Keep Well holds 8 weekly in-person and 2 weekly Zoom exercise classes across the North Shore and members can attend as many free classes as they choose. Our annual membership is $10, and you can join at any time.
Why Memberships?
Keep Well is billed as a free exercise program, based on the organization’s mandate that our exercise classes should be open to all seniors, regardless of their ability to pay. We do not therefore charge anyone to attend the classes, but we have a donation box for an optional donation when you attend a class. We provide a tax-deductible receipt for any one-time donation of $25 or more.
Keep Well is a stand-alone, not-for-profit association and charity, and not part of any of the North Shore municipalities. In order to fund our programs, we apply for grants to the three North Shore municipalities, West Vancouver Foundation, Vancouver Coastal Health and PARC Retirement Living. These grants cover approximately 60% of our expenses. The remaining 40% is funded by individual donations, membership fees and grant applications to private foundations and service clubs. As a member, you also have a say in how our Society is run as you are invited to attend and vote at our Annual General Meeting.
To qualify for funding, and maintain our status as a Charity/NPO we have to provide funding organizations with statistics on the number of members that we have, and on our expenses. Our expenses include:
- Salaries for part-time Fitness Instructors and the part-time Administrator
- Other office administration expenses, such as bookkeeping and accounting, liability insurance
- Office expenses, including telephone, paper and printing
- Office equipment, computers, furniture
- Maintenance of the website
- Exercise equipment and supplies, such as foams and exercise bands
- Volunteer Recognition and Appreciation