.png)
So if you missed the meeting last week you missed our club in action. It just so happens that the Charitable Funds Committee had a request from the United Way. They were seeking $5000.00 to purchase and fill back packs with age appropriate school supplies. The little kids get colored pencils while the older kids get some digital stuff. The mission is to give kids backpacks so when they begin their school year they have most of the things they will need.
It just so happened that the program for the day was this guy from United Way. I think his name was Jayson- ask Bernice- she will know. There was a small turnout for the meeting and I had had the request for the United Way for a few weeks. We were done early; even with the program we were finished by 1:00 so I talked to Jackson and he allowed us to have a Charitable Fund Committee meeting with all members in attendance. I told Jason if he scooted we would discuss his request.
I figured at this point everybody heard the why’s what, where, etc. of his program. They will supply up to 1500 back packs to kids who probably would never get one. This is up from 500 packs just a few years ago. All of these kids are already starting school with a deficit. There is no means testing, the bags are handed out on the honor system. The Rochembeau Club was a drop off point for our local kids to get their packs. The distribution point has now moved closer to town because of the growth, lack of a bus / transportation for the kids, etc. .
If it has anything to do with kids it is a pretty easy sell. After Jason left we discussed the Charitable Fund Budget; we had $ $3253.50 left. We discussed the fact that the committee only has decision authority on $500.00 and any request larger then that has to go to the full board for a vote. We have twelve folks on the committee, Pierre Giroux and I are co-chairs. We had about 20 members at the lunch meeting.
The request was introduced to the club. I asked for a motion, got it and a second. I have to apologize I can’t remember if it was Bernice or Deb Burrows, CJ or Julie- everybody was pretty excited to get in on the action. Asked for more discussion, polled the group and we had a unanimous decision. Sue G was there and wrote the check for $500.00 and gave it to Bernice to deliver to the United Way.
I must say it was nice to hear the request in person and then act as a group on whether we wanted to support it. We have $2753.50 left in our budget. For new members, if you want to know more about our charitable giving drop any of us a line. The application for requests is on the website. We would love to hear your input. If you want to be on the Charitable Funds Committee mailing list send me an email and I will add you. jmoreshe@psmp.com
Regards,
Joe