COORDINATING COMMITTEE MEETING MINUTES
MONDAY, AUGUST 20, 2001
1. The meeting commenced at 5:30 pm at the Appleton Public Library Conference room. Attending were Lisa Weiner, Ray Durkee, Dick Calder, Dave Rothmann, Barb Kelly, Jerry Otteson, Don Sturtevant, Chuck Lewis and Jeff Knezel.
2. Jeff Knezel presented the financial report which shows a fund balance at
July 31, 2001 of $40,296.28. However, we have now received an invoice for the
most recent shipment to Blantyre, Malawi in the amount of $7255.48. This payment
will essentially exhaust our one remaining Matching Grant. The fund balance
after paying the above invoice is
$33,040.80. Additionally we have committed $4000 to cover shipping a 40' container
to Jamaica.
3. We currently have 65 packed gaylords ready for shipment. The shipment to Jamaica will use 36 gaylords. Goodwill warehouse contains a significant amount of supplies yet to sorted and packed. We continue to pack 10 to 14 gaylords each month in Appleton and Marquette is packing about twice a year and packing 8 to 10 gaylords per session.
4. Jeff Knezel reported that the shipment to Blantyre, Malawi has arrived in Durban. Ground transportation will deliver the container to Blantyre.
5. DG North Shetter has provided a Rotarian contact person in Jamaica to make arrangements to receive and distribute a 40' container of supplies. Jeff Knezel will coordinate with Missionary Expediters to arrange shipment of this container to Mandeville, Jamaica.
6. Jeff Knezel reported on correspondence received from DG Tom Guyette confirming that the $10,000 in the District budget for this past fiscal year for SAMP have been set aside for SAMP and will not be used for some other project. These funds will be become critical now that we have no more Matching Grant funds remaining. Dave Rothmann will contact RI Foundation regarding availability of Rotary Transportation Grants for Humanitarian shipments. His initial information was that currently these funds have not yet been made available.
7. The Committee had a general discussion regarding other funding or shipping
alternatives. Dick Calder will contact DG North Shetter regarding possible Matching
Grant applications for shipments to Jamaica and/or Eastern Russia. Jeff Knezel
will contact RI Foundation for current status of the Matching Grant process.
A Funded Transportation Grant application is also possible, but more work would
be needed to determine a suitable site for shipment. Currently the political
situation in Zimbabwe is so unstable that we are reluctant to make additional
shipments until conditions improve.
Nicaragua is another possible site through Wisconsin Nicaragua, a program of
Partners of the Americas, Inc. Jim Belling, rotarian in the Downtown Appleton
club, is deeply involved in this effort and could act as liaison. This project
uses transportation furnished by the Air National Guard, so would be very cost
effective. Connections with a Rotary club in Nicaragua would need to be established.
Appleton has a sister city, Chinandega, which also might be a possibility.
8. The Committee discussed the need to study the question of a Marketing strategy for SAMP. Members cited the need to better inform our District clubs, our medical communities, and Rotary International regarding SAMP. Chuck Lewis agreed to chair a Task Force to study this issue and report back to the Committee. Lisa Weiner and Dick Calder will join the Task Force. Donna Kidder and Bill Harke will also be asked to join the Task Force. An initial meeting is planned for early October, 2001.
9. The next meeting will be Monday, October 22, 2001 at 5:30 pm at the Appleton Public Library. The meeting was adjourned at approximately 6:40 pm.
Respectfully submitted,
Jeff Knezel, Co-chairperson
updated 10/2/01