GLOUCESTER EMERGENCY FOOD CUPBOARD: Minutes of Board Meeting, May 18, 2005

In Attendance: Jim Bogues; Ann Frederking; Marjorie Gardner; Liz Hong-Farrell; Pat O’Driscoll; Pierre Proulx; Vivien Runnels; Dave Townson; Marion Washington;

Regrets: Nadim Barsoum; Bill Bentley; Lesa Brown; Nadia Delbani; Don Collar; Glenda Dare; Huguette Jean-François; Pauline McNally; Dave Prebble

As Don was away, Vivien Runnels chaired the Board Meeting.

Motion: Motion to accept minutes from the last meeting:
Moved: Marjorie, Seconded: Marion
All in favour. Motion passed.

• As noted in the March minutes, Dave Townson resigned from the Board. Ann is to follow up with Don to determine if he has written to Dave thanking him for his contributions to the GEFC.
• Ann has been reviewing resumes for the summer student position. She hopes to have this finalized in the next few days.
• Analysis of the 2004 donations has not yet been completed.

• Jim provided the Treasurer’s Report for March and April 2005. It was noted that the first column in the April summary should read 2005 and not 2004. And the “Year to Date” should read 2005 instead of 2004. Other Highlights include:
• March figures show that income was below normal. Spending was slightly below normal.
• Figures in April indicate that the GEFC is in better shape than it has been historically.
• GIC will come due and will be invested in a money market fund to allow for accessibility in the summer. The rates of return on both these investment vehicles are generally the same.
• It is anticipated that spending over the summer will be equal to the GIC (~ $28,000) unless donations increase.
• Revenue and expenditures have both increased about $2,000 when comparing 2004 with 2005.
• Charity tax return is almost finalized and will be submitted by the end of the month.

• Clients served total 1,909 in March and 1,976 in April. From January to April, the total was 7,855. This is on par with last year.
• Staffing – Betty is away for 5 weeks; her mother passed away.
• Vanessa, the former summer student, was hired for May and June. She will be working for 8 hours per week with Betty to organize the letter drop. She is also reviewing the applications received for the next summer student.
• There were 116 applications to the summer student position. 17 have been short-listed and interviews will take place on Friday.
• New volunteer is coming in every second Friday to do data entry and proofreading French text on the website. Some coding changes were made and these need to be tested on a MAC environment.
• New telephone was purchased.
• Call from Mark Godbout’s office to send them details of the 9 volunteers that were recognized at the AGM. He intends to send out certificates to them to acknowledge their contribution.

• Good Shepherds and Knights of Columbus are dropping letters in the Chapel Hill neighbourhood. Delivery routes are being reviewed and updated for the drop in October.
• The M & M BBQ raised $750.
• The Chamber of Commerce Golf Tournament will happen in June with some proceeds to GEFC.
• Gloucester Fair will not happen the same way as previous years. There are discussions underway on how funds will benefit the GEFC.
• The Donner Award application was submitted. An additional question left off the application form was resubmitted by email.
• GEFC is the Minto Charity for next week. GEFC will receive $5,000 and will get acknowledgement on the site as well as a letter.
• ChoirFest in May was a fundraiser. Funds were shared between Cumberland Resource Centre and Tsunami Relief. No word yet on any GEFC share of funds.
• Schools also doing food drives (e.g. Lester B Pearson).

• Executive Director’s Replacement
  There was some concern expressed by Ann that steps to replace her have not yet been implemented. Liz will draft a preliminary job description for the Executive Director’s position, which will incorporate some of the former Community Outreach position and provide to Ann and the Board for review at the next Board meeting.
• Food Content Pat noticed quantity of bread is reduced and has heard comments from clients that the supply is not abundant. Some board members clarified that the quantities of bread donations are known only on the day they are received. It is difficult to plan, especially when there is not enough storage space to keep large quantities of bread (this includes the freezer).
• Pierre also noted that the Food Bank provides produce donations but the quantities are not consistent. If there is excess, Pierre indicated that he could come in for an extra morning to help.