Members Present:
Dana May Casperson, Sandy Grant, Kathy Osbun, Gloria Stubbs, Arlene Irizary, George Irizary, Art Rosenblum, David Getzoff, Marc Alexander, Ann Walker and Barbara France
Members Absent:
Suzanne deKozan and Davis Brown
Call to Order:
The Annual Meeting of PSGSC was called to order by Chair Kathy Osbun at 10:05 a.m.
Elections:
All Board members and officers must be elected at the Annual Meeting. Paper ballots were distributed listing board members and officers. When tallied the following were elected to the PSGSC Board for 2014:
Art Rosenblum, David Getzoff, Arlene Irizary, Ann Walker. Dana May Casperson, Gloria Stubbs, Davis Brown and Suzanne deKozan
The following officers were elected:
Chair: Kathy Osbun, Vice Chair for Programs: Marc Alexander, Treasurer: Sandy Grant, Corresponding Secretary: George Irizary, Recording Secretary: Barbara France.
Adjournment:
There being no further business for the Annual Meeting, it was adjourned at 10:20 a.m.
MONTHLY BOARD MEETING
The Regular Meeting of the Board of Directors of the Parkinson’s Support Group of Sonoma County (PSGSC) was called to order at 10:25 a.m. by Chair Kathy Osbun.
Approval of Minutes:
The Minutes of the December 18, 2013 meeting were approved with the following corrections:
Steve Pryputnierwicz’s name was misspelled in the January Annual Meeting item. In the same item “next” was misspelled.
In Fundraising item George Irizary suggested having goals or projects as aims of fundraising rather than specific recipients.
Treasurer’s Report:
Sandy gave a complete rundown of the years income and expenses which are covered in the Treasurer’s Report. At the end of the year there was a net income of $1,412.67 when the 2013 budget projected -$2979.00.
87 Tulip pins were sold last year and we have 117 remaining. The pins continue to be popular with new members.
Sandy will be drawing up a proposed budget for the new year and if any committees need more money they should submit requests. There will be increased amount in the library budget, and for printing.
Donations:
There is a need to identify goals, projects and recipients of fundraising projects and donations, to this end Marc has researched several of the large Parkinson’s related foundations and groups. He gave a breakdown in how they budget their money for research, education, administration, fund raising etc.
Using Marc’s information we considered where our donations might be effective and/or support local services to Parkinson’s patients. Suggestions included Michael J. Fox Foundation because it is familiar to most people, but closer to home is the Buck Institute which is increasing their research into Parkinson’s Disease and the Parkinson’s Foundation which provides free booklets on various aspects of Parkinson’s and are very popular in the library. Dana May suggested that we also consider setting aside something for Sutter as efforts toward getting a Movements Disorder Specialist in their group seems to be moving forward.
Since Julie Andersen from the Buck Institute is speaking at the February PSGSC meeting and talks with Sutter are moving forward, we will table further discussions of donations to the February Board Meeting.
Art said, based on the experience of his Church, that when a specific goal, project or beneficiary of the collection is announced the donations are significantly higher. This might be an idea for our donation jar.
Programs:
Julie Andersen has contacted Arlene about her presentation at the February 1, 2014, meeting. Julie is not absolutely sure that she will have equipment for her Power Point presentation and in anticipation of that Arlene proposes that we print 60 copies of her program. Arlene will check to be sure that reprinting is approved by Julie Andersen. Dana May moved that we approve funds to print 60 copies of this program, Sandy seconded the motion which was carried on a voice vote.
Marc announced that in addition to speakers already listed on the website, that Dr. Robert White, a clinical instructor and researcher at UCSF, will speak at the June PSGSC general meeting. The topic of his talk will be Parkinson’s and Cognitive Functions.
Publicity:
Ann said that she, Arlene, Kathy and Marie Kay would meet this coming Saturday at the Church to organize library materials and develop a data base that tracks what is in the library and where it is. This is part of an ongoing effort to increase educational resources available to PSGSC members.
Data Base:
There are enough complete and up-to-date New Member Packets to carry us through February and probably March. Kathy will wait until the expected new brochure from Redwood Caregivers is available to assemble more.
Outreach:
Art reported that his church does not have a formal protocol for keeping in touch with members who may need assistance, but the chairman of this effort would be happy to come to speak to us about their program which Art said was very effective.
Fundraising:
Dana May has been looking into fundraising possibilities for April, Parkinson’s Awareness Month. She is in contact with several local restaurants who have various ways of fundraising for specific groups. Last month, it was thought that having fundraisers at more than 2 restaurants would be more than the group could support but Dana May has found that some restaurants don’t require coupons from the group for presentation, rather, we would provide brochures and a portion of the evenings income would be donated. Each restaurant has it’s own formula for the amount. Even if the income was slight, just having the brochures available at tables would get our presence out to a wider audience. Dana May will have more concrete numbers for the February Board Meeting.
Sonoma Access:
In a follow up to the letter Arlene prepared for AAA grant for access to transportation, Kathy read their press release on these efforts.
Clinical Trails:
In an effort to better inform our members about clinical trials, Marc has been gathering information about trials and their status. He said that trials run the gamut from very minimal effort and involvement to very intense participation. He wanted some guidance as to how this information should be presented to the members. We would be providing information only about the existence of these trials but Marc would be available to answer some questions from members.
After discussion, it was decided that we would print fliers for the various trials and they would be placed on the library table where members could pick them up if interested. Kathy would announce that we are presenting this information on an ongoing basis.
Long range planning:
Dana May reported that after many attempts, through many channels, she has connected with Mike Cohill who is Chief of Sutter’s Health Sonoma County. She explained the great need for a Movement Disorder and Parkinson’s specialist here in Sonoma County. He is sympathetic to this need and though it can be a long process to get such things approved by the board he would be happy to hear from Gail Kang, a specialist who has expressed interest in doing this job here in Sonoma County. Dana May will follow the communication between Mike Cohill and Dr. Kang in order to help whenever possible and to keep the conversation moving forward. Dana May also suggested that we reserve some of our donation funds for whatever we might be able to do to help this effort move forward.
Letter to Hospitals:
Kathy read the letter she rewrote including all previous edits but it was decided that we would table the letter indefinitely as Dana May’s current efforts may change the message of the letter. Dana May said she would undertake to write a letter introducing ourselves to health facilities and Drs. once we have a better idea of how things work out with Sutter.
Adjournment:
The meeting was adjourned at 12:00 p.m. by Kathy Osbun. The next meeting will be February 19, 2014 at 10a.m. at the Brush Creek Senior Living.
Respectfully submitted,
Barbara France, Recording Secretary.