Frigo Vert Has a Healthy New BoD

Co-op Elects Directors to Help Find New Location

NewsAndrew Brennan — Published November 15, 2012

Le Frigo Vert has a new board of directors after a unanimous vote at its annual general meeting on Wednesday evening—and unlike years past, they were able to announce a surplus to work with.

Max Roy, Tara McGowan-Ross, Hilary King, Sarah Wang, Lucy Marshall-Kiparissis and Craig Richard will join Skylar Nagao, the sole remaining board member from last year.

“There’s not much I can do against most kinds of oppression, but the few things I know how to do can really help,” affirmed Roy.

McGowan-Ross echoed the enthusiasm, saying she hopes to expand the workshop program, especially the anti-oppression food-based workshops, which Frigo Vert puts on throughout the school year.

“I think it’s a really important thing that doesn’t get addressed enough and I’m excited to be a part of it to make it a lot better,” she said.

A not-for-profit co-op, Le Frigo Vert received an increased fee levy of 33 cents per credit from undergraduate students last year—up from 25 cents per credit—and is also hoping to find a more adequate retail space.

The added revenues from the fee levy increases, which are expected to add over $90,000 this year to le Frigo’s coffers, will help alleviate financial strain on the co-op, according to collective member Rachel Tremblay.

“We have stayed relatively balanced, but its been—for me—a good five to seven years of cutting budgets every year,” she explained. “So over that time, we had a building fund that we had to unfreeze and [use].”

With the added monies, the proposed budget for 2012-2013 includes a planned net surplus of $42,897, which will be used to establish a new building fund, according to Frigo Vert annual budget statements.

The not-for-profit will decide next year if it will continue devoting so much of its income towards the building fund, according to Tremblay.

“We’re going to take a look at if we want to put that away every year in order to buy a space sooner,” she said. “Do we want to keep the deep cuts for a little longer in order to be a bit more sustainable? The space we have now is a big issue for us.”

As they look for a new location, Tremblay says they don’t want to forget about what they already provide to students.

“We’re trying to keep the main services that students are interested in running. That’s why we’re not expanding too fast–we’re trying to keep wait times not too long when students come in. ”