United Way of Tompkins County Affiliate Member Organization

NUTRITION FOR THE ELDERLY

IN TOMPKINS COUNTY

FOODNET

BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING

September 11, 2003

Gertrude Armbruster, Chair, called the meeting to order at 6:15 p.m. and welcomed William G. (Bill) Tomek, our newest board member.

Present: Board Members: Gertrude Armbruster, Bob Baker, Loren Colbert, Keefe Gorman, Marian Kira, Liz Norton, Mary George Opperman, Helene Rosenblatt, and William Tomek. Staff:  Stephen Griffin.

Excused: Board Members: Chris Decker, Kay Friedlander, Anna Holmberg, Carolyn Peterson, and Elaine Saunders. Staff:  Carolyn Arnold.

Changes to the Agenda: none.

Minutes of July 16, 2003: Motion to approve the minutes as written. Motion made by Marian Kira, seconded by Helene Rosenblatt. Passed.

Reports of Committees:

Finance Committee:  Steve Griffin gave the balance sheet and income statements current as of August 31. Mary G. Opperman pointed out that depreciation expense should not be listed with the ordinary operating expenses but should be shown separately. The correction will be made and the revised income statements given to the finance committee.

2004 budget: Steve Griffin reported on the 2004 budget. Our county funds will be cut $16,000. We expect to be granted a total of $10,000 from local towns and $1,000 from the Ithaca Housing Authority. The Salvation Army congregate meal site, currently serving once a week, will be closed and the savings used to maintain the remaining meal sites. The savings from closing the Salvation Army plus $2,000 in reduced expenses for phone, payroll and accounting will balance the $16,000 reduction. County Administrator Steve Whicher told the county's human services committee that Foodnet took the initiative to identify the town funds and keep down the cost to the county. So we have some good will and a reputation for being proactive. We can't really take any more reductions without severely affecting services, so it is important for the Tompkins County Legislature to hear about the value of our services from our clients and from board members.

People can speak out during the privilege of the floor at full county board meetings, 5:30 pm on the first and third Thursday of the month. There will be three special meetings for the public to speak to the county board about the budget:

·          Tuesday, September 30, 7pm Public Forum at Boynton Middle School

·          Tuesday, October 28, 7pm Budget Presentation at Boynton Middle School

·          Tuesday, November 10, 7pm Public Hearing at Boynton Middle School

Program Education and Personnel Committee: no report

Buildings and Property: no report

Publicity and Public Relations:

The August Senior Circle published an article about the Wheel-A-Thon, a piece about the Quilters Corner Place Mat project, and photos from the picnic.

Keefe Gorman will be on the Casey Stevens Show on Monday, September 15 to promote the Wheel-a-thon. Foodnet's Fall Newsletter will be published as an insert in the Ithaca Journal on Tuesday, September 16. Credit goes to Chris Decker for most of the newsletter content and thanks to Shannon Austic at CBORD for the layout.

Nominating Committee: Kay Friedlander was unable to attend this board meeting, but she has recruited Mary George Opperman to serve as Treasurer until the next Annual Meeting.

Motion: to elect Mary George Opperman as Treasurer to fill the unexpired term of Olan Forker.

Motion made by Liz Norton, seconded by Bill Tomek. Passed unanimously.

Conversation on United Way: After graciously agreeing to serve as our Treasurer, Mary G. Opperman asked that we let James Brown at the United Way know of our newsletter before it comes out, as a courtesy because we are in the United Way blackout period. She also suggested that we consider United Way membership, and gave examples of how the benefits might outweigh any disadvantages.

Development Committee: Keefe Gorman reported that the total of gifts and pledges for the annual fund is more than $42,000.

The Wheel-A-Thon will be on September 20, 2003 at Cass Park. The plans and publicity are in place, now all we need are participants. Keefe encouraged all the board members to come to the Wheel-a-thon and recruit 8 to 10 people to attend. If we can do that we will have 100 to 150 people!

After the Wheel-a-thon, the Development Committee will get back to making any outstanding individual contacts and foundation grant applications.

Registered Dietitian: Carolyn Arnold, RD provided this written report:

Allison Parker, our new Cornell Dietetic Intern, started September 2 and will be working with us through November.  She lives in the Rochester area, and graduated cum laude, B.S. Nutrition and Food Science, from Drexel University last June.  As an undergraduate, Allison gained work experience in hospital food service and school district menu and nutrient analysis, plus some nutrition education for elementary school students. I am personally very excited to have such a bright, accomplished and motivated assistant to mentor this fall.

Allison’s activities at Foodnet will include menu planning, recipe development, meal preparation and delivery, cost analysis, budgeting, nutrition education, assessment and counseling.  Her research project will be helping with Dr. Ed Frongillo’s efforts to identify the impact of home-delivered meals through interviewing new participants.

Yesterday we attended the New York State Office for the Aging annual sanitation training in Syracuse (our Food Service Operations Manager, Joe Fort, attended also).  Next month Steve, Allison and I will be attending a joint conference of the Aging Services Dietitians of New York State, the New York State Association of Nutrition and Aging Services Programs, the New York State Coalition for the Aging, and the New York State Chapter of the Meals on Wheels Association of America.

I met with the combined Program, Education and Personnel Committee on July 29.  One topic discussed was the possibility of having the paper lids on our hot meals custom printed with our name and logo, plus instructions for safe handling (which we currently provide on address-type labels).  I was asked to seek participant input, which I have begun doing during home visits.  Also, since the meeting, the written price quote we had received was amended to correct an error, and the corrected cost is significantly higher than before (from $100 per year to over $2,000). 

Executive Director: Steve Griffin gave the following report:

This summer my priorities have been preparing for the Wheel-a-thon and seeking resources for the 2004 budget. In addition, I can report that:

·        The New York State Division of Human Rights ordered the Complaint of Age Discrimination reported in the December 2002 board minutes dismissed on 8/26/03.

·        Our Strategic Planning initiative will have to go on with out the assistance of a student team form the CALS Department of Applied Economics and Management. There were not enough teams to make an appropriate match this semester.

Food production and participation: