Steering Team Meeting Minutes

Tuesday August 7th, 2007

 

In attendance: Alice Schaer, David Runyon, Linda Watson, Stephanie Murphy, Ruth Schemmel, Sharon Rich, Andrew Knickerbocker, Joyce Friederich, Cassie Friederich

 

Financial Reports:  VCC Budget- Our ending balance as of July 11th, 2007 was $2,471.31.  This amount does not include the $3,000 we received from the Community Grant. 

 

DFC Spend-down-

            -Dave Runyon reported that there is $15,097.24 remaining for the last quarter.  There is $13,600.00 left in routine expenses for the remainder of the year, so there will be approximately 1,500 left to spend by Sep. 30th. 

 

Sub-Group Reports:

Youth- Malinda is on vacation, but Andrew Knickerbocker reported on a few of the upcoming events and activities. 

            -There will be a leadership meeting held on 8/8/07.

            -SODA Summer Bash will be held this Saturday, Aug. 11th at Beulahland Camp.

            -Aug. 18th will be the Rubber Duck Race Fundraiser.  Contact Malinda to purchase your duckJ

            -The SODA Youth will be presenting at the Risky Business Conference coming up this year.

 

Parent/Community-

          -As this subgroup continues to struggle in gaining membership and support, we have decided that Cassie will try and meet with 2-3 community people each week to sit down with them and ask them what they see as concerns for youth in the Valley.  If you have ideas of people we should contact to meet with, please let Cassie know!

 

Mentoring-

          -We currently have 10 Mentor/Mentee Matches

            -We have a Regional Meeting with other Mentoring Groups 8/8/07 to learn more about the Iowa Mentoring Partnership, and discuss what support and educational opportunities we need from them. 

            -Upcoming Mentor Training: Aug. 22nd, training about how to help others handle grief.  Bill Judd from Fjelstul Funeral Home in Decorah will be our presenter.

            -Upcoming Mentoring Event: Aug. 18th in collaboration with TAKO (Take a Kid Outdoors), at Backbone State Park.

 

5th/6th Grade Youth Center: Malinda and Sharon have been talking, and they think they could possibly use extra spend-down money to purchase a new curriculum to use this school year, rather then using Iowa State Extension services.  Dave and Linda agree that the money could possibly be used for this, only if a volunteer teaches the curriculum, not staff.

 

Turkey River Classic Golf Tournament: Tournament preparations are going great.  Still getting raffle prizes!  If you would like to help out during the day of the tournament, let Jen Stolka know!  We talked about the possibility of SODA having a table at the tournament, and having a few youth present to just talk to people about what SODA is!

 

Duck Race 8/18:  We will need to get more details from Malinda and see what she needs help with in terms of grilling, and bringing other food.

 

Next All-VCC Meeting:  The next meeting will be at Valley’s Tail Gate Party, unsure of exact date.  This will be an opportunity to get the word out for both SODA and Mentoring, and to get people signed up!  Our next official meeting will be in either October or November, possibly on the topic of volunteerism.  This will be discussed more at next months meeting. 

 

Office Needs??:  We need to contact Darla Butikofer to ask if she will help with keeping track of In Kind.  If she were unavailable, possibly a student or two would be willing to do it. 

 

Supporting Players:  Kim has left the area, going through a divorce, and will not be able to supervise Supporting Players.  Phyllis Gray is still willing to help out, but we need a local supervisor.  It was suggested that Annette Butikofer or Amanda Majkrzak be contacted to see if they would be interested in taking over the position.  Extra spend-down dollars may also be used here to train a new person. 

 

VCC Fund Development Update/Report: Have not heard anything from Al lately, and he was not present to give a report. 

 

Remember to check out www.igive.com   An account has been set up for the VCC, where you can log on to the website, and choose to have the VCC receive a percentage of whatever you spend while you are shopping at the thousands of stores it has to offer!! 

 

Other Reports, Information:

Joyce Friederich is checking out the Boat Grant, possibly focus on mentoring?  Joyce and Ruth also suggested that we check out the Iowa Department of Public Health Website for other grant opportunities.  www.idph.state.ia.html

 

 

Next Meeting: September 4, 2007 Valley School Media Center