Minutes from Core Committee Meeting 8/30

Monarch Movers & Shapers
Core Committee
Meeting Minutes: August 30, 2007
12:30 PM, Monarch Learning Center

Core Committee Members:
Present: Justin Fox, Dr. Marty Webb, Carrie Logan, Miranda Bennett, John Hardesty, Penny Weiss, Julie Meaux, Stephanie Wheatley, Marion Defalco, Dr. Neal Sarahan, Debrah Hall, John Barone, Shannon Woodruff, Caitlin Davis, Linda Caruso, Stephanie Kirkpatrick

Proceedings:
Meeting called to order at 12:30 by Chairman Fox.
Agenda and wish lists distributed to members.

Opening greetings and introductions by Chairman Fox, John Barone, and Shannon Woodruff.
Welcomed newest core member, John Hardesty, and new Monarch staff who will participate in M&S, Caitlin Davis and Stephanie Kirkpatrick. Carrie Logan presented Chairman Fox with a gift – a personalized mug.

General remarks by Dr. Marty Webb, Head of School, and Shannon Woodruff, Development Director
Dr. Webb shared about her visit to Monarch Guatemala, and noted that the opening of their school was largely successful, with 14 families enrolled so far and more community support than expected.
Update on the progress of the Capital Campaign: $3 million raised so far toward our goal of $8 million. We are in the process of looking for large individual donors who can give 6-7 figure amounts. Ellen Conikos has been hired as our new development consultant.
Shannon discussed the different functions of the Ft. Bend breakfast and the traditional Miracle Makers Morning. She asked for members’ help and input recruiting table captains and finding sponsors/ underwriters for the events.
Dr. Webb requested that members work on finding a Vehicle Fleet Manager to coordinate maintenance of all Monarch vehicles.
Dr. Webb also requested a Recycling Chief to be in charge of taking recycling to the recycling center weekly. John Hardesty volunteered to take it there; Penny Weiss also offered to take it home and deposit it in her neighborhood’s recycling program. Dr. Webb thanked them for their offers and also encouraged members to find new recruits or other M&S members to whom they could delegate some of the tasks we discussed during our meeting.

Remarks by John Barone, Director of Monarch Learning Center
John Barone let members know that everyone was free on Saturday, September 22 for our first annual M&S Core Committee retreat. Penny Weiss has volunteered to host this event at her home. John requested that everyone keep this date free on their calendars.
John reviewed a list of MLC “Honey-do” tasks, including: touch up painting in the MLC, tightening the furniture handles, and installing our projector in the ceiling. Penny Weiss offered to have her committee (Builders) take care of these projects.
John also reminded members that we are continuing to seek support from religious foundation boards for the Open Arms project, and we requested continued help promoting individualized MLC workshops at schools, churches, etc.
John proposed that committee heads submit a written report of the status of their current projects to Chairman Fox and him before the meeting, to be reviewed by each member before the meeting and posted on the M&S blog. The committee agreed, and reports are to be submitted via email the Monday of the week of each M&S Core Committee meeting.

Requests by Debrah Hall, Apprentice Program Director
Debrah requested that the core committee help with a couple of Apprentice projects, including regular pond maintenance and set-up and take-down of Room 5 on the weekends.
Penny Weiss offered to have her committee (Builders) help with these projects as well. Dr. Webb again suggested that we try to recruit people outside the core committee to help with projects when possible, and the members agreed.

Requests by Dr. Neal Sarahan, Challenger Program Director
Dr. Neal let the group know that several Monarch students are attempting to organize their Eagle Scout projects, and would appreciate any input or suggestions from the committee about possible projects.

Requests by Linda Caruso, Life Academy Coordinator
Linda let the group know about the Monarch Travel student business, and suggested that committee members inform businesses about the company so that they can use it to plan business or personal travel. The committee members took flyers with more information.

Requests by Shannon Woodruff, Director of Development
Shannon distributed Save the Date cards and table captain information for the fundraising breakfasts. She also let the committee know about the fundraising opportunity through the Houston Chevron Marathon.

Volunteer recruitment projects and plans update by Chairman Fox and Miranda Bennett
Chairman Fox has contacted 23 people who had expressed interest in joining M&S and has received 7 responses. We will have new recruits joining us later in the fall and in the beginning of next year, as their schedules permit.
Miranda Bennett updated the group regarding Monarch’s booth at the University of St. Thomas Helping Hands Job & Volunteer Fair. The fair will be on Tuesday, September 18, and several members will be in attendance. They agreed to bring decorations for the booth, as well as M&S brochures, Save the Date cards, and Monarch Travel flyers.

Educators committee update by Miranda Bennett
Miranda s looking for new recruits to assist her this year in working on various committee projects, especially since former committee member Sara Ranger is now on the Monarch staff.

Builders committee update and questions by Penny Weiss and Stephanie Wheatley
Penny and Stephanie are currently working on the Monarch scrapbooks, and have the goal of completing them by the end of the calendar year.
The group offered their assistance with the move to the new campus, and asked if this was something they could suggest at the parent volunteer meeting. Linda and Dr. Neal noted that they would need some help in sorting through the in-kind donations Monarch receives, transporting them to and from storage, and holding a garage sale to sell what Monarch cannot use. The group agreed to help with this and to enlist parents as well.

Heralds committee update by Marion Defalco
Marion updated us on her recent projects, which include making contact with charitable foundations and researching possible donors.
Marion also shared a prototype Movers & Shapers business card she had created in order to see if members might be interested in ordering the cards. Shannon Woodruff and Caitlin Davis offered to contact our new “green” printing company to produce the cards. All non-Monarch staff core committee members agreed to have the cards printed in their names.

Development committee update by Julie Meaux
Julie updated the group on her current projects, which include researching possible donors and “advertising” Monarch in the community.
Julie shared that she had helped to organize the development office at the Apprentice campus over the summer. Shannon Woodruff commented that this had been very helpful. Julie requested that staff help keep her group informed about possible projects they could undertake, especially as related to the move to the new campus.

Meeting adjourned at 2:00 PM.
Members will reconvene for the committee retreat on September 22nd.
Minutes prepared by Stephanie Kirkpatrick.