This fall CCC has initiated a new membership category for “Supporting Members”. The aim of the new program is to recruit as Members skiers who wish to help promote cross-country skiing and support the CCC mission, but who are not in the market for the kinds of programs provided by Clubs.

The provision for Supporting Members has always been in the CCC Constitution and Bylaws, but it has not been an active concept. It is being activated now as part of a strategic approach to expanding CCC's membership base. Executive Director Bruce Jeffries explains: “We want to make it as easy as possible for skiers to become Members. We're told that some two million Canadians ski each year, yet we have less than 50,000 Regular Members. That leaves a pretty big target audience for this new initiative.”

The Supporting Member Program is being launched in conjunction with a new Member discount card program. Memberships are being marketed in a package which includes a discount card which denotes membership, provides discounts on products and services and returns a rebate from each transaction directly to CCC. The discount card will also be provided to CCC Racing Licence holders this season, where it will double as the Racing Licence card.

The entire concept has been conceived and implemented by Richard Lemoine, the Treasurer for Cross Country Ontario and a member of the CCC Marketing Committee. His outlook is optimistic: “The idea should be easy to sell – becoming a Supporting Member enables a skier to support the National Ski Team and other CCC programs, while cutting their own costs for merchandise.” Not content with putting the plan together, having the cards produced and soliciting sponsors for the discount program, Richard has offered to administer the program through his Toronto-based accounting firm, Lemoine Hyland and Grover LLP, in order to reduce the overhead for CCC.

For more information on the Supporting Member Program, including discounts that are presently being offered, or to sign-up on-line, visit the Program web-site at  www.supportingmember.com.