MONTHLY NEWSLETTER - APRIL 2008
APRIL 2008
Come celebrate Earth Day at our General Members' meeting
scheduled for:
Date:
Tuesday, April 22 (Earth Day)
Time: 7pm - 8pm (meet-and-greet beginning at 6:45pm)
Location: Pre-school Rm (2nd flr), Downtown Community Centre, 35 Weber St W, Kitchener (downtown)
This General Member's meeting will be an opportunity for members to meet each other, approve By-Law amendments to foster youth involvement in the co-operative, and provide input on growth plans for the co-operative. As well, by attending you will be eligible to win one of several great door prizes!
APRIL 2008
If your friends have shown interest in joining Grand River CarShare, you should let them know that until the end of April they they will receive a $50 credit for joining and you (as an existing member) will receive a $50 credit for referring them. Carsharing helps us all and helps the planet.
Get the word out about how carsharing allows individuals to make a difference that benefits all of us. Call the office for more information.
OCTOBER 2007
A local ethical investment opportunity!
Beginning October
1st members of Grand River CarShare will once again have the opportunity
to make an investment that will earn them 5% per annum, while
supporting a local business making a social and environmental impact.
Grand River CarShare is making
this investment opportunity available to its members under the authority
of the Ontario Co-operative Corporations Act, which permits co-operatives
to issue debentures to their members.
A minimum
investment of $500 earns a 5% return per annum over a three-year
term, higher than other long term investments (such as GICs) currently
available in the financial sector.
Last year members invested
$8,500 in debentures. This year People's Car aims to increase this
amount by an additional $4,000.
The closing date to purchase
a debenture has been extended from November 30th to December 31 2007 so time is limited!
Should you have any questions,
please contact the office for more details or click here for more information.
SEPTEMBER
2007
People's Car launches its new brand name of Grand River CarShare!
On September 21st People's Car launched its new brand name of Grand River CarShare. See Exciting Times at People's Car for more info.
2007
Annual General Meeting
Each year
Grand River CarShare (formerly People's Car) holds an Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the Co-op
membership. This allows staff and current Board members to report
on the financial standing of the Co-op and the projects on which
we have been working.
This year's AGM will
be taking place:
Date:
Thursday, September 27
Time: 7pm - 9pm
Location: WLU's School of Social Work, 120 Duke St. W. (downtown Kitchener)
The AGM
is also a time for interested Co-op members to be elected to the
Board of Directors. If you have skills in areas such as marketing,
strategic planning, finance, fundraising, legal, communications,
human resource development, etc., then consider joining the Board.
We have Board
"job" descriptions available (e.g. Secretary, Treasurer,
etc.) for review, offer occasional training workshops, and the opportunity
to contribute to this business in a meaningful way.
Interested Co-op members
may nominate themselves or others to the Board by completing a Nominations
Form and submitting it by September 20th. Alternatively Nominations
Forms will be available for completion at the AGM.
If you have any questions
about the "job" descriptions, please contact us.
Please
plan on attending the AGM! There will be snacks, beverages, and
door prizes!
AUGUST
2007
Exciting
Times at People's Car!
I'd like to take a moment to share exciting
news with you as car sharing grows in Waterloo Region.
First
of all, in the coming months, you'll be noticing a change in our
brand from "People's Car" to "Grand River CarShare".
Yes,
it's still us, just with a makeover. By including "CarShare"
in our new identity, we describe our function with ease as we introduce
ourselves to members of the community. The use of Grand River connects
our environmentally conscious service with the area's natural heritage,
in recognition of the watershed we call home. It also reflects the
naming convention of our region as we expand our services.
As
you may have heard already, we are growing beyond Kitchener-Waterloo,
placing our next vehicle in Cambridge! This
tenth vehicle in our fleet is located in Galt, with easy access
to the University of Waterloo's School of Architecture, and Grand
River Transit's Ainslie Terminal. If you are driving to Galt, Paris,
or Brantford, you can shave an hour off your booking by riding the
iXpress bus to the end of the line.
We
hope to see you at our Annual General Meeting (AGM) this September
27th at 7pm at WLU's School of Social Work, as Ontario's first car
sharing organisation heads into its 10th anniversary year.
Jason Hammond
President
JULY 2007
People's Car launches
10th vehicle!
Our tenth vehicle is located
at the University of Waterloo's School of Architecture in Cambridge
(Galt City Centre). The vehicle is easily accessible from the Ainslie
Street Transit Terminal.
FEBRUARY 2007
People's Car launches
9th vehicle!
Our ninth vehicle is located
in close proximity to the intersection of King and University Ave..
The vehicle is easily accessible by the following GRT bus routes:
#7 (C, D, & E), #8, #9, #12, and the iXpress.
DECEMBER
2006
People's Car launches
8th vehicle!
Our eighth vehicle is now located
at Fairview Park Mall thanks to a parking spot donation by Crabby
Joe's Tap & Grill. The vehicle is easily accessible by the
following GRT bus routes: #7, #8, #10, #12, #17, #23, #27, #52,
#110, and the iXpress.
NOVEMBER
2006
Drivers as young as 23 years
now approved!
On October 26th The Co-operators,
our insurance company, lowered the driving age limit for People's
Car members from 25 to 23 years of age. This lower age limit will
now permit younger drivers to take advantage of the benefits associated
with car-sharing!
OCTOBER
2006
A local ethical
investment opportunity!
Beginning October
1st members of People's Car will once again have the opportunity
to make an investment that will earn them 5% per annum, while
supporting a local business making a social and environmental impact.
People's Car is making
this investment opportunity available to its members under the authority
of the Ontario Co-operative Corporations Act, which permits co-operatives
to issue debentures to their members.
A minimum
investment of $500 earns a 5% return per annum over a three-year
term, higher than other long term investments (such as GICs) currently
available in the financial sector.
Last year members invested
$8,500 in debentures. This year People's Car aims to increase this
amount by an additional $4,000.
The closing date to purchase
a debenture is Novemeber 30th so time is limited!
Should you have any questions,
please contact the office for more details.
SEPTEMBER
2006
2006
Annual General Meeting
Each year
People's Car holds an Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the Co-op
membership. This allows staff and current Board members to report
on the financial standing of the Co-op and the projects on which
we have been working.
This year's AGM will
be taking place:
Date:
Wednesday, September 20
Time: 6:45pm - 8:45pm
Location: The James Brown Auditorium, Waterloo Public Library
The AGM
is also a time for interested Co-op members to be elected to the
Board of Directors. If you have skills in areas such as marketing,
strategic planning, finance, fundraising, legal, communications,
human resource development, etc., then consider joining the Board.
We have Board
"job" descriptions available (e.g. Secretary, Treasurer,
etc.) for review, offer occasional training workshops, and the opportunity
to contribute to this business in a meaningful way.
Interested Co-op members
may nominate themselves or others to the Board by completing a Nominations
Form and submitting it by September 15th. Alternatively Nominations
Forms will be available for completion at the AGM.
If you have any questions
about the "job" descriptions, please contact us.
Please
plan on attending the AGM! There will be snacks, beverages, and
door prizes!
JUNE
2006
People's
Car launches new Bike-Share Network
People's
Car has launched a new community initiative called the Bike-Share
Network. The Bike-Share Network is modelled on community bike-share
systems that operate in many European cities. Bicycles (donated
by Recycle-Cycles)
are located throughout the cities of Kitchener-Waterloo and are
free for existing People's Car Co-op members to use. If you are
not currently a co-op member but are interested in using the bicycles
you can join the co-op as a Bike-Share
Member. There is a one-time fully-refundable $20 membership loan
(acts like a security deposit). Once you have joined you too can
use the bicycles for free. Because bicycles are now permitted on
GRT buses (i.e. on the exterior bike racks) we hope that the Bike-Share
Network will make getting around that much more convenient.
APRIL
2006
People's
Car is now a registered GRT ticket agent
People's
Car is now a registered Grand River Transit (GRT) ticket agent.
As such we now sell GRT adult tickets as well
as reduced tickets. We hope that this "complementary"
transportation service will asist our members (as well as the general
public) better meet their transportation needs.
NOVEMBER
2005
Associate
Non-driving Membership launched!
To make
investing in People's Car debentures easier, beginning November
1st membership is also available for non-driving members. For a
membership loan of only $10 (fully refundable) you can now join
as an Associate Non-driving Member. This will enable people who
support car-sharing as a more sustainable mode of transportation
to invest in it and earn a 5% return. For more information about
the debentures see below.
SEPTEMBER 2005
An exclusive ethical
investment opportunity!
The Board of Directors
is pleased to announce an exclusive investment opportunity
for the members of the People’s Car Co-operative Inc.
Beginning
October 1st, you will have the opportunity to make an investment
that will earn you a healthy return - 5% per annum - while
supporting a local business making a social and environmental impact.
Who ever said ethical investments had to earn poor returns?
People’s
Car is structured as a non-profit co-operative enterprise. Every
member has an equal stake in this business and an inherent interest
in helping it succeed. To keep the co-op growing, we need to raise
capital – and we want it to come from our owners/members!
We are
making this investment opportunity available to you under the authority
of the Ontario Co-operative Corporations Act, which permits co-operatives
to issue debentures to their members. This is the first time that
People’s Car has offered debentures but we plan to make this
an annual exercise.
As a
non-profit co-operative, we do not have access to private sources
of capital that traditional corporations do. Currently, our only
capital is in the loans that members make when they join the co-op.
Though these are the equivalent of shares in traditional corporations,
accounting standards require that our financial statements represent
this capital as debt. This makes it difficult to attract financing.
While
we have been able to acquire vehicle loans, and we have convinced
local municipal governments (the City of Kitchener, the City of
Waterloo, and the Region of Waterloo) to extend lines of credit
to us, we want our members to invest in us because:
- We need access to more credit to be able to keep expanding
our membership until we meet our break-even point;
- The interest on our debentures will be more economical for
the Co-op than our lines of credit with local municipalities;
and,
- Having members invest in the Co-op will promote local economic
democracy.
A minimum investment
of $500 earns you a 5% return, far higher than other long term
investments (such as GICs) currently available in the financial
sector. Please contact the office for more details.
SEPTEMBER
2005
People's
Car will be holding its 2005 Annual General Meeting:
Date:
Tuesday, September 20
Time: 7 - 9pm
Location: 43 Queen Street South, Kitchener
Each year
we hold a General Meeting of the Co-op membership. This allows staff
and current Board members to report on the financial standing of
the Co-op and the projects on which we have been working.
If you have skills in areas such as marketing, strategic planning,
finance, fundraising, legal, communications, human resource development,
etc., then consider joining the Board.
We have Board "job"
descriptions available (e.g. secretary, treasurer, etc.) for review,
offer occasional training workshops, and the opportunity to contribute
to this business in a meaningful way. Time commitments of two hours
per month (or more, if involved on any Board committees, e.g. Finance)
are required.
Interested members may
nominate themselves or others to the Board by completing a Nominations
Form and submitting it by September 19th to
info@peoplescar.org or
to our office . Alternatively Nominations Forms will be available
for completion at the AGM.
If you have any questions
about the "job" descriptions, please contact us.
Please
plan on attending the AGM! There will be snacks, beverages, and
door prizes!
MARCH 2005
As a result of an increasing
number of inquiries from Cambridge residents, People's Car Co-op
will be holding an Open House at UW's School of Architecture on:
Date: Wednesday, March
23
Time: 6-9pm
Location: The Loft, 3rd floor, UW School of Architecture,
7 Melville Street South, Cambridge
FEBRUARY
2005
Online
reservations are now available for those members with internet access
- members can now make their own vehicle reservations up to 12 months
in advance! By clicking on the "Reservations"
button and following the easy-to-use steps, members will receive
immediate reservation confirmations!
Vehicle cancellations
and extensions are also available. (Note: for those without internet
access telephone reservations are still provided.)
The $1 vehicle reservation
fee is being waived until April 1 for any reservation made using
the online reservation system. We encourage you to give it a try!
OCTOBER
2004
The People's Car Co-op launches The Transportation Bank, an
interest-free loan program that provides members with an alternative
payment option for the member loan - $400 one driver / $500 two drivers
(note that the member loan is fully refundable on cancellation of
membership). For more information about The Transportation Bank please
contact us.
JULY
2004
The People's Car Co-op awarded $29,953 from
the Government of Canada's Co-operative Development Initiative to
launch PCC's Transportation Bank as well as a feasibility study
for a wheelchair-accessible van as part of PCC's fleet. PCC is also
awarded $5000 from the National Child Benefit Program New Project
Development Fund and $2500 from The United Way.
APRIL
2004
We've added two
brand new 2004 Mitisubishi Lancers to our Fleet!
Visit Mitsubishi
Canada's website to review the features of this excellent vehicle.
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