Minutes of the July 12, 2010 Staying Put Board Meeting
Tom Ferguson opened the meeting at 4:30 and Jane Nyce gave the Executive Director's report. SP garnered 4 new members in June, and continues the renewal rate of approximately 85% for the year. This is a very good renewal rate. The programs that SP co-sponsored at the Lapham Center and the Y concerning geriatrics were well attended, got good publicity and were good outreach for Staying Put. The Jazz at Sunset party/fundraiser at the Erdmanns was a huge success and raised over $6000 from ticket sales. 125 people attended the party.
The SP annual appeal which was kicked off last October has raised $213,588 so far. The goal of $250,000 has almost been reached. The seats for the Bluefish Baseball game on July 25th are under a roof, and the dining room adjacent to the seats is air-conditioned and has big screens to watch the game in comfort. Please refer to Jane's report for further events and details.
Requests for rides continue to be one of the more important and more constant services SP offers. Since finding volunteer drivers for these requests is becoming more challenging, several ideas will be implemented. SP has 48 regular volunteer drivers, most of whom drive about once a week. Of the 202 rides given in the last three months, Donna gave 42 rides, which averages out to 3.5 rides a week. The goal of the volunteer drivers is to decrease this load for Donna. Jane, Tom F and Bob Witt met in early July with the Getabout to better combine our mutual efforts. There are a few overlaps between the Getabout and SP; e.g., rides to the Lapham Center, or to physical therapy. The Getabout gives rides for medical appointments free of charge. SP members will be encouraged to use Getabout more. One suggestion is to promote the armchair exercises at the Lapham Center and then segue those SP attendees into riding the Getabout - the idea being to help SP members feel more comfortable with using the Getabout. Bob will look into having some Getabout ride tickets donated to needy SP members.
Another suggestion to find more volunteer drivers revolved around using any of the other service groups in New Canaan: the Rotary Club, the Senior Men's Club, Newcomers. A letter to the Advertiser requesting volunteer drivers is another possibility. Some SP members have been limited to three rides a week in order to encourage them to use the Getabout and to relieve the office of demand.
Creating an esprit de corps among the volunteer drivers is another goal. There will be an SP Driver Thank You party on Wed July 20 at 3:30 at the New Canaan Historical Society to give SP a chance to thank them as well as to tell them how important their service is to our elders. On another front, a survey will be sent to our drivers to increase their understanding of our needs and to ask for suggestions of others who might volunteer.
SP does use teenagers for running errands, walking the dog, and home visits, but not for driving. Half the volunteer drivers are young and are not members of SP.
Judy Bentley has started the process for the annual appeal letter to be mailed out the second week in Oct. Judy sent lists to each Board member of the people each of us solicited last October. Please review your individual list and make any corrections, subtractions, additions and return them to Judy asap. Jane will email the Board the master list of recipients of the letters last year in order to cut down on duplications. Lois Sandberg will wordsmith one or two letters for the appeal. Ann Cohen will alert the Production team and get the note cards ready for anyone who wants to write his/her notes during the summer.
The Nominating Committee expects to have 4 Board members leave by year's end. There are 8 names in the hopper. Please send any prospect names to Tom Towers.
SP has had good publicity from both papers, especially with the Healthy Aging series. The Jazz party also had good coverage. Many thanks to Peter Stair for putting up the new photo gallery on the SP website and to Al Knaus for providing so many of the photos. The new brochures will be in the office by week's end.
SP expects to enlist Ryan Oakes, an entertainer and magician, to perform at the 2011 Annual Meeting. For other events, please refer to Jane's report or to the website.
Other business: SP and Waveny are co-sponsoring an open house on September 23 called "Non-surgical Approaches to Joint Protection." SP and Waveny are also discussing having the rehab room opened to non-rehab participants for exercises with a PT in the room. Norwalk Hospital has had to close down this service.
Tom F. reported that the Housing and Health Options for Seniors Development Team is scheduled to meet at Town Hall Tuesday, July 13 at 9AM. He has emailed the report to all Board members. The report emphasizes the importance of our seniors in New Canaan, and notes, among many other issues, that the number of seniors in Town is increasing and will continue to increase because of the baby boomer generation. The need for senior housing will continue to rise, as will the need for other senior services.
The meeting was adjourned at 5:50pm.
Respectfully submitted,
Lyn Chivvis, Secretary to the Board of Staying Put
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