United Way of Tompkins County Affiliate Member Organization

NUTRITION FOR THE ELDERLY

IN TOMPKINS COUNTY

FOODNET

BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING

May 14, 2003

Gertrude Armbruster, Chair, called the meeting to order at 6:15 p.m.

Present: Board Members: Gertrude Armbruster, Bob Baker, Chris Decker, Olan Forker, Kay Friedlander, Keefe Gorman, Anna Holmberg, Marian Kira, Liz Norton, Mary George Opperman, Helene Rosenblatt and Elaine Saunders. Staff:  Stephen Griffin and Carolyn Arnold.

Excused: Board Members: Loren Colbert, Carolyn Peterson and Lawrence Williams.

Changes to the Agenda: none.

Minutes of April 23, 2003: Motion to approve the minutes as written. Motion made by

Helene Rosenblatt, seconded by Olan Forker. Passed.

Reports of Committees:

Finance Committee:  Audit: Olan Forker reported that the Finance Committee met on May 13 with David Iles and Marilynn Wesche from Sciarabba Walker & Co., to receive the report of the annual audit. The auditors complimented the staff on the accounting procedures and complimented the Board of Directors on its attention to financial matters, especially the Employee Handbook. The general public expects good Board oversight of finances and management of funds. On page 2, the Statement of Financial Position is similar to the year before. It is interesting to note an increase in pledges receivable and an increase in cash. On page 3, the Statement of Activities shows some increase in County and Federal Funds and participant contributions. Foodnet's good financial management was noted. Our bills are now more current; there is more cash to use on a day-to-day basis. There were no management recommendations made. The audit was a very good report and Olan thanked Steve Griffin and Jon Carlton for their work.

Financial report: The balance sheet and income statements for the year-to-date were given. Mary George Opperman suggested we look into self-funding for State Unemployment Insurance. As a not-for-profit organization, Foodnet would be eligible to self-insure, and it might save money.

2004 budget: Steve Griffin and Irene Stein have met with town representatives in Groton and Ulysses to request funding in 2004 to offset planned budget cuts from Tompkins County. They also met with Lawrence Williams at the Ithaca Housing Authority and Major Lugiano at The Salvation Army. All the people they met with are supportive of Foodnet and do not want to see the services cut. At this point, the Towns seem the most able to provide support. Bob Baker agreed to go with Steve Griffin to visit Steve Farkas, the Lansing Town Supervisor, to ask for the Town's help.

Program Education and Personnel Committee: Kay Friedlander reported that the Program, Education and Personnel Committee met on May 1 and considered Foodnet's long-range goals. They looked at the mission statement and decided it is too long and needs to be improved. For one thing, we are serving some people besides the elderly. A mission statement should be broad and long lasting. So, everyone on the committee wrote suggestions for the new mission statement and submitted them to Steve. Then, a smaller committee made up of Carolyn Peterson, Eleanor Carey and Kay Friedlander took those suggestions and prepared a revised mission statement for the board to consider: "Mission: to provide meals and other nutritional services that promote dignity, well being and independence for the elderly and other persons in need in Tompkins County." There may be changes in services and how the mission is implemented. This statement would allow for those changes and still state our purpose. After some discussion, two revisions were agreed on: to use the words "nutrition services" rather than " nutritional services" and "older adults" rather than "the elderly." The new mission statement was then put to a vote.

Motion: That Foodnet adopt this mission statement: "Mission: to provide meals and other nutrition services that promote dignity, well being and independence for older adults and other persons in need in Tompkins County." Motion made by Kay Friedlander, seconded by Mary George Opperman. Passed.

Kay Friedlander has given Steve a copy of two books to use: Designing and Managing Programs by Peter M. Kettner, 1990, Sage Publications, and Policy and Program Planning by Robert R. Mayer, 1985, Prentice Hall. The PEP Committee has also thought that we might get a student intern to help on plans and evaluation. Steve Griffin gave a power point presentation on planning to the PEP Committee at the May 1 meeting; it would be good for the whole board to see.

Buildings and Property: Anna Holmberg has the lease agreement between Foodnet and Tompkins County. She will go over the insurance requirements and have Steve Griffin sign it tonight after the meeting.

Publicity and Public Relations: Chris Decker, Gertrude Armbruster and Steve Griffin met with Lauren Stefanelli, the coordinator of Pegasys for Time Warner Cable TV about taping a show. We plan to tape one show, and if it works out then we will make more. We are thinking of what seasonal topics we could cover.

A sign up sheet was sent around the table for people to march with Foodnet in the Ithaca Festival Parade.

Nominating Committee no report

Development Committee: Keefe Gorman reminded the board that Monday at 6pm is the annual Phone-a-thon at Merrill Lynch. Bring a friend and help raise money for Foodnet! Be sure to complete your board contacts and one-on-one contacts. Several board members took coupon books to sell for the Bon-Ton Care-to-Share event on June 11.

We are seeking a lead sponsor at $2500 and co-sponsors at $500 and up for the Wheel-A-Thon, which will be held on September 20, 2003. We also want to get several door prizes. Already Steve has had a few TV's donated for prizes. If anyone can make contacts or suggest a sponsor, they should let Steve or Keefe know.

Executive Committee: no report

Registered Dietitian: Carolyn Arnold, RD gave this report. The Farmers Market Coupon booklets this year have been increased from 350 to 480 for Tompkins County.  The value of $20 each is unchanged.

Joe and I met with two CBORD dietitian/trainers on April 28 and 29 for training on the use of their program for tracking patients and special diets.  The differences between our operation and the health care facilities they usually serve created some confusion, and their planned workarounds did not function as they had anticipated.  We did learn about their system, and further technical assistance is planned.  The goal is to more efficiently keep track of client delivery days, types of meals needed, and menu substitutions.

Executive Director: Steve Griffin reported that "Areas Finest," a vendor of motorized wheelchairs, wants to display their products at the Foodnet picnic, explain how Medicare might pay for it, and take orders. We have had educational displays at the picnic before, but no sales by vendors. Steve requested guidance from the board. The board suggested that the vendor could sponsor the picnic by making a financial donation, but not sell at the picnic. We want to maintain the character of the annual picnic. One way for the vendor to get before more people would be to sponsor the Wheel-A-Thon. There are other home care and medical supply companies that might also want to sponsor our events. This could be an opportunity to raise money as long as we don't grant any commercial endorsements or subject our clients to sales pitches.

Old Business: none

New Business: none

Next Meeting: Wednesday, June 18, 2003 at 6:15 pm.

Meeting adjourned: Meeting adjourned at 7:43 pm.

Respectfully Submitted,

Stephen Griffin

Secretary Pro-tem

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