WCPCA Board Meeting Minutes - April 13, 2009

Attending: Jack Meacham, Felicia Kenney, Rolly Thompson, Rob Dwan, Joe Hindman, Wayne Thompson, Dorothy Soper.

Rolly chaired the meeting.

The minutes of the previous meeting had already been circulated and approved by email.

1. Jack went over the treasurer's report which he had already circulated by email. The board approved the report. A brief summary follows:

   Assets:

   OCCU checking and savings accounts: balance of $5,743
   Beryl's Memorial fund consisting of three accounts:
   OCCU: Beryl's Memorial Fund: balance of $150
   Edward Jones money market fund: balance of $6,051
   Edward Jones: Principal life bond: $20,000

   We discussed where to deposit the $521 profit from the fundraiser at Mekala's. A motion to deposit this in Beryl's Memorial Fund at OCCU was passed. This means that use of these funds and interest earned from them will be restricted to funding humanitarian grants.

2. Dorothy reported that WCPCA now has 93 members. In March two people joined the organization and one renewed. Last month's membership was 89. That number was incorrect in the March minutes.

3. Felicia is offering some introductory computer classes for any WCPCA members who are interested. The first class will be from 1:00pm to 4:00 pm on Wednesday, May 20th, at Dorothy's house. It isn't necessary to bring a computer to the class. Any interested member may contact Felicia through for further information.

4. We discussed which night of the week is the best for all board members to attend meetings. We didn't have enough information to decide. Rolly will send an email to the board asking their preferences and also which night(s) are truly impossible for them to meet. It is difficult to find a night that is possible for everyone.

5. Joe explained that Anne Baker of the National Peace Corps Association has encouraged WCPCA to resubmit the nomination of Bob Crites for the Sargent Shriver Award for Humanitarian Service. Joe had secured Bob's approval of this step and got from Bob information about his work during the last year. The board enthusiastically supported the idea. Wayne and Dorothy agreed to write a resubmission letter to the award committee (to be sent to Anne) to indicate this and to update the information about Bob's work over the last year. The letter will be sent on 4/14/09. The recipient of the award will be announced in June.

6. Dorothy updated the board on her work on an idea approved at the last meeting. She proposed mailing a letter of recruitment to approximately 300 RPCVs in Lane, Benton, and Douglas counties who don't belong to WCPCA and whose names are listed in the new NPCA directory.

   The mailing would consist of a one page letter, a return form, and return envelope. Recipients would be invited to support our work by joining and/or donating to fund a grant. She would like to use bulk mailing with the anticipation of using a year's bulk mailing license twice. Dorothy had already circulated a draft letter and invites comments for the next week or so from the board. She'll consult with Maggie Keenan about this project. Further information about costs is needed. A mailing date in mid-May is the target. The board authorized $200 for this activity. Some help with stuffing the envelopes for the mailing will be needed.

7. Rolly and Wayne updated us on the NOM party. Justin wasn't able to attend the meeting so we couldn't hear directly from him. He has set the date for Friday, May 15th, in the Many Nations Longhouse at the U of O campus. Details to follow. WCPCA will help as in the past.

   We agreed to try to sign up the nominees as WCPCA members at the NOM party so that we can stay in touch with them and encourage them to write a proposal for a PC Partnership Project.

8. Felicia will send an email to our membership list to encourage everyone to join the new PC Connect website sponsored by the NPCA.

9. Due to costs and a projected limited return on the investment, the board decided not to pursue the printing of bumper stickers and thanked Evangelina for her efforts to investigate the cost and feasibility of having them printed.

10. The board anticipates offering another $1,000 in grant funding. We plan to ask our members in the next newsletter for suggestions of regions of the world where they would like to see a grant made and/or of specific projects that they support and that qualify for our funding.

11. Wayne let us know of a newly built facility at LCC that is available at no charge for our use for an event. He learned about this from Susan Kanich. He also noted that two local wineries are owned by RPCVs and are logical sites for future events.

12. The board decided not to add more goals for this year but notes that we are surpassing the ones that we have set. In offering grants we expect to do more than anticipated in our goals.

13. For our next board meeting we set Monday, May 11th, 7:00 pm, at the home of Wayne and Rolly Thompson. We decided to continue with Monday unless or until we reach a consensus on another day of the week for board meetings.

Minutes by Dorothy