Natural Burial in Canada

Dear Co-operative Members,

In the last year, much has taken place to advance natural burial in Canada. Since our incorporation in June 2006, this co-operative has steadily built its membership and we are now widely recognized as leaders in the movement to launch Canada’s first natural burial site.

We are writing to you to give you a high level update on our progress in 2007, share our short and long term strategic vision, and request your continued support.

First, you are invited to attend our first Annual General Meeting. It will be an opportunity for us to get to know each other and offer you a chance to ask any questions you might have. Please confirm your attendance OR your regrets by emailing Michael Salisbury at msalisbury@naturalburial.ca. Proxies for non-attendees can be assigned to one of the Board/Founding members as shown at the end of this letter.

Date: March 1, 2008
Time: 2 PM
Location: Evergreen Seniors Centre, 683 Woolwich Street, Guelph, ON. Canada (Click for Google Maps link and Driving Directions)

We have significant news to share with you. After several meetings with prospective land owners across the province, we are now in the advanced stages of securing our first burial site approximately 150 kilometres northwest of Toronto. We have been working diligently with the owner, local stakeholders and planning officials to rezone and license the property. We anticipate our planning application to be heard by mid summer and will advise our membership accordingly.

Several initiatives have been undertaken by the founding members in the last year; all of which have contributed to the steady increase in awareness for natural burial. The increased interest and focus on environmental issues has created several unique opportunities to expose The Natural Burial Co-operative to Canada’s public:

The Green Living Show March 2007:

We participated as exhibitors and spoke to hundreds of people about who we are what we are trying to accomplish. We were overwhelmed with the level of enthusiasm and outpouring of support for our cause, and were greatly inspired by the feedback received. This show was a pivotal point for us; it proved that we are on the right track and that the people of Canada are eager to embrace natural burial as an end of life solution that is aligned with their life priorities and personal values.

In the news!:

We benefited from tremendous media exposure in the past year, with interviews on CBC Radio “Sounds Like Canada” Harrowsmith magazine, Toronto Star, The Globe and Mail, Readers Digest, CTV and Reuters

Collaborative Relationships:

We have reached out to develop several strategic relationships with organizations to share information and learning, and collaborate on raising awareness for natural burial – around the corner and around the world. Our outreach spans many sectors including the funeral industry, manufacturing, spiritual groups, the Green Burial Council in the US

There is much to be done in the year ahead:

For the next couple of months, we will be focusing on the new site plan, negotiating our way through the planning and political processes. By mid year we expect to publicly announce our first natural burial site location, and by the end of November, we hope to have everything in place for a grand opening in late spring of 2009. As the reality of our first site becomes increasingly clear, our need for resources will incrementally grow. We need people to help us grow and investment to bring our vision to fruition.

Here’s what you can do to help:

We are so grateful to have your membership support. As an early member you have shown us you believe in natural burial and are eager to adopt this end of life solution as your lasting legacy.

Become an investor:

Please consider increasing your level of support to the Co-op. Financial contributions are now RRSP eligible. This means that you can direct existing or new RRSP contributions to your Natural Burial Co-operative to underwrite the capital costs of acquiring our first burial site, creating the required trust fund for long term care of the cemetery, and providing working capital to configure the site. RRSP contributions will earn a guaranteed annual return of the current Credit Union prime rate plus 2%, besides the immediate tax advantages.

Introduce us to land owners:

Know someone who shares an interest in environmental sustainability and wants to protect their land forever? We will meet with them to discuss the various options to offer their land for a future natural burial site.

Spread the word:

The more people that know about natural burial, the greater the movement will grow. Please refer interested friends, colleagues and family members to www.naturalburial.coop to learn more about us. Encourage they support us through membership…we grow in strength as we grow in people.

Offer your time:

We are currently seeking individuals who are able to share their time and talent in the areas of project management, fund raising, marketing and product development. Consider joining our team, in any capacity you can offer.

If you would like to embrace any of these opportunities, please contact our President, Mike Salisbury – at (519)763-4461.

Thank you for your interest and confidence in natural burial, your membership is key to bringing our dream to reality. We hope to see you at the AGM….we will continue to keep you informed thorough our newsletter…watch for the next issue to arrive late February.

Please forward this update to others whom you think may be interested in this important work and thank you again for your continued support.

If you are unable to attend the AGM in person and wish to send a proxy on your behalf, please complete and sign the Natural Burial Co-operative AGM Proxy form.

Sincerely,

Founding Members
The Natural Burial Co-operative, Inc.
www.naturalburial.coop/canada

Mike Salisbury
Christopher Roy
Sue Rawlinson
Mike Driscoll