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President's Letter to the Membership
 Dear Members,
One really challenging year is hopefully behind us. I am happy to inform you that the Chapter was able to put on so many activities despite the many challenges that we have had to overcome this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. I won’t be able to list them all here but will mention a few. In the beginning of the year, our Gala Committee was able to organize the Gala Dinner; our major fundraiser was a very successful event! Great job Gala Committee! Unfortunately, in the summer we had to cancel Family Camp but we helped CHS organize a virtual camp and also organized a gathering of our camp group at the end of August. Thank you Christine for designing the escape room for our virtual camp and organizing a visit with campers in late August!
Through the year, the Twinning Committee worked closely with the Serbian Hemophilia Society to help them execute their first national survey, worked with their women with bleeding disorders group and delivered a successful webinar. Great job Twinning committee! Our help extended to the Bosnian society as well, where help was needed in advocacy efforts to get Hemlibra for patients with inhibitors. It was a successful effort!
At the end of the year we also had a new, innovative and successful fundraiser: Netrunner, an online card game event organized by Eric Keilback, which opened us to the international community of gaming, and showed that our young generation is ready to be involved and is passionate about our cause. Great job Eric and to all that supported it!
The volunteer appreciation event this year was amazing, fun and relaxing! Big thanks go to Volunteer Committee! Also our Education Committee and Aging Committee organized three successful webinars. Thank you! Our Women’s group and Aging Committee met and laid out ambitious action plans for next year! Throughout the year, our Communication Committee and the Board have been working on giving our website a facelift and also worked on the strategic communication plan, all exciting efforts that will show results next year!
One major challenge our community has faced during the pandemic has been the temporary loss of our treatment room at Cancer Care, which has been appropriated by Cancer Care as a result of the increased strain and need caused by coronavirus. We reached out to Cancer Care to ensure our members have access to appropriate space. We are working hard to find the best solutions and minimize the impact on our community. We will be watching closely and advocating that quality of care for patients is maintained and is in line with the Standards of Care.
This is a year to remember and focus on all our successes. Although many challenges came our way we adjusted successfully to the situation because we have an amazing group of passionate volunteers who have worked very hard to overcome these obstacles. We are a resilient and creative group and we will continue to work passionately on delivering the best support and advocacy for people with bleeding disorders in Manitoba. If in need, always feel free to reach out to us as we are here to serve you. I hope to see you in person in the next year and I am wishing you and your family a safe and bleed free year, and Happy Holidays!
Sincerely,
Milena Pirnat
President, CHS-MC
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