MINUTES

Neighbors Helping Neighbors (Food Pantry)
2:30 p.m. December 1, 2008
Open Bible Praise Center

(Click Here For Print Friendly PDF Format)   

Present: Virgil Goodin, Randy Richards, Tom Priester, Jeanne Pascale, Louise Bolin, Wanda Vonderahe, Marsha Goodin and Art Schneider. 

Not Present:  Bobbie Bauer, Hazel Stone and Joyce Roach. 

Prayer: Randy sought a blessing for the board. 

Randy, acting as board president, called the meeting to order at 2:33 p.m.  

Old Business 

Minutes: November minutes were read. Four editorial revisions were offered—

1)    Noting under “Other Donations” subhead that during the Treasurer’s Report $1214.50 was donated through the Boonville Chamber and that under the “Other Donations reported by Virgil” subhead the donation also was reported by their subcategories from the Festival of Lights chamber booths and Festival of Lights Retail Committee. 

2)    Also, correction in paragraph above Volunteer Needs Committee subhead correction of “form” to “from”.

3)    Second paragraph under Volunteer Needs Committee subhead corrected to read “waive” instead of “wave”.

4)    Same paragraph also corrected from $400 in rent to $400 in “utilities”. 

Jeanne moved the minutes be accepted with the corrections. Wanda seconded. Approved unanimously. 

Virgil then presided as president.  

Treasurer’s Report:  Tom reported that during the month of November NHN received $408.46 in donations and spent $1183.35. This leaves $1415.12 in the checking account. The two major expenses during the month were the $750 501c3 federal tax exemption application fee and $320 for t-shirts to be sold and given to volunteers of the quarter. 

In addition, the board has $4439.01 in the savings account.  

Art moved and Louise seconded that the treasurer’s report be accepted. Unanimously approved. 

Logo Status: Virgil reported the truck logos and the entrance door logo have been received. 

Randy reported 48 t-shirts have been ordered and will be ready by December 4.

Because there are two colors in the logo and both sides of the t-short will be imprinted, the setup fee is $64 total, not $32. Cost per t-shirt is $6.67.Randy recommended that the t-shirts be sold for $10. Wanda seconded. Passed unanimously. 

Marsha noted it is important to keep track of t-short sizes and sales/gifts. She and Wanda offered to do this. Marsha will take the lead on this. 

Art also suggested that there be photos of the truck with the logo and of the NHN entryway door with the logo that can be used on brochures and the NHN website. 

T-shirts will be sold at 10 a.m. Friday, December 5, at the food pantry. 

Donated Food Weight in November:

Jeanne reported 6386.4 pounds were donated in November.  Later in the minutes the school donations are detailed. 

Donated Hours on November: Jeannie reported that since the last board meeting 885.5 hours have been reported. Half were in the month of November and half were hours donated but not previously reported. 

NHN Food distribution in November

            Total families assisted 425 Total people served 1269

            Thursday distribution 120 families

            Tuesday distribution 180 families

            Saturday distribution 63 families

            Total families on Food stamps Renamed Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).  208 families

            Total families receiving TANF 18 families

Virgil also reported that a sizeable proportion of families each month are new and that many families only com to NHN once or twice for assistance. 

He also said that during November the food pantry was able to secure 1824 pounds of ground venison.  The venison is packaged in one-pound packages. When the venison is available, the food pantry tries to provide each family with two pounds of ground deer. If the pantry does not have sufficient venison to provide two packages, it makes every effort to assure that each family at least gets one pound.   

The food bank provides the venison to NHN pantry through the State Department of Conservation Share the Harvest program. Tom Priester’s initiative in this effort led to the food bank’s expansion of the venison program to Cooper County.  

Direct Deposit: Art distributed a sheet showing critical timelines related to the new initiative that allows citizens to make donations through direct bank deposit.

He said that his office had hoped to make a mass mailing of more than 3900 solicitations to 65233 zip citizens by the end of November, but that this has been delayed/ He expects that it will be mailed this week.  

Update---Missouri Department of Conservation Share the Harvest: Virgil thanked Tom for his efforts in bringing this program to the attention of the food pantry.  

Tom had proposed contacting the packing houses to try to arrange for hunters to take venison directly to the plant for preparation for the pantry. Tom reported that processing plants in the area are already committed to the Central Missouri Food Bank. As we are part of that network, we are in an excellent position to take advantage of the Share the Harvest effort. Tom recommended we continue to explore securing venison through the food bank.  

Holiday Parade participation: Wanda said that the logistics have been completed for the December 6 parade. Ted B. of KWRT has been notified that parade watchers are asked to bring non-perishable foods to be picked up along the parade route. Volunteers and Cooper County 4-H will collect the food along the parade route. The 4-H members will follow the NHN Food Pantry truck and be ahead of the 4-H pickup truck and float. 

Art suggested that perhaps baskets are containers be provided 4-H members so that those who did not bring food would have an option of donating to the food pantry. 

Local Schools' food fundraisers--Randy said the schools have been very active in their food drives. Schools (and pounds of food raised) are Boonville High School (1764 pounds), LSE (37 pounds), Blackwater School and 4-H (420 pounds), Ss. Peter & Paul (266.2 pounds—the school also raised 1159.5 pounds in October)), St. Joseph School (266.6 pounds in October), Pilot Grove (505 pounds), Lone Elm Lutheran School (426 pounds), David Barton (1220 pounds).and Boonslick Vo-Tech School (840 pounds). 

He related that at Boonville High School there was a competition between homeroom classes and the school procured 1764 pounds of food. The winning homeroom was to receive pizza, but the students voted to give the funds that would have been used to purchase pizza to the food pantry.  The board was impressed with the students’ altruism. 

New Business

Volunteer of the Quarter selection:  Two volunteers were discussed and Marsha moved that Bill Stuart be selected. Art seconded. Passed unanimously. 

Volunteer and Needs Committee Report: 

            Office for Boonville Daily News in NHN food pantry building: Randy said his building team is ready to build the office. The Boonville Daily News will, provide the materials. The food pantry will receive two months utilities’ bill waiver by the newspaper. 

            Randy also expressed concern about the doorway between the Daily News and the restroom. The newspaper padlocks the door so that if an employee needs to go to the restroom—which also accesses the NHN distribution center—records exist to show who had access. This has worked effectively in reducing NHN product shrinkage. 

            Randy would like to have key entrances on both sides of the doorway so that if there were an emergency an NHN person could do directly through the doorway or into the newspaper rather than having to go around to the front of the building. The food pantry would pay the cost of the keyed entrances to the restroom. The board authorized Randy to enter into discussion with the Boonville Daily News. 

Reduce Saturday distribution hours:  Discussion to change the NHN food distribution hours on Saturday, currently 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.  Board discussed the importance of having a weekend day for those in need to secure food.  Concern was that volunteers were there longer than necessary to serve fewer than 70 clients.  

It was offered that if the hours were to be changed it should be effective after January 1. It was believed it might be confusing to introduce the change in February. By changing in January all food distribution dates in December could be sued to remind clients that there will be new hours with the New Year. 

Marsha moved and Jeanne seconded that effective January 1 the new Saturday hours will be 1:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. This will start January 17. 

Other Food Distribution Discussion:  Board members also expressed concern that the choice table was holding up the distribution of food. It was suggested that perhaps having the table at the end of line or reducing the number of choices or just making the selection for the clients as possible solutions.  Marsha also noted that the pantry needs more carts. 

No consensus on how to approach the bottleneck. Board did discuss giving latitude to the volunteers to try alternative ways to handle the choice table. 

Executive Committee Budget Report: Tom distributed two budget reports. The first was a recommendation of the Executive Committee for 2009 income. The second was 2008 expenses to date. Earlier, the proposed expense budget for 2009 was sent with the agenda.   

Tom noted there was an error in the 2009 expense budget. Truck insurance for the year should have been $1200, not $600. The emergency fund budget should be $1400, not $2000. 

Because the end of the fiscal year also is the end of the calendar year, the actual income for 2008 will be reported in February and the actual expense for 2008. 

Randy moved the 2009 budget with corrections be approved and Wanda seconded. Approved by vote of seven to one. 

Tom also submitted a letter of resignation as treasurer and as a board member. He noted in his letter that the by-law responsibility for the treasurer would not be followed if the treasurer did not have the responsibility of entering direct deposits. He also noted orally his concern that the ACH records be maintained in a safe deposit box at the bank rather than at a locked safe at the Extension Center.  

Board agreed with his assessment, will make the changes he noted, and requested Tom withdraw his resignation and submit his name for the treasurer’s office. Tom agreed to withdraw his resignation. 

Nominations Committee Report:

Marsha said the Nominations Committee has not met. Each of the officers agreed to serve a one-year term, but was willing to defer to another board member to take a turn as a board officer.  Marsha moved and Louise seconded that the existing officers be re-elected. Unanimously approved. 

New Members: Two names have been suggested for the board—Jackie Hickam and Don Worthly. The committee shall follow-up by contacting them to discuss the board membership. The next stage would be to present the potential board members to the board for a vote. This will be done in January. 

Fundraising Committee Report: 

            Mass mailing: Art reported that his office had been overwhelmed with the preparation for the ERIC Charrette and had just completed a mass mailing to all 5900 residences in the county.  Also, the lateness in getting the direct deposit proposals created a larger backlog for the Extension Center. He said that the center plans to have the forms mailed this week. For direct deposit donations received, it may be that some of the donations begin January 15 rather than December 15. 

Legal Forms Committee Report: 

            501C3:  Art reported that the 501C3 had been submitted with the $750 application fee. Tom reported the check had been cashed within four days of the Application being mailed.  It will be six to nine months before the board learns if it has been accepted or will need revisions. 

Election by-laws revision:  With the change to monthly board meetings, the by-laws need to be changed. Article 4 immediate below is the current wording. Following it—in Italics—is the suggested new wording to reflect the meeting changes.

Article 4:        Elections

1.    Nominations for the upcoming year presented in 3^rd quarter meeting.

2.    Nominations will be accepted from the floor also.

3.    The officers voted on in 4^th quarter meeting will be put in office at the end of 4^th quarter meeting.

HERE IS ART SCHNEIDER’S PROPOSAL FOR REVISING THEM:

Article 4:        Elections

1.    Nominations for members shall be made by the Nominations Committee nor any board member whenever there is a vacancy.

2. Nominations for officers shall be presented at the December board meeting.

3.    Nominations for officers will also be accepted from the floor.

4.  Board members shall vote on new board members at the meeting in which the potential board member is nominated.

                        5.    The officers voted on at the December meeting shall take office immediately following the meeting.

Tom noted that Article 4 Section 1 should be “or”, not “nor.  

Marsha noted that Article 4 Section 4 needs to be changed from “nominated” to “presented”. 

Virgil noted that Section 5 should be changed from “immediately following the meeting” to “January 1 of the following year. 

Concurrence by the board on those changes to be presented to the Board for final by-law approval in January. 

Meeting Date Change: Virgil noted that the first Monday meeting creates a considerable dilemma for his time and that of Marsha.  It was requested that another day be picked. 

After considerable discussion on the pros and cons of dates, concurrence to meet the fourth Monday of each month at 2:30 p.m. This will require a by-laws change. No discussion on what to do if a holiday falls on the fourth Monday—such as Memorial Day.  Given that this was not discussed, Art Schneider is offering the following proposal that meets the by-law change requirement and allows for it to be modified in January. 

 Here is the current by-law:

Article 1:        Meetings

The board shall meet the first Monday of each month except those months in which the first Monday is a holiday. If the meeting date is a holiday, the board meeting will be held the second Monday of the month. 

Here is the suggested change.

Article 1:        Meetings

The board shall meet the fourth Monday of each month except for May. In May the board will meet the third Monday of the month. 

MSNBC Food Bank information: Art distributed a food bank sheet from MSNBC and suggested that it form a framework for solicitation for the pantry. Concurrence to do so. 

Meeting adjourned at 4:31 p.m. 

Respectfully submitted, Art Schneider, board secretary.
 

APPROVED 2009 BUDGET WITH COMPARISONS TO 2008

INCOME 

APPROVED 2009 BUDGET WITH COMPARISONS TO 2008

EXPENSES 

     
Return to Minutes Index Page