Our guest speaker, Greig Clark, has an interesting story, some of which he will share with us on Sunday. But to fill out his story a little more, let me tell you that Greig and his wife, Carolyn, are members of Fairlawn United Church. Beginning with one College Pro Painters in Thunder Bay in 1977, he expanded to 600 franchises across Canada. After selling his business in 1989 at age 37, he and his family took a sabbatical year in France. Living in Aix en Provence, he studied French history and politics (and red wine) at the university.
So what does a 38 year old “retired” businessman do next? Well, Greig has set up a venture capital fund to bring resources of capital and expertise to small early stage Canadian growth companies (Horatio Enterprise Fund http://verdegroup.ca/default.asp?action=article&ID=45). He offers himself as an advisory board specialist for entrepreneurs, and writes a regular column on entrepreneurial issues for Profit magazine (http://freemagazine.ws/publication/1299/profit-magazine/?gclid=CJSC3PDjuaECFYp95Qodv3gA_Q).
And what does an entrepreneurial businessman do in his spare time? He joined the board of the Christian Resource Center (http://www.tcrc.ca/). Founded by Rosedale United Church in 1965, CRC supports homeless and marginalized people of Regent Park focusing on “helping them to help themselves.” As chair of the board, Greig has nurtured a $20 million revitalization project as part of a $1 billion venture (http://www.tcrc.ca/index.cfm?DocID=10502). When I asked Greig how many hours his volunteer work took each week, he responded, “Oh, about 35-40 hours.” He clearly lives his favorite quotation, “to do what you love, and feel that it matters, what could be more fun” (Katherine Graham, Publisher, Washington Post).
I’m looking forward to hearing more of Greig’s story on Sunday. See you then!
Shalom,
Abigail
The Voice of Christian Resource Center
Housing: CRC operates under the understanding that housing is not an option; it is a right for all. Without housing it is almost impossible to live out one's goals. With this understanding, we operate.
Food: Food is necessary for life. In a country like ours no one should go hungry. We understand that there are many reasons why people are hungry. While being part of coalitions that try to make food security an issue at governmental levels, we also look to addressing people's immediate needs. We:
- Operate a drop-in to feed on average 150 people daily with a freshly cooked lunch and a light breakfast
- Oversee three (3) community gardens in Regent Park where people can grow their own food
- Operate a volunteer-driven weekly fruit and vegetable market from April to November
- Operate a food delivery service to provide less expensive produce to local agencies with food programs
- Operate a small catering business (Sunshine Multicultural Catering) that serves agencies and social functions in the area
Regent Park Community Ministries
The Christian Resource Centre, its genesis in the United Church of Canada, has always nurtured a faith component in the midst of its busy-ness of addressing poverty issues. At the heart of 40 Oak Street is a congregation that meets quietly, fervently and faithfully on Sunday morning to pray and reflect on faith, God and justice. This congregation, through its individual members, is not quiet during the week, however, as each in their own way is spurred to action in city-wide and local endeavours that demand responses from us when justice is at risk. The congregation meets at 11:15 a.m.
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