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Minutes of the WCPCA March 10 Board Meeting

Place: Dorothy Soper’s Residence

Attending: Dorothy Soper, Shannon Micheel, James Cloutier, Bob Watada, Rosa Sakanishi, Wayne Thompson, John Hofer, Justin Overdevest and Geoff Walser

  1. President James Cloutier opened the meeting at 7:25 pm. The minutes of the previous meeting were circulated and approved by the Board before the current meeting. The only addition to the agenda was the announcement that the Eugene International High School will hold an African Conference and Celebration on April 2nd as it has for the past six years. It is a day when over 400 ninth graders come together to learn about and celebrate the African continent and its people. The school is encouraging the Peace Corps to be there again with a representative and information booth. James Cloutier volunteered to organize WCPCA’s participation in the conference. Will try to get a recent RPCV to be the WCPCA’s representative at the African Conference.

    Dorothy Soper moved that the WCPCA participate in this year’s African Conference with an information booth. The motion was seconded and approved unanimously.

  2. Vice President Dorothy Soper announced that there are now 130 WCPCA members.

    Dorothy moved that the Board recognize the excellent work that Felicia Kenney has done with the Association’s Membership Directory. The motion was seconded and approved unanimously.

  3. Treasurer - Jack Meacham reported the WCPCA budget as of March 10, 2010

    Oregon Community Credit Union General Fund (unrestricted) (checking, savings), $7313

    Oregon Community Credit Union Beryl Memorial Fund (restricted), $1590

    Total (excluding $25,000 Oregon Community Foundation principal), $8903

    Beryl Brinkman Memorial Fund at the Oregon Community Foundation: $26,020

  4. Committee updates:

    1. Fundraising - Wayne Thompson briefed the Board on ideas and possible plans for a 50th Peace Corps celebration event at Cozmic Pizza on March 1, 2011.

      James Cloutier moved that the Fundraising Committee proceed with planning for this March 2011 event. The motion was seconded and unanimously approved.

    2. U of O liaison - Wayne Thompson had nothing to report on progress with U of O officials regarding the International Symposium that could be organized as part of the WCPCA’s celebration of the Peace Corps’ 50th.

    3. Activities - The Board applauded Jack Meacham’s initiative in organizing the TLC morning discussions at the Midtown Marketplace. Jack reported in his email of March 10 that one recent TLC gathering has yielded one new WCPCA member.

    4. Community projects – John Hofer announced The Chef’s Night Out event at the Hult Center on April 6, 2010 from 8:00 pm to 10:30pm. John agreed to ask WCPCA members to participate in the April newsletter. The board discussed whether to send out a special email to ask for volunteers for this event.

  5. Shannon Micheel presented descriptions of a number projects from the Peace Corps Partnership Program (PCPP) that WCPCA could consider funding up to $1,000.

    1. The Board used its “Scoring Rubric” to rank two of the three projects that it was most interested in funding. Shannon will ask Jack to send the contributions online and at the same time to request final reports of both projects when their work is concluded. This option is available online at the time of the funding.

      James Cloutier made the motion to fund the following two PCPP projects as follows:

      The Samoan primary school library for $230

      The Girls Leading Our World (Glow) Leadership camp in Armenia for $770

      The motion was seconded and unanimously approved.

  6. The Board continued its discussion from the February meeting of how to allocate donations to attract prospective donors. Some Board members felt that allocating donations to the restricted fund instead of the general accounts may help the WCPCA draw in more donors who may wish to know that their gift giving is more project directed than just supporting the general expenses of the association. Others felt that to place all donations in the restricted fund would be too limiting. One member noted that the board could dedicate in advance the proceeds from any fundraiser to the restricted fund if it chooses to do so.

    Wayne Thompson moved that the Board reaffirm that all donations continue to go into the general accounts. The motion was seconded with six yes votes, one no vote and one abstention.

  7. The Board discussed the ongoing planning for the Peace Corps 50th Anniversary and what were to be the next steps. As previously decided, planning would proceed with the March 1, 2011 celebration event at the Cozmic Pizza. And as previously noted, there is ongoing communication with U of O officials concerning a possible International Symposium to be organized around a keynote speaker such as Peace Corps Director Aaron Williams. The board decided to cancel its provisional reservation for the U of O’s EMU ballroom on 4/9/11 since there isn’t board interest in organizing a large event for this date and site. Dorothy and Justin will take care of the cancellation.

    In an effort to get WCPCA members actively and quickly engaged in the anniversary event planning, the following motion was made, seconded and unanimously approved:

    1. Dorothy Soper will randomly assign 10 WCPCA members to each of the 14 Board members to call.

    2. The Board member calls would follow a script that will be prepared by John Hofer within the week following the March 10 Board meeting. Dorothy and James will assist John in preparing the script, which will ask members for their suggestions about ways to celebrate the 50th and their willingness to help in this effort. Board members will be asked to make calls soon after the April Board Meeting.

  8. Discussion of the Peace Corps and NPCA mentorship program was deferred to the April Board meeting. Dorothy asked the board to read the information that she has sent them about the mentorship program so that we’ll be ready to discuss it in April.

  9. Shannon Micheel announced that the planned Blue Grass/WCPCA fundraiser has now been scheduled at the Cozmic Pizza for May 2 or possibly May 9.

  10. The board discussed reviewing a report on the sale of the 2010 calendars and a plan for the sale of the 2011 calendars at the April meeting. James will ask Rolly to work on these two items with the fundraising committee and to send their ideas to the board via email prior to the April meeting.

  11. The Board noted that the WCPCA now has a policy that students and RPCVs in the first year after their return are exempt from paying dues.

    Dorothy Soper moved that the Board establish a policy for free WCPCA membership for active, currently serving Peace Corps Volunteers. The motion was seconded and unanimously approved.

Meeting was adjourned at 9:25pm.

Next Board meeting: When: 4/14/2010 Where: 4730 W. Hillside Dr.

Next potluck: 4/30/10 Where: Mike & Chris Helms Residenc