2022 August 19 Minutes

August 19, 2022 meeting     

Present: Heather Haas, Sallie Wright, Sharon Miller, PJ Rozema, Breean Waller, Jenn Burden, Becky Cotant via Zoom

Called to order at 9:13 a.m. 

Still waiting on minutes from the previous meeting, the board will approve at the next meeting.

Coordinators report – Sharon 

  • Funding status: When people donate through Stripe, it comes in as a transfer and not income, so we have to manually put them in. 
  • 2020 was our big year because of COVID. This year, we’ve seen $20,000 in income, $41,774 in expenses. We are waiting on two $10,000 grants. 
  • Cash in bank – $49,595
  • Bags – last year, 3,586 (doesn’t count bucket at Compass, handing out at Cotant lobby, added column to our spreadsheet to keep track of that)
  • Significant accomplishments: The Race for the Rest of Us netted $6,243. The first race was super successful. We had around 80. Some people thought it was a real race. We should do more advertising next year. 
  • B&G Club partnership – Bonnie recently took over, and we established that relationship. We helped Bread of Life to provide summer lunches, with a private sponsor from FFF. It didn’t come out of our bank account. 

Newspaper boxes: The board will work with CREATE kids to get them painted and collaborate with Bread of Life to place around town. There are five of them. We have a deadline of October to have them out. We will have one in Kaycee.
The board discussed locations including the Bunk House in Kaycee. Keri Hanson with Bread of Life will draft an MOU. The board discussed having groups or neighborhoods adopt a box to make sure it’s filled. 

Potential locations: Flatiron near Animal Shelter, apartment complex office on Flatiron, thrift store by Subway, Cimarron Mall, Crisis Center, Cotant’s, CASA, Senior Center Thrift Store, Turkey Lane (gymnastics place?)

Sharon and Breean will tour the Sheridan Food Group in the coming weeks.  

Wyoming Community Foundation is going to visit soon. They will meet with Breean. 

Sharon suggested holding a strategic planning session with a certified facilitator from Compass. 

Heather said Ruth Martin would like to be a volunteer. The board discussed having her manage a newspaper box. The board discussed having 4-H in charge of a box. 

Collection boxes for bags were removed, and Breean ordered some plastic bag holders. 

Breean reported at the pool party had a good turnout, around 250 people. 

The board received an application from Jennifer Lompe of Kaycee. The board agreed it would be great to have a Kaycee voice. 

PJ motioned to nominate Jennifer Lompe to the FFF board. Sallie seconded. Motion carried unanimously. Heather mentioned that Mike Hanson had expressed interest in being on the board. 

The board scheduled a Cotant Dentistry work party to pain and fix corner pieces. The work party is set for Friday, Nov. 4 in the afternoon and on Saturday, Nov. 5. 

Heather asked if 20 hours a pay period was sufficient for Breean. The board agreed they were paying a good wage, the hours just needed to increase if there was work that needed done. The board agreed on that goal and will continue discussions to find the best way to make it happen. 

FFF purchased new tubs as the old tubs’ handles were breaking. 

Breean set up an account at Ace. It’s tax free. 

Heather said the Food Pantry gets a great deal at a local grocery store. She wondered about FFF asking for a similar deal. 

Breean and Sharon reported that the pantry at the high school didn’t go so well. Kids were lining up to grab handfuls, and kids who were hungry were intimidated. We were asked to shut it down. It was too much, roughly 1,000 snacks a week, and the reason our expenses are so high. Breean texted Michele at BHS to set up a meeting to come up with aa plan. 

August. 31 will be our first packing date. After September, Breean will focus on the pantries. 

FFF will provide breakfast for New West on the first day of school. 

Myra Camino with New West had requested breakfast on an ongoing basis that focused on protein. FFF started a coffee and tea bar at BHS, Myra requested that at New West. The board discussed cup options. 

Committee reports

Becky per Heather – kept going with Food Bank all summer. 

We received chocolate milk from Blessings in a Backpack. 

WCF – annual food numbers, make sure we put in ask letter 

We need to put personal stories and kid photos in our annual ask letter. The board will shoot for beginning of November 1 to have ask letter done. 

Board members were appointed to committees:

Jennifer Lompe – fundraising 

PJ – food 

Heather said a pie-in-the-sky dream is a food truck that could be parked at the pool in the summer and feed children. Bozeman has one. 

Sharon said another big idea was a vertical grow system that kids could help with. 

Old business: 

Thoughts for next year’s Race for the Rest of Us: bigger venue, more advertising, get kids involved, flyers in the folders at the end of school, use kids as cheerleaders. The board discussed different locations, including the Cowboy Carousel Center and having a caterer. Businesses that donate a certain amount should get tickets. Heather expressed a big thank you to the volunteers. They should be introduced at the beginning of the race. 

Breean presented on the nonprofit conference held in May. (See her notes.) 

Top takeaways: newsletters, a client resource management system, telling stories, the top five reasons why our supporters support our cause, donor spotlights, who works for us and what they do, highlight a donor a month, set up tours of the facility with kids’ classes, stewardship and gratitude, give thanks to our donors. If we do one thing, be deliberate about thank yous, calls and stop ins to make connections. 

7 Keys to Retention:

  • Promptness – thank you
  • Thoughtfulness
  • Gifts – not always asking for things 
  • Repetition – get your stuff out there as much as possible 
  • Opportunities to volunteer 
  • Online presence – make connections 
  • *Ideas discussed: thank you video from a classroom, send to our donors and use on social media; promo video partnering with FBLA. 

The board discussed the ongoing online board training. Sharon attended the first two, and said they were great. Heather will send out the link again. The fourth one is September 27 at 5:30 p.m. 

Breean will email Julie at Headstart for a contact. 

New business: 

Free lunches and breakfasts are doing away at the schools. 

How do we reach kids? 

The board discussed survey users to see what their favorite foods are. 

The following board terms will be discussed in January: 

PJ – 2025 

Kristina – January 2024 

Sallie, Heather, Becky – 2023

Jennifer Lompe – January 2025 

Jennifer Burden – January 2024 

The board agreed to have a planning meeting with Kassahn, Tiffany and Susan at the next board meeting. 

Jennifer motioned to adjourn, PJ seconded. Motion carried. 

 

 

 

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