Even in times like these, when group meetings are impossible and the COVID-19 pandemic continues to weigh on society in general, the Friendly City Optimist Club of Moose Jaw just finds a way to keep on keeping on.
Regular meetings are being held and donations are being made.
But there are some major differences – and a very large hole in their future plans.
One change is how those meetings are taking place. Like almost everyone holding group gatherings these days, the Optimist Club is meeting through the Zoom app, offering their members a chance to meet ‘face to face,' to a certain extent.
“They’ve been going really good; everyone gets on Zoom and we discuss things,” said longtime Optimist member Lloyd Pethick. “The thing is, not meeting person-to-person is a difficult thing, since we’re a fairly close group. But other than that it’s the best we can do.”
What hasn’t changed is their dedication to the community and their charitable acts. That includes a recent donation to the Moose Jaw & District Food Bank as well as a handful of scholarships that are donated to local high schools on an annual basis.
While the Optimists have a decent nest egg to draw from, the club is still being careful in these difficult times, most likely opting to focus on donations to organizations in need in the future.
That’s because, like every other organization that relies on fundraisers, they find themselves with a bit of a hole in their schedule.
Well known for hosting barbecues at major events during the spring and summer, the Optimist Club now finds itself with a whole slate of cancelled events instead of planning delicious feasts.
“Usually on July 1 we have the barbecue in the park, then we have barbecue out at 15 Wing during the car show, and we usually do work at the WDM for the barbecue there, but those are all cancelled so there’s not much we can do about that,” Pethick said.
The plan going forward will be to simply maintain the status quo and hope things change for the positive in the near future.
And yes, the club is optimistic that will happen.
“We’ll carry on as we are and just hope for the best,” Pethick said.
