The Centre D'Action Bénévole de Cowansville’s (CAB Cowansville) story begins in 1973 at the kitchen table of Mrs. Anna Goëttel, an active member of the community and a widow with five children. 

It was at this very table, which served as her office for a period of time, that Goëttel started to create the non-profit organization. 

In its early beginnings, Goëttel brought together a group of volunteers that set up a food bank, a service to help young mothers, and “friendships visits” to help break isolation amongst seniors.

According to executive director of the CAB Cowansville Nathalia Guerrero Vélez, the organization also participated in the foundation of Maison Horizon Pour Elle; a shelter for women experiencing conjugal violence.

Celebrating its 50th anniversary this year, the organization’s services continued to expand and it’s always finding different ways to meet the needs of the community. 

At a press conference yesterday, the CAB Cowansville marked its 50 years with the launch of a fundraising campaign for a new expansion project that will help it do just that. 

“I am just so proud to work with our many volunteers here in Cowansville. They do an amazing job and I am proud to be a part of this. They save lives as well and do very important things. You know, accompanying someone to a medical appointment is something that is essential and fundamental. I really believe in the importance of what we do,” said Nathalia Guerrero Vélez, executive director of the CAB Cowansville.

Five decades after its foundation, volunteers at the CAB Cowansville continue to make a difference in their communities by using their free time to help offer certain services, such as medical appointment transport support, errand transport support,  information services for seniors and caregivers, and an income tax clinic. 

“This team of volunteers is amazing. They really help low-income people who maybe could not access this service any other way. Yearly, they are doing more than 1000 (income tax) reports. (…) We have these direct services, but we also recruit volunteers for other organizations. One of the most important things that we do is that people that want to do something, people who want to be helpful in the community, they come to us and we help them find the right place because it’s not always here,” explained Guerrero Vélez. 

When asked to highlight a moment of triumph or a challenging time that the organization overcame during her time as executive director, Guerrero Vélez emphasized that the pandemic was something “major” for the CAB Cowansville.

“We had to drastically, and very quickly, change our procedures and the way we’d been doing things. We were quite quick and we were quite good at it. I’m really proud that, together, we did it,” mentioned Guerrero Vélez. “I think this is an important moment. Last year, the Chamber of Commerce of Brome-Missisquoi awarded us with the ‘Resilience Prize.’ That was quite an honour for us because it really highlighted precisely this effort.”

Guerrero Vélez added that now, more than ever, "we are close to the community, to people in need." 

Guerrero Vélez explained that while there was a lot of pressure on the CAB Cowansville at the start of the pandemic, the demand for its services has only grown, particularly when it comes to the food bank and medical appointment transport.

“The needs are huge from what we are seeing, they are unprecedented. A few weeks ago and a few months ago, we started to see articles appearing in the media of Bank Alimentaire Quebec saying that the needs are unprecedented, so it’s quite something,” she said. 

This is why the organization wanted to announce a major project that its been working on for its 50th anniversary, Guerrero Vélez told CIDI. 

“The food bank does not take place here in our building because we have just a small house with not a lot of space. (…) We developed this project that we think will benefit the whole community,” explained Guerrero Vélez. “The idea is to bring the food bank here. We’re working with another organization la Cellule Jeunes et Familles de Brome-Missisquoi (The Cellule). We are unifying our food bank to meet these unprecedented needs.”

With counsellors on the Cellule team, the collaboration will also help address the different needs of those that rely on CAB Cowansville’s food bank and the Cellule’s emergency food bank that go beyond just food insecurity. 

Hoping to have an equipped kitchen, the expansion will allow volunteers do more food transformation as a part of the “Antigaspillage Project,” community meals, and collective kitchens. 

The new space can also serve as a place for conferences, trainings, ateliers, coffee meet-and-greets, and much more.

To bring this project to life, the CAB Cowansville is depending on community support. It has launched a fundraising campaign with the goal of raising $275,000. 

“It will be a project where people with disabilities can access, it will offer universal access. (…) It will be an ideal place for young people to come to start volunteering, get engaged, and start contributing. We have a lot of hope in this project and we need the community to make it happen,” said Guerrero Vélez.

For more information on the CAB Cowansville, to get involved, or for more information on the expansion project click here.