> Hello,
> Have any of you formed Community task forces, or coalitions that have =
> been active for more than 1-2 years??  Our community has a task force =
> but the interest of the members has been decreasing and attendance is =
> worsening.  Any ideas for member recruitment or increasing enthusiasm =
> would be appreciated.
>
We have a breastfeeding promotion committee at the municipal level and a
provincial breastfeeding advisory committee at the provincial level, and
they both work well. I would say that what we have found works best is:
    -    keeping the number small enough to be workable
   -    holding regular, monthly meetings and sharing lots by e-mail in
between
    -    developing projects together that all members will support and
encourage (publicity for all the groups represented)
    -    recognizing that not all members can support or contribute to
all projects (we all have constraints, due to the group we represent)
    -     sharing services, to overcome the disparity between volunteer
groups, community-based groups and groups in facilities (e.g. perhaps a
funded agency can provide photocopies for a volunteer organization;
perhaps resources can be purchased through one of the groups
represented, to their benefit)
    -     opportunities to get to know each other as *people* rather
than the groups they represent
    -    lots of trust and support, which includes the assumption that
each person is doing her best with the knowledge she has
    -    being willing to learn from each other, and asking questions
without questioning or challenging in a negative way
    -    sharing strategies for support as well as information-sharing
(for instance, LLL often has good ideas about Leader-to-Leader support,
that can help people who feel isolated in their work places)
    -    sharing ideas about who can refer whom to which group for the
right kind of service or support
Jo-Anne Elder-Gomes, Secretary, Fredericton Breastfeeding Promotion
Committee
(a hat you've never seen on me before; doesn't it fit well?)

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