GLOUCESTER EMERGENCY FOOD CUPBOARD: Minutes of Board Meeting, February 16, 2005

In Attendance: Jim Bogues; Don Collar Glenda Dare; Nadia Delbani; Ann Frederking; Marjorie Gardner; Liz Hong-Farrell; Pat O’Driscoll (observer); Dave Prebble;Pierre Proulx; Vivien Runnels; Dave Townson; Marion Washington;

Regrets: Nadim Barsoum; Bill Bentley; Lesa Brown; Huguette Jean-François; Pauline McNally;

Under Treasurer’s Report: the total expenditures was $146,700, not just food purchases
Moved: Jim / Seconded: Vivien. All in favour. Motion passed.

There was some discussion about food purchases, in particular meat and cheese. Ann provided information on meat: approximately 50 lbs per week are being used. There was also some difficulty with eggs - Macartney did not fulfill their order for 2 weeks. Clients were very happy with cheese. A suggestion was made to purchase chicken from a direct vendor instead of Macartney. One of the difficulties is storage of the food in existing freezers. Pierre generously offered space in his home to store meat. The Board was asked to let staff at the GEFC know if they are aware of any big food sales so that staff can take advantage of the low prices.

a. Treasurer’s Report


• Jim provided the Treasurer’s Report for January 2005. He indicated that the numbers are almost finalized and procedures for 2004 expect to be completed by next week. Once completed, they will go to the auditor and at that point, the beginning balance for 2005 will be determined.


• From the statements, both the City grant and the Magical Village funds were received in January, resulting in a substantial income boost. The expenses have been well managed for the month and we are starting the year with a surplus; however, there will be reductions once the Loblaw’s bill is processed. GEFC is in reasonably good shape and there is an expectation that the income will start to decline until the next surge in the spring, then a usual summer drought of donations will occur in the summer.

b. Executive Director’s Report
Ann provided a report on Operations. Highlights include:

• statistics for January - 1998 people were helped.


• Books have been closed for the fiscal year unless there are exceptional circumstances (e.g. late invoices coming in).


• New equipment has been purchased and set up


• Ann presented a plan for a part time position to support the Executive Director. The duties described would be to assist the Executive Director in the community outreach area of her overall responsibilities. The Executive Director will provide training and supervision.


• Motion: Betty Lorimer to receive a 3 month contract at 10 hours per week. Moved: Marjorie, Seconded: Glenda, Motion passed.


• Ann will be working an extra 3 hours per week


• Ann attended the wind-up meeting of the Christmas Exchange. The Exchange helped over 25,000 people.

c. Fundraising/Community Outreach Report
Ann provided a report on Fundraising/Community Outreach activities:

• Magical Village
  Mark Marcogliese, the Lion’s Club representative on the Magical Village committee has resigned. A new person will take his place. This year, $3,600 was raised from this event, which is half of what was raised at Place d’Orléans. We cannot assume that we will get back into Place d’Orléans for 2005. Storage costs of $1,000 to $2,000 per year must also be considered.
  
  If the Magical Village will not be held next year, decisions will need to be made about whether or not it will be sold. Ann will discuss with Mark the pros and cons of the Magical Village and bring back a recommendation to the Board for this year.


• Schools and churches continue to respond. One school raised $250 with a bake sale. There are also a number of special projects from churches that have required special thank-you letters. After the spring break, schools can be targeted again for fundraising activities.



d. Personnel
The Personnel committee continues to work with Ann on staffing and on job descriptions. Ann will consult with the Committee on a joint job description for the Executive Director/Fundraiser once the part time position is in place.

a. Insurance issue
There is currently 1 million dollars in Officers’ and Directors’ Liability Insurance and in Commercial insurance. There was a recommendation by the broker that this should be raised to 2 million for each.

Considering that the GEFC is primarily a volunteer-run organization, we want to ensure that people who are here are appropriately covered. The GEFC deals with approximately 2,000 people per month.

The cost to raise the insurance coverage would be an additional $500 or $600 per year.
MOTION: To increase both Commercial and Directors’ and Officers’ Liability Insurance coverages from $1 million to $2 million. Moved: Jim / Seconded: Pierre. All in favour. Motion passed.

b. AGM

• Some discussion was held about potential speakers at the AGM. The speaker should be brief, and be able to speak or provide insight into some of the problems that bring clients to the GEFC. Moe Garahan, the current co-ordinator for the Ottawa Food Security Coalition was suggested. Vivien will approach her for her interest, and will get back to Ann.


• Board members were asked to think about possible speakers and to provide Ann with any suggestions.


• It was also raised that there may be some constitution changes at the AGM. A meeting in April may be required, but Don will be unable to attend the meeting. Someone else will need to chair.


• It was recommended that Ann look at whether or not an April meeting would be required and look at a timeline for constitution changes.



c. Lectures at University of Ottawa A series of lectures building on the experiences after 9-11 and strategies for working with the Muslim community are taking place beginning Fri, Feb 25th in partnership with the Ottawa Police.