Updates from the Board

The Annual General Meeting of Japanese Social Services was held on August 25, 2020. This annual meeting is usually held in June, but due to the pandemic, it was postponed once and was held in a virtual format for the first time. Despite the circumstances, we are happy to report that the meeting proceeded smoothly, with more attendees than in recent years.  
At the AGM, we brought updates and reports from the staff team on our counselling services, programs, and volunteer activities and contributions. These are detailed in separate articles in this newsletter issue. 
The board reported, among other topics about the IT arrangements made to transition staff to work from home and other progress on our website and other communication tools, our strategic planning process for the upcoming years, as well board membership updates. 
Also included in the board presentation was the appointment of Mr Tokugi Suyama to the position of honorary board member of the Japanese Social Services. At age 94, Mr Suyama has been an active member of the Japanese Canadian community and has supported JSS since its inception. His dedication as a board member and in various areas including programs and fundraising was invaluable in allowing us to support the Japanese immigrant and Japanese Canadian communities across Ontario. We are sincerely grateful for his contributions over the past decades.