Help at H.O.M.E.
MEETING MINUTES
OCTOBER 9, 2008 ~ 3:00 PM
HOLDEN SENIOR CENTER
PRESENT: Brian Bullock, Town Manager; Jacquelyn Kelly, Assistant Town Manager; Louise Charbonneau, Coordinator, Holden Council on Aging; Cheryl Owoc, Outreach, Holden Council on Aging; Karen Halley, Wachusett Food Pantry; Donna Cross, HMLD; Joseph G. Sullivan, Holden Board of Selectmen; Sgt. Tim Regele, Holden Police Dept.; Chief Jack Chandler, Holden Fire Dept.; Susan Marsh; Jim Robinson; Maureen Buffone.
Town Manager Brian Bullock opened the meeting at 3:00 p.m.
Fundraising Sub-Committee
Karen reported that she met with Linda Grimm from Holden Martial Arts, and Linda will deliver the flyers to the schools next week. There will be three (3) programs, depending on age, for the grammar school, middle school and high school. One hundred percent (100%) of the proceeds will go to Help at H.O.M.E. A new account for Help at H.O.M.E. will need to be created. There will be a place on the website to acknowledge donors, and Holden Martial Arts will be recognized there. Money should start coming in around November 3rd. The Board of Selectmen will make an announcement at their October 20th meeting. Karen will invite Linda to attend that meeting. We can also approach other martial arts studios to see if they would be interested in doing something similar in the future.
Karen passed around the draft of the fundraising letter. Jim suggested giving an idea of what a certain level of donation means. With the state of the economy and the stock market going down, a lot of people and businesses are hitting hard times and those circumstances should be acknowledged. Karen will get the letter to Jim to mark it up. It was agreed that the letter should be kept short. Jacquie passed around the envelope that was used in the Light Dept. solicitation. After the fundraising letter is sent out to the businesses, the envelopes and flyers can be inserted in the Light Dept. bills explaining that Help at H.O.M.E. is the fundraising arm of Welcome Aldrich. We would need to get the information ready for the light department bill by early November. Most businesses get their bills the first week of the month. Jim and Karen will
work offline on the wording.
Karen asked if there's a thank you for Welcome Aldrich that can be modified for Help at H.O.M.E. and suggested crafting a sentence that puts the two together. Right now, Louise uses letterhead with the HCOA logo.
Food/WFP - Karen Halley
Karen reported that they are planning on serving 160 families for the November food pantry distribution day.
Clergy Outreach - Rev. Rich Simpson
Rev. Rich Simpson reported by email that in addition to St. Francis' commitment to Help at H.O.M.E., a number of other churches have signed on as well. The two (2) organizations that benefit from the Crop Walk are Loaves & Fishes (Northern Worcester) and the Wachusett Food Pantry. Karen will talk to Kathy Mills, who runs the Crop Walk, about putting out information during the Crop Walk. Joe recommended that the flyer would be better than the booklet.
Fuel Assistance/Heating - Louise Charbonneau/Cheryl Owoc
Louise reported that Worcester Community Action will be coming back to the Senior Center on Thursday, October 16th from 9:30 to 1:00.
Energy Conservation Sub-Committee - Donna Fitch
Brian reported that Donna Fitch did a nice job with her presentation at the Public Power Lunch on Tuesday. One of the things she mentioned was they will talk residents through their energy concerns over the phone. That phone number should be added to the informational booklet. They will be doing the filming of an audit on Friday, October 10th. The next filming of "Hometown Holden" will be on October 28th. Brian needs 4 or 5 people from this committee to participate at that time.
Holden Public Safety Day - Jack Chandler
Chief Chandler reported that turn out for Public Safety Day was as good as last year. There were mostly kids in attendance. He also stressed that seniors need to be reminded of the danger of space heaters without automatic shutoffs. There were 2 single-family homes taken out with pellet and woodstove fires.
Treasurer and Liasion to the Welcome Aldrich Disbursement Committee
Jim Robinson will discuss offline with Louise, Brian and Karen as to what procedures are already in place. A protocol will need to be established for calls that come in after hours. Brian will talk to Peterson Oil about after-hour deliveries and furnances that will need to be restarted. Joe Sullivan suggested talking to Oriol Health Care about the availability of a heated room with beds that could be used by anyone that has run out of oil during the night. Jack Chandler said that the fire department has 35 cots with blankets and pillows and suggested putting them in the old conference room in the basement at Oriol.
Worcester Community Action Council doesn't start until November 1st. Some agencies are one-time ever; Welcome Aldrich is one-time per 12-month period.
Informational Booklet - Cheryl Owoc
Cheryl has a stack of things to add to the informational booklet. She gave the booklet to Lew Evangelidis, who said there are things in there that he did not even know about. We need to get a sponsor for the booklets. The goal is to print a couple of thousand to distribute to the library, police department, churches, Food Pantry, Light Dept.
Meeting adjourned at 3:55 p.m.
Next meeting is scheduled for Thursday, October 23, 2008 at 3:00 p.m. at the Holden Senior Center.
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