Minutes of the January 9, 2012 Staying Put Board Meeting
A meeting of the Board of Staying Put took place on Monday, Jan. 9, 2012 at 4:30 PM at the New Canaan Library.
Tom Ferguson opened the meeting and commented on what a terrific Jan. 8 Birthday Party Staying Put had, attended by at least 149 people, and how good it was to have so many Board members attend. The nametags were well organized and the handouts were informative and appreciated. They will be mailed to non-attendees. The entertainment, Magician Ryan Oakes, was "high class," and Staying Put should try to sign him up right away for next year's party because his reputation has been built and he will be a good drawing card. Staying Put will make a donation to the charity of Ryan's choice, since he donated his services for Staying Put.
At the party, Jane Nyce spoke about the importance of membership and dues and Tom Ferguson posed four questions: 1) Have you made a new friend this year, 2) Have you helped someone this year, 3) Have you been helped this year, and 4) Do you feel better about living in New Canaan because of Staying Put?
Staying Put special thanks go to Molly DePatie and to St. Mark's Church and Dick DePatie and to the women and daughters of the National Charity League for the work and the help they all contributed to make the Party such a success. Leftover food was donated to the Fire Dept. and to ABC house.
Jane Nyce reported that even though December had one quiet week, requests were up to 197, with rides topping the list at 121. Staying Put had 40 volunteers helping with the driving! Jane and Donna Simone still do most of the rides themselves. This week the Getabout called Staying Put for help with rides. Since the riders were not members of Staying Put we could not help. (It was suggested these riders join Staying Put.)
Sally Campbell's Christmas luncheon was very well attended, as was the Volunteer thank you party on Dec 8th.
The Staying Put weekend coverage schedule was handed out.
Staying Put continues to have 10-15% special memberships. Of the 236 household memberships, 26 did not renew; Staying Put assumes a 15% termination rate per year. About 10% chose not to renew because of relocation, or because they "just didn't use Staying Put." The office is shifting renewals to January and July, as opposed to renewing exactly 12 months from when a member first joined.
A renewal invoice will be mailed and describes the value of Staying Put membership and includes a 1-page survey. There are 160 on the renewal list for January. Some of these will require a follow-up phone call. Volunteers are accepted to help with the phone calls.
Tom Turrentine noted that Staying Put's primary source of income is from donations. Donations are needed to cover the costs that are not covered by the dues.
The office space adjacent to Staying Put has become available and since we need more space, Tom Ferguson will start negotiations concerning a lease. Adding to the current space is excellent because currently Staying Put has use of the kitchen and the conference room, and there is ample parking on the same level as the office. When Tom and the landlord, Dan Jones Jr., have finished negotiations, a final decision will be made by the Executive Board.
The fundraising campaign is ahead of Dec. 2010, and Judy Bentley is still writing notes to the members of the Senior Men's Club! These personal notes make a huge difference in donor's willingness to give; with that in mind, Board members were asked to be sure to send out personal thank you notes.
Upcoming events include the Darien Historical Society on Jan. 13, and the Men's Coffee on Jan. 18. The third Tuesday of every month Staying Put has a dinner at a local restaurant. Any recommendations for restaurants are welcome and should take the noise level into consideration. Staying Put will have a garden show in the spring.
The Assisted Rides program has made the coordination between drivers and riders much easier to manage. The drivers still like to have the coffees (the third Thursday of each month) and so we will continue with those. Staying Put can still use more volunteers to drive and more to do home visits. The mailings are handled mostly by the Office volunteers, although it would be good to have the Mailing Committee do some of the work occasionally. There is no average age for volunteers.
Patty Geanakos and Jane Nyce are working on a list of Staying Put members who have family living in New Canaan. Patty will contact the younger generation to find out what - if anything - more Staying Put can do for the parents. There are about 12 members who have family living in town.
The bench that Staying Put donated to the town is in situ on South Ave. near the back entrance to the Center School parking lot.
The meeting was adjourned at 5:37 PM.
Respectfully submitted
Lyn Chivvis, Secretary to the Board
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