As the globe dealt with COVID, businesses closed their doors in order to flatten the curve. Branch 29 was no exception. On March 17th we closed temporarily our doors looking forward to the day we could re-open. One month later, almost to the day, a pipe burst upstairs and our canteen flooded. Fortunately we were doing regular inspections. That helped limit some of the damage. Still the damage was significant and we knew as the rest of British Columbia gradually opened their doors, we would still be dealing with flood mitigation.

However challenging this is, there are new opportunities. We will gradually bring parts of our lovely old building up to code. We uncovered a place where decades ago, a window once had been. We will be putting a window back in. Our duct-taped emergency door will be replaced and we will have more energy efficient lighting in the part of the building. Of course not all of this is covered by insurance, especially renovations required because of COVID. We have begun a fund raising campaign to help with the deficiencies. Our community as always has been very generous. We need $11,000 to cover our expected costs and as of June 1st, 2020, we are half way there.