MEMO: Smoke-Free Workplace

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DATE: June 9, 2026
TO: All Staff
FROM: People and Culture
RE: Smoke-Free Workplace

Menno Place is committed to maintaining a safe, healthy, and clean environment for all residents, staff, and visitors. As part of this commitment, as per policy AP – 2.18, Menno Place enforces a strict smoke-free workplace policy across the entire campus.

Smoking, vaping, and the use of all tobacco or tobacco-like products—including electronic nicotine devices and cannabis—are prohibited on Menno Place campus for all staff and visitors. Smoking/vaping is prohibited within seven (7) meters of public building entrances or within outdoor public spaces, as mandated by the City of Abbotsford Smoking Regulation Bylaw No. 1694-2017.

Staff members who wish to smoke or vape must do so off campus and are expected to follow appropriate hand hygiene practices before returning to work.

This policy aligns with health and safety standards and supports the well-being of everyone on campus. Non-compliance may result in corrective action in accordance with organizational policies.

You can find the full policy on Surge in Policy Professional. You’ll need to log in to access the document. Instructions on how to use Surge Learning can be found here: Surge Instructions.

We appreciate your cooperation in maintaining a smoke-free workplace.

Thank a Support Services Team Member!

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As we celebrate Support Services Appreciation week please take a minute to thank a team member who works for the dietary, housekeeping, laundry, finance, life enrichment, communications & advancement, staffing, people & culture, maintenance, recreation or rehabilitation team.

Use the form below to send your thanks!

Fill out my online form.

Today: Planned IT Outage June 12 – 13

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This is a reminder that a planned IT outage will take place from Friday, June 12 to Saturday, June 13.

The outage of network drives and related services will begin at 5:00 p.m. on Friday and will be fully in effect by 5:30 p.m.  During the outage, access to network drives and several internal systems (including GoldCare, ComVida, Tailscale, and Exchange) will be unavailable.  Internet and Wi‑Fi services, as well as cloud-based systems (including PCC and Senior Care), will remain available.

Some services will begin to be restored Friday evening, with core access (such as basic network connectivity and certain drives) returning later that evening.  Additional systems will be restored in stages overnight and into Saturday morning, including network applications and printing services.  Most major systems, including Exchange, are expected to be restored by Saturday morning, with final services returning by early afternoon.

Our management and IT teams will be actively overseeing this work to minimize disruption and ensure a smooth restoration of services.

If you experience an urgent issue during the outage, please contact Adaptive Technical at local 2241 at any time for support.

Thank you for your understanding and cooperation.

Support Services Contest Entry

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If you work in Support Services you can enter to win a gift certificate to Greek Islands!

Read more

MOVED: Planned IT Outage – June 12 – 13

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We want to let you know that the upcoming planned IT outage has moved from June 5 – 6 to June 12 -13.

During this time some of our computer systems will be turned off for a period of time so they can be improved. Most outages will happen overnight.

This means things like shared files and some programs may not work during that time. However, the Internet, Wi-Fi, and some online systems (like PCC and Senior Care) will still work.

Our management team is planning carefully and guiding this work to make sure the outage is as short as possible and causes very little disruption.

We will share more details soon, including exactly when this will happen and what you should do to get ready. We are working to keep the outage as short as possible so it causes very little disruption.

Thank you for your understanding.

Farewell to Randy Turnigan, Payroll Business Partner

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To: All Menno Place Staff
From: Reuben Neufeld
Date: May 29, 2026
Re: Farewell to Randy Turnigan, Payroll Business Partner

It is with mixed emotions that we say goodbye to our Payroll Business Partner, Randy.  In his time with us, he has brought devotion, and commitment to the payroll administration function, ensuring excellence in his work, suggesting innovative solutions, and care for his colleagues and staff. Beyond his professional contributions, he is a devoted father.

As Randy embarks on his next chapter, we wish him a journey filled with an abundance of happiness, good health, and good fortune. We are confident he will be a fabulous addition to his new team.

Randy’s last day on campus will be June 5th. Please join us in thanking him for his dedication and in wishing him every success in the exciting adventures to come.

A new dining experience is coming to Menno Place!

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Introducing Chef’s Plate – an elevated, accessible, dining experience for Menno Place residents, their families and guests.

Once a month, from June to September, Chef’s Plate will offer a fine dining experience that invites you to savour the moments. Whether you’re celebrating a birthday, anniversary, graduation or just want to enjoy a special summer evening, Chef’s Plate will give you a full restaurant experience that is walking distance from home.

Reservations are required.

Dinner will cost $38 a plate and includes your choice of main course, dessert and  beverage (pop, juice, water, coffee or tea). Tax and tip is already included. Menno Place residents will enjoy a 20% discount. A maximum of 60 tickets will be available per night.

Where: Primrose Gardens dining room (Primrose Gardens, 2099 Primrose Street)

When: Saturday, June 20,  July 25, August 22 and September 26.  Seating times start at 5pm

Tickets: Tickets can be purchased through one of the Life Enrichment Associates. Call 604-851-4004 or fill out the form here: https://mennoplacelife.com/chefsplate/

On the Menu for June 20th:

Roast Prime Rib
served with rich au jus & traditional horseradish
OR
Boursin-Stuffed Chicken Breast
creamy, savoury and stuffed with herbs and vegetables

Accompaniments
Creamy Mashed Potatoes
Yorkshire Pudding
Seasonal Vegetables

Desserts
Chocolate Truffle Mouse Cake
OR
Crème Brulé

Join the Menno Place Movers in 2027 for 75% off registration!

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The Menno Place Movers – Angela, Leonard, Noucky, Sujata, Sujata’s son Kiegan, and Sharon. Not pictured – Pooja.

The Menno Place Movers Team had a GREAT time together at the 2026 Run for Water on Sunday, May 24th. Sujata, Pooja, Leonard, Sharon, Angela and Noucky represented for the team! You should join us next year.

If you register for next year’s Run for Water 2027 by the end of the month (May 31), you can join for 75% off!

How to Register

Step 1: Go to https://raceroster.com/events/2027/119375/2027-run-for-water-5k-10k Select either the 5km or 10km distance and click REGISTER.

Step 2: If you have not used Race Roster before you’ll be prompted to create a log in. Once you have logged in to Race Roster you’ll be taken to the Run for Water event registration page.

Step 3: Fill in your personal and team information. Underneath the emergency contact section of the form you’ll find the TEAMS section. Click “Yes, add to another existing team”. This will open up a new section of the form. Choose MENNO PLACE MOVERS from the dropdown list and enter the code keepmoving in the code box.

Step 4: Email a copy of your registration confirmation email to Leonard Klassen (team captain) by 4pm on May 31st to claim your rebate. The 2027 Pre- registration price is 50% off ($29.01) until the end of May. Menno Place will reimburse you another 50% ($15) off of that.

See you at the starting line!

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What is Run for Water?

In 2007 the founding board members of the Run for Water Society conceptualized a unique event to be hosted in Abbotsford, British Columbia. The vision was to stage a top tier internationally recognized running event that would attract a wide range of participants and athletes and, at the same time, raise awareness – and funds – for people in the developing world who lack one of life’s basic necessities – clean water. Since 2008, this volunteer board has staged an annual road race and now additionally organizes trail runs and gravel grind events.

Funds raised – over $4,000,000 to date – go towards helping building clean water projects in some of the most remote and marginalized areas of Africa.

www.RunForWater.ca

Do You Park at Peace Lutheran Church?

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We are doing an audit to see how many of the Menno Place staff are taking advantage of the free parking available at Peace Lutheran Church (corner of Ware St. and Marshall Rd).

If you park at this location, please let us know by filling out this form. The form will be open for your response until May 31st midnight.

Fill out my online form.

2026 Strategic Framework Open House

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On May 15th, we had the opportunity to come together as a community to reflect on our journey and work over the past year and look ahead to what we are doing in the near future.

The open house was marked by an update in four specific areas – our strategic priorities – Christian Values, Home of Choice, Service Excellence, and People and Culture.

We were pleased to have 50 of our staff complete the event passport which shows that they received the update at each of the booths. These staff were entered in a draw to win an Amazon gift card. Congratulations to the winner – Milet from our Housekeeping and Laundry team!

We had many external stakeholders join us including community partners and a member of our Board and we thank them for coming. It was an encouraging time to see a strong representation across our organization, and throughout the Abbotsford community.

Thank you to everyone who attended, contributed, and helped bring this event to life.