Eugene Southtowne Rotary Foundation Minutes of Board of Directors Meeting

May 11, 2022 via Zoom

Members Present: Susie Andrist, Gary Brown, Joelle Goodwin, Steve Hutchinson, Christie McDonald, Sam Miller, Paul Reiss, Ted Stevens
Guest: Kathi Hoffer

1. Call to Order: The meeting was called to order at 4:32 PM by President Steve. Steve asked if anyone was having a problem receiving his messages (vs, having them delivered to a Spam folder). Paul reported having that problem.

2. Consideration of Minutes from Previous Foundation Meeting on April 13, 2022: A motion to accept the minutes as emailed was made and approved.

Steve requested that the email vote that occurred between the last meeting and this meeting be acknowledged in these minutes. That vote, per Gary’s request, gave approval for the Scholarship Committee to inform scholarship winners and then schedule them for the club presentation on May 26.

3. Update on Scholarship Committee: The list of scholarship recipients has been finalized with their contact information. That list is attached as part of these minutes. Gary reported that he, Christie, and Susie have created a brochure about the Shaw Scholarship to be used, in part, for the Oregon Community Foundation. The OCF has a special program focused on homeless issues, in addition to possibly listing us as an organization to receive funding for homeless support.

Following discussion, a motion was made to approve the brochure with discussed edits, including the addition of 501-C3 and federal ID number. The motion was unanimously approved. Christie has created certificates for the scholarship recipients acknowledging their awards. Six of the nine winners have confirmed that they will be at the May 26 club meeting. Gary has also invited counselors and three are coming. Susie reported a discussion with Glen Martz saying that he feels the relationship between the club and the counselors is critical.

Two of the Shaw recipients will be at the May meeting and Gary would like to involve a Shaw family member; Christie said that Sharon and Debbie will be able to Zoom in for the meeting. Steve will talk at the meeting about the foundation and distribute brochures, both the foundation brochure and the Shaw brochure.

A program for the meeting on May 26 was discussed in detail: Gary to introduce the students/ parents, give them their certificates and have them give a short share about where they’re going to school, etc. (~15 minutes total); then Steve to talk about the foundation, make a pitch for donations and/or recommendations for possible sponsorships and give out the brochures. Gary would like to have the students sit with Rotarians and for club members to make them feel welcome.

Kathi suggested having all of the students come to the front at one time. Susie shared that one of the recipients had two great options: to accept our scholarship or accept an apprenticeship position with Chambers Construction. She has chosen the scholarship.

4. Treasurer’s Report: Ted reported the following:
* Income of: $5331.88 from Airport RC, our share of the fundraising from staffing refreshment stands at sporting events; $300 from Deanna for sales of Hope ornaments; $652.60 for the Polio Plus fundraiser at Oakshire; 23 online donations, most of which were for Polio Plus. Kathi reported that working with Airport at sporting events will continue to be a possibility and we could also help them with the football games, although several people gave non-recommendations for the football idea.

* One check was written to the club to transfer the Polio Plus $.
* The April financials show that we lost ~$21,500 in April due to the falloff in the stock market.
* The Investment Committee met yesterday and reaffirmed the investment objectives. They acknowledged April investment losses but feel these are due to the overall decline in the stock market, and therefore are not making any adjustments in the portfolio. The treasurer’s report was approved unanimously.

5. Update on all focus areas of the new scholarship plan: Christie reported that the pmail sent to the club members requesting sponsorship possibilities has resulted in no responses except from one person who would like to put brochures in his office to share with his clients. She will resend that pmail and the topic will be included as part of the May 26 meeting on scholarships.

6. Update on grant writing: Susie reported that she and Andrea have met and divided a list of ~ 20 foundations between them to do further research. A number that Susie has looked into do not have web sites, but she has identified three others in her group (Autzen, McKay Family, Baker Family) to pursue. She will need the foundation’s budget for the next FY as well as the Scholarship Committee’s anticipated budget to complete letters of intent/applications.

7. Next meeting: June 8, 2022, at 4:30 PM via Zoom.
8. Meeting adjourned at 5:06 PM.

Respectfully Submitted,
Susie Andrist, Secretary