This year, The Blue Mountain Watershed Trust was awarded a grant from the Canada Summer Jobs programme, a federal initiative intended to facilitate meaningful employment experiences for youth under 30. Our successful candidate, McKay Barr made a significant contribution to Marketing and Communications for the Trust. He writes, “This past summer was an eye-opening experience into the world of charities and local activism. During my time at the Trust I was involved in multiple projects ranging from social media marketing efforts to helping run the Be The Change Summer Series. When it came to helping with social media, my goal was to reach more of the community with educational posts, so that they could gain value and easily understand the work that the Trust does to protect our region. It was a great success with increases in Facebook and Instagram visits way over 100%.”
McKay greatly assisted in extending the Be The Change Film Series into the summer, adding new sponsors and allowing us to host two entertaining and educational nights of movies under the stars at the Collingwood Brewery, and in updating the A-V system allowing for a greatly improved display. The film series was a resounding success, with both events virtually sold out, and yielding a small profit for the BMWTF.
McKay also provided an insightful SWOT analysis for the Board of Directors to consider during our Strategic Plan update this Fall, and he continues to do our social media communications.