The Cochrane Activettes has hit a huge milestone.

The long-running woman's service club is celebrating 40 years of being involved and giving back to the Cochrane community.

Vice President, Marcia Gilbertson, says since 1978 the group has dedicated themselves to helping others. "Over the years we've grown in many capacities. The main event that was started many years ago; Share Your Christmas was done in one weekend and they delivered all the hampers and since then we evolved to run a full food bank."

Over their forty year history, many things have changed. Besides growth in demand, growth in population has also been a huge factor. "It's quite amazing how many people don't know of our group. Everone seems to know there's a food bank in Cochrane but they don't know we operate it; bringing awareness is key when you have got so many new people moving into Cochrane."

The Activettes are involved with so many community events and organizations that it is difficult to list them all without missing some. Canada Day, Cochrane Light Up, Labour Day Parade, Branches and Banks, Stuff a Bus and Winterfest are just a few worth mentioning. "A lot of those events like 'Stuff a Bus and Light Up' are run by other people and we are a small component of it. Many are put together to raise money for the Activettes, like Helping Hands with the food drive, so I guess you could say we work very well with other groups"

The Cochrane Activettes help out lots in the community by raising money and donating funds to various groups. A primary source of income comes from the Clothes Line, a second-hand clothing store. "That is what we use to give out grants to various people."

The Activettes donate to a student bursary, Kiwanis Camp, Boys and Girls Club of Cochrane and Area, Big Hill Lodge and Bethany to name a few. "We ask people to submit a request to us and then our 'Ways and Means' committee review the requests and then we select a list of people that we will support that year."

Currently, there are over 50 members in the club and like many service organizations, a fair number are retirees that volunteer their time during the day.

Like other service groups in town, Gilbertson, hopes new younger recruits want to join. "We have been up and down; we've been down to 20 members some years but the last ten years we have always been well over 30. We are always looking for new members to expand. Right now, we have a few younger people looking to join and we're always encouraging that to get a good mix."

Being their 40th anniversary, the Cochrane Activettes chose to plant 40 trees for the Branches and Banks endeavor as well as they will be cutting cake and handing out shopping bags tomorrow (June 21) at the first evening Farmers' Market to create awareness.

Gilbertson leaves a final thought, "We help out lots in the community; we raise money and donate funds to various groups and just get out and help in a lot of areas."

If you would like to join the Cochrane Activettes or have any questions, you can contact them HERE.