Minutes of the Regular Quarterly Meeting
Board of Directors of Johnson County-Friends Feeding Friends
The regular quarterly meeting of the Directors of the above non-profit organization was held on May 26, 2020, at 4:00PM via ZOOM meetings.
I. Quorum: Roll call was held and a quorum was declared present based on the presence of the following directors: Heather Haas, Jen Burden, Krista Dunn, Sally Wright, and Patsy Wirth.
Also in attendance was Sharon Miller, program coordinator.
II. Approve Agenda: It was moved, seconded, and approved to rearrange the order of this meeting to match that of the approved meeting agenda.
III. New Board Member: It was moved, seconded, and approved to vote on the application for a new board member. A discussion was held and the vote was taken. Ashley Hughes was voted in to fulfill the remainder of Yolanda Grasslie’s board term which will end on December 31, 2020.
IV. Program Coordinator Report. Sharon Miller reported that 4,496 bags have been distributed so far this year. This is a 25% increase from the amount of bags delivered last year. The total includes snack bags provided to the students at New West High School.
V. Committee Reports.
Food/Menu – Becky and Sharon
Due to extra demands on the Food Bank of the Rockies, supplies from them have decreased. We are now working with the local grocery stores to help meet the needs of our program. The snack packs previously supplied by Blessings in a Backpack as they are unable to obtain the ingredients from their suppliers to build the snack packs. The possibility of ordering the components to build our own snack packs was discussed, but tabled at this time due to the program only having a few more weeks to handout bags in conjunction with the school district’s lunch program.
The Friday morning backpack delivery at Meadowlark Elementary School has been going very well. It worked well to piggyback with what the school lunch program is offering daily. We have once again been able to offer some fresh fruit in the backpacks. The school program is continuing through the end of June. Our last Friday handout will be June 26. This will include delivering backpacks to Noah’s Arc, to Buffalo Preschool, and to one homeschool.
The Cotant family filled all needed backpacks every Wednesday for 6 weeks. They have now been able to open that to include adult volunteers to help with packing through the end of June.
Public Relations/Marketing – Krista and Jen
Jen continues to keep the website up to date. She is also working on revising the program’s Ask Letter. The new letter will include information about the number of hours provided by volunteers, feedback from families and/or students about the backpack program, and how the delivery of backpacks was managed, and actually reached more families, during the Covid 19 Crisis.
Baby Policy – Patsy, Sallie and Sharon
After checking the purpose in the by-laws, it had been decided we would be unable to continue to provide diapers for babies. However, an anonymous donor provided funding with the understanding it would be used just to continue the diaper supply for ten babies at the Buffalo Children’s Center and one baby at New West High School. With the subsequent graduation of the mother from the high school and changes at the children’s center, the private funding is no longer available and the families of the children will be notified. Options of ways community diaper needs could be met outside the parameters of our program were discussed and will be revisited in the future.
Fundraising – Heather and Sallie
-WCF/HP grants- June 15 and WCF due Dec 15 Grants are available up to $5,000.00
-Hazel Patterson
-General Fund WYCF grant-
-Littler Trust -due in June
-Parr/Other significant donors- Personalized letters will be sent to our larger donors. These letters will provide a recap of how the money was spent and an update of how the program is doing.
-Race for the Rest of Us- Ashley expressed interest in helping to get this organized once restrictions are lifted from the Covid 19 concerns.
-Black Powder Shootout – will be looked into to see if our program could be moved up in this fund raiser event.
Old Business
Endowment exploration/Strategic Planning
We are making a renewed attempt to hold a Day Retreat at the TA Ranch.
The cost of $170 for 8 people will still be covered by a donor. The TA Ranch will supply a room that will allow social distancing. Lunch will be included in the cost.
All members agreed that a Saturday in June would be ideal if the TA Ranch has one available.
Wyoming Community Foundation Nonprofit Conference https://wycf.org/nonprofitconference/.
At this time, the conference has not been cancelled. Sharon’s teleconference was cancelled this morning, May 26, and will be rescheduled.
Wyoming’s First Lady, Jennie Gordan, outreach. First Lady’s hunger initiative First Lady, Jennie Gordon, has reached out to JCFFF and we are on the list of groups she would like to support. Mrs.Gordon would like to visit sometime to observe the packing. We received $250.00 dollars for our program.
Sharon has had 2 conference calls with Mrs. Gordon and visits were offered during these calls.
Dates for upcoming board meetings.
Tuesday, August 25, 2020
Tuesday, January, 26, 2021
There being no further business, the meeting was duly adjourned.
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Patsy Wirth
Secretary