to properly build a national monument, costs escalated considerably and when all is said and done, we will likely have spent in the neighbourhood of $450,000 to see this beautiful memorial finished.

            I must say, that while it was a lot of work, I am truly amazed and gratified in the way you folks and the public in general, responded in our quest for donations. Over 1,100 individuals sent us a donation with a handful of corporations and government departments playing their role as well. I extend my sincere thanks to all those who helped us bring this dream into reality.

 

 

            However, this is not a report on the Memorial Wall but a statement on

 

the whole operation of the Commemorative Association. The Memorial Wall

 

certainly influences the appearance of the financial statement but will be

 

 reported on separately.

 

 

            First, on the Balance Sheet:

 

 

 

General Account and Book Account now starting to reflect closer to

           our normal levels of activity with the Memorial Wall project starting 

           to wind up  But it also represents the dues collected each year

from members across Canada. On December 31, 2010, we had

 

$36,531 in the General Account and $6,038 in the Book Account.

 

 

 

 

have for sale but also includes videos, crests and grave markers. At

 

the end of the year we had over 300 books in inventory.

 

 

 

 

which is a sizeable decrease over the $173,779 in 2009. This

decrease can be attributed to the winding up of the Memorial Wall    project.

 

 

·                     We have almost no Current Liabilities as we almost always pay cash

     for all our expenditures.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

publish 4 times a year. This is a significant aspect of our

 

communications as we have one national newsletter whereas previously we had various Regional newsletters. Each Region

supplies the Editor with news and information and we are able to

 

print and mail about 1,000 copies to our members four times a year

 

at a total cost of just over $2,600. A growing number of our members now receive the newsletter online and that saves us considerably in both printing costs and postage.

 

 

 

 

 

            In summary, the Commemorative Association has had a good year

 

financially from the standpoint that we have been able to meet all our

 

obligations and pay our bills in a timely fashion. I am referring here to all

 

our activity outside of the Memorial Wall project which as I said  will be

 

reported on separately. We submit a report to the Canada Revenue Agency

 

each year as a Registered Charity and each year we have met our

 

expenditure requirements.

 

 

 

 

            Mr. Secretary, I present to you the December 31, 2010 audited

 

statement for the HKVCA, to be entered into the Minutes of the Annual

 

General Meeting.

 

 

            Barry C. Mitchell

           

National Treasurer

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

HKVCA—Convention Notes—HKVCA –Granby, 2011