Parks and Recreation Memorial Gifts Ad Hoc Committee
Tuesday, January 15, 2013, 3:30 PM, Conference Room, Town Hall South
Present: Rich Boritz, Jan Brookes, Maureen Crick Owen, Ed Marks, Amy Mangold, RoseAnn Reggiano
Also Present: Mark Zaretsky – Reporter from the New Haven Register
Old Business
The minutes of the committee’s January 10, 2013 meeting were accepted with one spelling correction.
Committee Reports - Maureen Crick Owen reported that she had sent emails to heads of several town departments. Police Chief Kehoe had responded with the name of his department contact person. Mrs. Owen also contacted Mark Sigrist of Phoenix Events to clarify the P & R’s position on how he can get funds donated.
Jan Brookes reported that Bob Geckle and Mary Ann Murtha are working with United Way to coordinate the donations into three funds– undesignated, a memorial, and a new /refurbished school. Bob will refer all offers to donate to a new shovel-ready playground to the P & R Department. Robin Fitzgerald from Newtown Volunteers has turned over the list of donated goods, and offers for future donations to Bob Geckle. Healing Newtown, a project of the Newtown Cultural Arts Commission, is collecting art in various forms for the memorial. They are using the old Ace Hardware building. Both the NCAC and the Newtown Forest Association are accepting donations for a Sandy Hook memorial garden.
Rich Boritz contacted all town department heads that Maureen did not. He reported that every town department is in the same position as P & R – overwhelmed and confused about what others are doing. Finance Director, Bob Tait, said that donations to the town are placed in two main accounts – designated and undesignated. Designated money will be given to appropriate town departments. In-kind gifts/events are given to the NCAC and stored at the Sim Lane warehouse. Gifts intended for the memorial are being sorted and stored at the Ace Hardware building. The NCAC is soliciting events as well. The Board of Education has a page on its website that directs donations to the Newtown Savings Bank, United Way, SH Special Revenue Fund (to benefit the town), and the SH Private
Purpose Trust (to benefit the victim’s families). Carol Ross is in charge of distribution of goods and services from the Municipal Office Building. Chris Kelsey is the town’s connection to the victims’ families. He has created a data base of donations for and from all town departments.
New Business
Mrs. Owen referred to the Gift Giving Policy proposed to the Legislative Council by the
Commission on Aging. If it is passed, it will become an umbrella policy for the entire town. Director Mangold said that because P& R already has a gift giving process, the department doesn’t have to wait for the town to adopt one. Mr. Marks suggested that the committee develop a checklist for accepting donations. Mrs. Owen has a form used by the town of Westport that the committee can revise to fit P & R’s needs. Mr. Marks said that the goal is to create a list of offers of donations.
Mr. Boritz suggested that the committee might create a data base that would help donors to match their donations with the town’s GIS system so that donors can see how their gifts, such as park benches, would be placed geographically. He said that the committee needs to determine how to process the donations, create a database, and create an on-line list of projects for donors to consider. He suggested that the Booth Library might be willing to help catalogue donations. The town’s Tech Department would also have to be involved.
Recreation Director, RoseAnn Reggiano, reported that the main categories of donations are in three categories – the Dog Park, a playground, and undesignated. There have been many donations in kind. So many activities were donated, especially in the first two weeks after December 14, that P & R didn’t have the time or space to schedule them all. In addition, many donated activities, such as Mad Science, will be held soon. Many college and professional sports figures have asked for space to hold clinics, etc. Even those events not sponsored by P & R receive department support by advertising them in email blasts. It’s been overwhelming to coordinate the requests for donated activities
Thank you notes need to be written to the donors. The committee will focus first on thanking those who have made in-kind donations. The thank you note will let donors know to what purpose their money is going.
Committee Assignments
- Mr. Boritz will contact the library to discuss the possibility of its help in cataloguing donations, the Tech Department for coordinating possible donations with the town’s GIS, and Carol Ross for information on how the in-kind donations are being processed.
- Mrs. Owen will create a questionnaire for future donors.
- Mrs. Brookes will contact Jennifer Johnston of Healing Newtown to discuss its task of cataloguing gifts and fundraising for a memorial garden.
- Mrs. Mangold will draft a sample thank you note.
- Directors Mangold, Samuelson and Reggiano will create a list of projects that donors might fund.
Jan Brookes
Committee Secretary
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