Steering Team Minutes

February 7, 2006

Valley School Media Center

Present:  Sharon Rich, Sheryl Butikofer, Stephanie Murphy, Alice Schaer, Karen Miller, Tim Corkery, Dave Runyon, Linda Watson, Malinda Riley, Marilyn Zweibahmer

Budget Report:  Stephanie Murphy

·        The VCC balance as of January 11^th is $8,657.76.

·        Stephanie had available a breakdown of the last three months.

·        $700.00 was transferred from Tobacco Coalition fund to the Youth Center fund.

·        The money generated from the coupon books goes into the General Fund.

DFC/SIG Funds:  Dave Runyon and Linda Watson

·        Dave had statements from both grants.

·        SIG grant was finished as of January 31, 2006.

·        DFC grant will end for 2006 on Sept. 28^th.

·        The question was raised why in the last days of the SIG grant was there so much money to spend down?  Dave said it was due to low administration cost and you can’t control it.

·        The question was also raised if this could happen with the DFC grant?  Dave reported their will always be adjustments and we probably will have money to spend.  In the April meeting, Dave will have a better idea of the money that may be available.

·        Knowing this, the VCC should always have a wish list on hand.

·        Linda is working on the reapplication for DFC grant.

·        She will send out the goals and the action steps for the VCC to be aware of and work with.

Sub Group Report:

1.      Youth:  Malinda Riley

·        The total made from the Theme Basket Fundraiser was $1,114.27.  The money will be used to pay for transportation for the Coral Ridge and Adventure Land field trips.  Money will need to be raised for further field trips, the kick off in the fall, scholarships and anything else that may come up.

·        The SODA students will do thank-you cards for those making and buying baskets.

·        SODA officers will lead the activity at the 5^th/6^th grade Youth Center Night.

·        All Stars Graduation is on February 28^th.

·        Snowball and Super Bowl activities were successful.  Snowball had almost 60 kids that attended.  TJ’s donated 10 pizzas and bottled water.  Tim Corkery donated gift bags and door prizes.  The Super Bowl party had 27 kids attend.  Marty Jacobs/Clermont Tool sponsored the Super Bowl.

·        Malinda had information regarding a Navajo Mission that is being offered to SODA Students.  It is for 2 weeks on a Navajo Reservation in Arizona.  This is sponsored by Luther College.  Any students interested would receive a stipend.

·        TAKO (Take A Kid Outdoors).  Dick Jensen is lead on this…he is asking for the VCC’s support to help promote activities.  The Steering Team would like Dick to come to a meeting and have him speak with them.

·        The SODA kids will be going to Coral Ridge Mall on Monday, February 20^th. 

2.      Parent/Community:  No report.

3.      Mentoring:  Marilyn Zweibahmer

·        The 2006 Theme is: “Challenge to Baby Boomers:  Share What You Know.  Mentor a Child.”

·        The evening of the All VCC Meeting, Mentors were honored.

·        Continue to recruit mentors and mentees.

·        Plan on doing group activities with cooking/baking and try to get to a mechanic.

·        It was brought up for not only mentee/mentors but for SODA students to do some community service.  Rather then always asking for donations, to be able to give back to the community.  Marilyn will look into this more.

All VCC Meeting Update: 

·        A total of 80 adults/students attended the meeting.

·        Panel discussion went well.  We heard numerous compliments on the evening’s discussion and speakers.

·        Marilyn took care of sending out thank you cards to the speakers and various volunteers who helped to make the evening successful.

Award Certificate/Mandatory Posting:

·        Helping Services for Northeast Iowa, Inc. and Valley Community Coalition were recognized by the State of Iowa for services to Iowa youth age 12-17 by providing evidence-based and model program substance abuse prevention programs and community environmental strategies as a subrecipient of Project SIGnificant, Iowa’s State Incentive Grant.

·        Marilyn will make contacts to see what mandatory posting must be posted at the VCC, this must be taken care of since the VCC has its own employee.

Knoblach fundraiser:

·        SODA kids changed the date to March 22^nd - April 5^th   Delivery on April 12^th.  This previous date was changed because kids were just coming back from the chorus trip.  They wanted to wait to do it when they were back.

·        A Schwan’s fundraiser was also discussed.  More information will be gathered and reported at the next meeting.

SIG Spend down update:

·        It was agreed upon to purchase a billboard with the SIG spend down money for 120 days for the cost of  $675.00.  The Steering Team needed decide on a location.  There are two possible sites. One in West Union and the other in Postville.  After discussion, it was decided to take the West Union location as our first choice and the Postville location as our second choice.

·   A committee will be formed to talk about the radio and newspapers spend down.  Deciding on what the vision of the VCC is with this advertising.

·   For radio, deciding on when we want to start running the ads?  How often the ads will run?  As well as the content of the ad. 

·   We will have 16 ads on KOEL AM and 24 ads on Q92.3 (FM).

·   We will need to find out what we want on the radio for KADR.

·   We have $1,000 for each paper.  The Elgin Echo and The Union.

·   It was discussed prior to the meeting to run a “Did you Know Campaign?”

·   Once again deciding on when we will start?  How often?  Monthly?  Who should be contacted?

·   What events do we want to purchase ads for?  would be another question that needs answering when the committee is formed.

VCC Fund Development update/report:

·        Al was unavailable to attend.  No report was given.

Town Hall Meeting:

·        Every community is asked to do a town hall meeting regarding underage drinking.  Each community hosting a meeting will receive a $1,000 stipend to help with advertising, food, and etc.

·        It is to be held on or around March 28^th.

·        We need to set a date and location for this event.

·        Marilyn and Sharon will work with school officials to possibly work it out to have the meeting at the school.

·        It was brought up to have daycare available.

Gambling Machines:

·        Laverne Swenson had e-mailed Malinda and Marilyn regarding gambling machines being put into the Valley stores.  Laverne was asking if the VCC would support a petition to the Governor requesting they be removed and not allow any more to come into the district.

·        After feedback from Steering Team members, it was decided to notify Laverne and inform him they no we don’t support it, the VCC will not be putting energy into stopping it.  The mission of the VCC is promote healthy lifestyles without addictions, dealing with substance abuse and alcohol.

Next meeting:

Tuesday, March 7^th

5:00 P.M.

 Valley Media Center