Manitoba Farmers With Disabilities Shutting Down

Manitoba Farmers With Disabilities is in the process of winding down the organization.

Chairperson Dawn Minne says they made the decision at their AGM last fall, due to a decline in membership.

"We had our annual meeting in October in Portage, with our members gathered there, and we've had to do some soul searching and have come to the conclusion that we are no longer viable as an organization due to the decline in membership. It was voted at our annual meeting to proceed with the dissolution of Manitoba Farmers With Disabilities."

Minne says it became more difficult to learn about farmers who might need their resources.

"With the Privacy Information Act that came in, we were no longer privy to that information. It was just by word of mouth that we heard of who was injured out there or who had had an incident on their farm or connected with somebody that was injured on a farm. Because of that we lost membership, we didn't know who was out there, who might be needing our information."

Minne would like to thank all the volunteers and sponsors for their support over the years. She notes they plan to establish a scholarship through the University of Manitoba.

Manitoba Farmers With Disabilities was formed in the late 1990's