Fort Simpson (Oct 06/06) - More than 10 people attended the Deh Cho Friendship Centre annual general meeting held in Fort Simpson on Sept. 26.

The centre presented its financial documents that were compiled during its annual audit.

The centre's chartered accountant, Charles Jeffery, wrote a letter accompanying the financial report which stated the Friendship centre had passed the audit.

The centre received $536,477 from various organizations including the Dehcho First Nations, Liidlii Kue First Nations, departments within the Government of the Northwest Territories as of its fiscal year that ended March 31, 2006. This is an increase in revenue from last year of $484, 159.

The biggest contributor with funding in the amount of $304,438 was the National Association of Friendship Centres.

The centre was left over with a $25,905 surplus. Last year's extra revenue was $12,173.

Senators for the Friendship centre were supposed to be elected at the meeting, but due to people leaving early, there were not enough people left to be nominated or vote.

Interim senators were chosen and the centre is planning to put out a call for interested community members to serve on the senate.

Executive director Aaron McNab said over the past year little has changed in the programming.

"This year we've been maintaining status quo," he said.

The centre does various programming within the community to support aboriginal residents in urban settings.

He said part of the reason for few new initiatives is a lack of support from the centre's youth group.

"We're waiting for the youth group to get involved in holding raffles and stuff like that," said McNab.

Members asked that the constitution governing the centre be revised to remove spelling and grammar mistakes and make the language easier to understand.