Email Newsletter for April 2009
Greetings from the West Cascade Peace Corps Association!
In this edition of our electronic newsletter, you'll find:
May 2 (Today): Experience the Adventure of Mongolia on Saturday, May 2nd, 2009, 2-3:30 PM.
Hannah Klausman, a Eugene native, spent 2 years living in rural Mongolia as an English Teacher for the Peace Corps. Come view a slideshow and learn about the Land of blue sky, Genghis Khan, and a remote lifestyle largely unchanged through the centuries. If you missed her presentation at the last potluck, this is a chance to see it. Hannah's slideshow will be different from the one at the potluck and also she will have samples of authentic Mongolian "salty milk tea".
The presentation will be held at River Road Park Annex at 1055 River Road in Eugene. A $5 per person donation goes to S.Info, a Mongolian non-profit organization located in the Gobi Desert. Funds go towards purchasing text books and warm clothes for impoverished youth.
May 6-8: U of O Spring Street Fair
Many of you helped out at the Street Fair in the fall, and next week Justin, the Peace Corps recruiter at the University of Oregon, will be setting up the Peace Corps booth again to talk to students and community members alike about Peace Corps. It would be great if you would be able to volunteer a bit of your time next week. Please let him know by contacting pcorps@uoregon.edu or 541.346.6026 if you can sign up for a two hour blocks of time for the following times:
- Wednesday, May 6th: 12pm-5pm (11am-1pm, 1-3pm, 3-5pm)
- Thursday, May 7th: 1pm-5pm (1-3pm, 3-5pm)
- Friday May 8th: 10am-4pm (10am-12pm, 12pm-2pm, 2-4pm)
May 7: On May 7th at 5pm, join fellow RPCVs and nominees for dinner followed by a presentation by Greg Mortenson, author of Three Cups of Tea, at 7pm at Mc Arthur Court. Free tickets for the event can be
reserved and then printed online at tickets.uoregon.edu. Preceding
the presentation by Greg Mortenson, we will be meeting for dinner at
McMenamin's on 19th and Agate at 5pm and then walking over to the
event. More information: http://culture.uoregon.edu/event/1406
May 11: Board Meeting at 7pm.
May 15: On May 15th from 6-8pm, we will be celebrating Peace Corps nominees at the Many Nations Longhouse. This event promises to be filled with entertainment, good food, and as always good company. It is a potluck so be sure to bring an entrŽe, side dish, or dessert. Please RSVP to pcorps@uoregon.edu or 541.346.6026. This event will be our bimonthly potluck.
May 20: Computer Class: One Step Beyond the Basics
May 20th will be our first WCPCA computer class. It will cover keeping your computer organized, making changes to your preferences, doing basic maintenance, and how to ask for help most effectively. While a laptop would be convenient, you do not need one for the class.
This class is free to all WCPCA members and will hopefully be the first of several classes. Please RSVP to info@westcascadepca.org. If you aren't yet a member, you can join at the class.
August 21-23: 2009 Regional Campout will be held at Bridge Creek, a group site in the Wenatchee National Forest, with SEAPAX as host. More information can be found at the SEAPAX website (http://home.seapax.org/2009/01/10/regional-campout-august-21-23-at-bridge-creek).
More grants in 2009:
Earlier this year the board made two grants of $500 each to two
Peace Corps Partnership programs. One grant was for a community
library project in Guatemala; the other was for building medical
staff housing for a village dispensary in Tanzania.
Since our membership has expanded and we've raised adequate funds by
selling calendars and having a fundraising dinner in February, the
board plans to make additional grants in the coming months.
Members are our main supporters and so we're asking your guidance in
the selection of additional programs to fund.
Please let the board know of parts of the world where you would like
to see funds go, or specific Peace Corps Partnership projects that
you would like to see supported. Look at a listing of the latter
on the US Peace Corps website, www.peacecorps.gov. West Cascade
can also support other humanitarian programs that have a 501 (c) 3
status with the IRS.
For more information look at a list of all projects that WCPCA has
funded over the last twenty years. Visit the website,
www.westcascadepca.org, and click on "Projects." For further
discussion contact a board member or send an email to
info@westcascadepca.org. Join the discussion!
Local service activities:
Our membership has long supported local humanitarian organizations
with volunteer service and the board would like to continue that
effort. About a dozen of our members, for instance, did clean up
chores at the recent "Chef's Night Out" celebration sponsored by
Food for Lane County. The board is looking for other service
opportunities.
There is no overall chair for this program. If you, as a member,
have an activity to suggest and want to organize a work party from
the WCPCA membership, please come to a board meeting to present your
plan. When the board supports an activity, the event will be
discussed in the newsletter and listed on the website in order to
recruit workers. The proposer would handle matters from there.
The board invites the membership to come forth with its
organizational skills.
Have you seen Peace Corps Connect yet? It is the new National Peace Corps Association website, combining Peace Corps-related news, the Polyglot Blog and a social networking website, called Connected Peace Corps. The NPCA is really encouraging all RPCVs to join Connected Peace Corps, and at least one of our members has found it incredibly helpful in connecting with former PCVs from his area. Check out http://www.peacecorpsconnect.org/.
The full text of the minutes is available on the website.
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.
Treasurer's report:
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
The $521 in profit from the fundraising dinner at Mekala's in
February will be deposited in Beryl's Memorial Fund thus dedicating
the money to the support of grants.
WCPCA now has 93 members. Two new members joined in March.
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.
The board discussed mailing a letter of recruitment/fundraising
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 board supports the idea and authorized $200 for the
mailing. More details will be presented at the May board meeting.
Upcoming NOM party: 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.
Felicia will send an email to our membership list to encourage
everyone to join the new PC Connect website sponsored by the NPCA.
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.
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.
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.
The next board meeting will be on Monday, May 11th, 7:00 pm, at
the home of Wayne and Rolly Thompson.
