January was a busy month for the Ranchlands Community Association!
As you have probably heard, the RCA was selected as a round one participant for the ENMAX Community Solar Fund program and we should hopefully have our new solar panels installed by the time you are reading this. Through the City of Calgary and ENMAX, our community association building received 143 solar panels, which is estimated to generate enough power to cover 100% of our annual electricity usage at the hall.
We are so thrilled about this project as not only will it help reduce the carbon footprint of the RCA building but will also help us cut our utility costs which means more money that we can devote to our programs and events.
We were also lucky enough to be selected as a recipient of the ENMAX Energizing Spaces Grant. This funding allowed us to upgrade our rink lighting to high efficiency LED lighting and replace our outdated lighting timer.
A community association exists to serve their community, so the RCA held a series of virtual open houses in January to give our residents a chance to speak to what they want or need. We heard so many fantastic ideas; from a desire for more community artwork to the restart of programs like the toddler play group and games nights (when we’re able to do so safely). We will use the information from the open houses to develop future programming. Thank you to everyone who participated!
If you couldn’t make it to one of the open houses, don’t worry! We are going to have more opportunities coming up soon for residents to share their ideas with the Ranchlands Community Association.
Lastly, on March 22/23, the RCA has a fundraising casino night that we need volunteers for. Casino nights are one of the main sources of income for our community association so it’s incredibly important we get enough volunteers for this. If you, or someone you know, can take a shift, please get in touch with us for more info.
Anita Raffaele
