Social Action Council Minutes 2011 April 26
TJMC Social Action Council Minutes
Tuesday, April 26, 2011
Church Parlor, 5:30 to 7:00 P.M.
Attending: Elizabeth Breeden, Mary Rose Curtis, Edith Good, Bob Gross, Marlene Jones, Kip Newland, Cynthia Pulaski, Al Reynolds, Jean Sorrells-Jones, Greta Dershimer (Chair)
Absent: Sharon Baiocco, Dick Somer, Cherry Stewart, Dan Grogan (Board Liaison)
Guest: Paul Vaughan, of PHAR (briefly at start of the meeting)
1. The meeting was called to order at 5:35. We renewed our covenant.
2. There were no electronic check-in items submitted for the minutes. Because of the heavy agenda, brief oral check-in statements were postponed to the end of the meeting, and time did not allow for any statements at that point.
3. The electronic vote to approve the Minutes of the January 25th Council meeting was confirmed by a vote of the members present.
4. The financial report presented in the Agenda was taken as information. No questions were raised.
5. The activities and decisions of the Council of Council Chairs were briefly summarized.
New procedures for tables in Social Hall after services appear to be working well.
The Policy and Procedures for the TJMC Food Pantry developed by the Food Pantry group were shared with the Council of Chairs, edited to follow the Policy manual format, and approved by the Board.
A general job description for Council Chairs was approved by the Council of Chairs and the Board.
The Master Calendar for next Program Year is completed and available on the church website. Special note was taken of the fact that the Social Action Council is scheduled to meet on the 4th Wednesday of August, November, January, and April next year.
7. The status of the Social Action Council Budget for 2010-2011 was presented. $65.23 of allocated funds have been unspent to date. $430 of the budgeted funds were still unallocated. The Council voted to give the Soup Kitchen $150 to buy paper products in order to serve food under more sanitary conditions. By a second vote the Council approved sending $250 to the Olthevitz Partner Church to help provide food rations for elderly congregants whose government pensions have been slashed. That left $30 of the Council budget still unallocated.
8. The Chair reported that Council Budget requests for 2011-2012 were submitted to the Finance Committee in January. We have not yet seen a proposed budget.
9. The status of SAC Tasks for this program year was briefly summarized.
1) Elizabeth Breeden and Greta Dershimer presented a check for $2102 (money raised at the March Social Action Collection) at the April 3 Sunday service of Ebenezer Baptist Church, at the request of Pastor Leland Bates.
2) The IHS Meal Bag project has continued through the spring, involving UU Stars children, the Coming of Age group, and the YRUU class in buying food, packing meal bags, or making greeting cards. The project has given TJMC positive publicity through the Daily Progress article and the HIS Newsletter. Margaret Gorman and Leia intend to continue the project next year. From the funds available (allotted) this year $146.55 remains. $500 of the Ford Foundation grant is still unallotted. At the request of the Council Chair, Doug Webbink asked the Board to approve the following: “Move that the Board approve the request to allow any money remaining from the Ford Foundation grant to be carried over to the next fiscal year and to continue to be used for appropriate social action activities.” The Board approved the request as part of the Consent Agenda.
3) The new policy and the application form for Free Use of Meeting Space, as approved by the Council at our January meeting, were approved by the Board as part of the Consent Agenda at their February meeting.
10. The Chair asked Council members to check the accuracy of Attendance Records and Materials Submitted Records appended to the Agenda. No needed corrections were identified.
11. New Business - Selection of recipients for Social Action Collections in 2011-2012 Program Year.
The Chair reported that 15 applications were received by the due date. One of these did not include the required signatures of 3 TJMC members. No application was received for the TJMC Food Pantry because of a memory lapse by the appropriate Council member. After some discussion, and because the TJMC Food Pantry is a church-wide function, the Council voted to accept that as a late application, and to also accept the application that arrived on time but without the required signatures. As a result 16 applications were considered for the 12 monthly slots.
Council followed the recommended selection process, designed to insure that every voice was heard, and that decisions were made objectively and efficiently:
1. Individual Selection – Council members indicated up to 12 preferred selections on their individual lists of applications, without discussion, by making tentative ratings before attending the meeting of High, Medium, or Low for each application.
2. Group Reporting – Individual ratings for all 16 applications were recorded on a large chart on the easel, using colored pens.
3. Adding Up – Total ratings recorded for each applicant were counted up and noted on chart.
4. Identify “definites” – Applicants with highest ratings recorded were considered to be selected recipients. They were given collection dates in the months of the program year when congregational attendance is highest, and total giving is greatest.
5. Discuss “close calls” or Low ratings – The four applicants with the lowest ratings were determined to be non-recipients of collections for the coming program year. Those with “moderate” ratings were assigned collections during the summer months.
The Collection Schedule for 2011-2012 is appended.
12. The Chair asked Council members to recommend people to serve as Council Chair or Co-Chair or Associate Chair for the coming program year. She said that she would send some ideas about possible configurations of Council leadership to members for consideration at the May meeting.
13. The meeting was adjourned at 7:05.
Next Meeting – May 24, 5:30 – 7:00 p.m. in Church Parlor
Major Agenda item: Decisions about Free Use of Meeting Space applications for the 2011-2012 Program Year.
TJMC SOCIAL ACTION COLLECTION RECIPIENTS
2011-2012
DATES ORGANIZATION TJMC SPONSOR EMAIL ADDRESS (Emails deleted on Web)
July 17, 2011 JABA – Mary Williams
Community Center Donna Baker
August 21, 2011 Virginia Organizing
Greta Dershimer
September 18, 2011 On Our Own
October 16, 2011 Food Pantry Elizabeth Breeden
November 20, 2011 African American
Teaching Fellows (AATF) Greta Dershimer
December 18, 2011 Play Partners Roz Westerman
January 15, 2012 PACEM
February 19, 2012 Public Housing Assoc.
of Residents (PHAR) Greta Dershimer dershimer@embarqmail.com
March 18, 2012 Mental Health America
April 15, 2012 Partner Church
Jean Sorrells-Jones jsorrellsjones@gmail.com
May 20, 2012 Blue Ridge Abortion
Assistance Fund (BRAAF) Sharon Utz sharonutz@gmail.com
June 17, 2012 People Places – COACH
Heather Garrett hgarre@peopleplaces.org