The Big Brothers Big Sisters of Weyburn held their annual general meeting Wednesday evening at the public health building to discuss the organizations past year.

The president's report by outgoing president Jody Larson was read by Big Brothers Big Sisters new president Becky Chapman. It was reported that the organization maintained program stability, but took a financial hit.

"Although 2007 did not see financial growth, the organization continues to seek out new funding opportunities with the persistent goal that growth in this area can be achieved in 2008," said Chapman, reading from Larson's report.

She also reported that Kari Pearce fulfilled the positions of executive director and case worker after a couple of personnel changes. Larson mentioned that she made the decision to step down from her position of president and resigned from the board at the end of 2007 with Chapman moving from vice president to president.

Treasurer Lani Tytlandsvik gave her financial report, where she reported that Big Brothers Big Sisters' income was down for the year, but they made up for it by keeping expenses down. She clarified that, although Larson's report talked about financial problems, Larson looked at the cash flow from fundraisers such as Bowl For Kids Sake and other factors we overlooked.

The budgeted net income was up by $670 mainly due to the proper management of resources, according to Tytlandsvik. In total, income was down $7,745 compared to budget, but the total expenses was lower than the budget by $8,415.

"There were several reasons for the decrease in income for the year, but for the most part, the decrease was due to the lower than expected funding received from the Bowl For Kids Sake fundraiser," Tytlandsvik said.

The budgeted net loss for the year was $2,385, but the organization's actual net loss was $1,716. As of Oct. 31, 2007, they had cash resources in the bank of $12,944.07.

"All in all, the 2006-07 year for Big Brothers Big Sisters of Weyburn was a financial success, which we intend to continue into the 2007-08 fiscal year with hopes of an even greater year," Tytlandsvik said.

Tytlandsvik presented the profit and losses budget for 2007-2008 with a budgeted net loss of $9,792.32. "Hopefully, by some miracle, that doesn't happen," she said.

In the executive directors report by Pearce, she reported that the Traditional and Couples program had five matches at the beginning of 2007. They did, however, have three Bigs move away and a Couples match closed.

Pearce reported that they gained two new volunteers for the Traditional program and currently have one Big and one Couple in process.

She added that their In-School mentoring program was a success with 14 matches in the elementary schools and 12 matches at St. Michael's Junior High.

Pearce's report said that the agency will be focusing on continuing to increase awareness about the agency through public relation activities and initiatives, building up the number of Littles, expanding services to Estevan and maximize the potential of existing venues for funding support.

"I am very confident that 2008 will be a great year for Big Brothers Big Sisters of Weyburn. I believe there will be new partnerships and new sources of funding. This year should prove to be very exciting for our organization," Pierce said.

For the election of officers, Chapman was official elected into the position of president and Lee Ann Odland was elected vice president. They also welcomed Tara Bailey as the new member on the board.