MINUTES OF JANUARY 16, 2008 MISSION CIRCLE BOARD

Attendees:

Tom Theisen, Don Brosnahan, Dale Burchby, Vreni Crimmons, Pete Godefroy, Laura Wagner, Pauline Marsh, Jan Nelte, Leo O’Loughlin, Maggie Hillenbrand, Christina Palmeri, Lucie Walther

Meeting opened at 7:00 pm with a prayer by Tom.

Meeting minutes of December 19, 2007 Board Meeting were approved.

Peter Godefroy will be interim Treasurer in Tony’s absence.

Lucie reported that approximately $7,650 had been raised from the recent mailing, and Tom indicated that $1,400 had been raised from his letters to previous donors. Tom and Lucie will work on drafting and distributing letters of thanks to the donors. Jan will work on the next round of letters and Peter Godefroy will send her previous letters for examples.

A motion passed that MC will contribute $200 as a bonus to Alfonso for his very extensive work related to getting the Epiphany presents across the border prior to the event. Vicki will receive $50 for her role in the same event.

The final Epiphany costs for food and blankets were $6,081 and $2,640, respectively. Christina has ~$500 of expenses that she will turn in.

A general observation was made that MC will likely continue to be more independent of the church’s finances due to the church’s own financial concerns.

Don indicated he had heard nothing more on the white van from the diocese. MC does need to refrain from letting the Youth in the van, but our general approach will be to not ask anyone any questions regarding the white van status. MC is still trying to get the brown out of its possession.

Dale reported that he is still looking for volunteers and that tutoring at St. Leo’s has been switched to Wednesday.

There has not been any further news or developments on MC becoming incorporated.

Newsletter: Peter Godefroy will supply a narrative on Peter Kopkowski’s retirement from construction projects.

Sr. Alicia is having her Golden Anniversary on Feb. 8, MC will contact Sr. Anna Maria regarding supporting the event.

At Corazon, the sisters were flooded out in the lower main room by a sewer line that backflowed during the heavy rains. The flooring will be removed and a new one installed, along with a check valve to prevent further events.

Christina reported that she located another volunteer for the Emergency Outreach program.

Laura reported that another delivery of food donations had been made to Catholic Charities.

At Casa Eudes, Vreni would like to organize a play for the girls and she will look around inside the parish for assistance.

Vocation Training Center: There was nothing new to report other than Ken and Maggie had spoken and there needs to be further conversations with the sisters regarding what they would like to see happen with the program. It was suggested that Ken and Maggie speak to Sr. Anna Maria and that either Fr. Howard or Christina could act as interpreter.

Maggie reported that the Nueva Esperanza health fair had been well attended. The program allowed participants to be weighed, have blood work done, and there was a hair booth. MC supported the event with $300.

The Fish Feast event for MC is Feb. 22^nd. There was discussion regarding how to have a greater spiritual aspect for the Lenten event, such as Stations of the Cross, etc. Tom Theisen will send out an email regarding volunteering for the event.

Epiphany results: Around 60 adults volunteered for this year’s event. The wrapping party went smoothly and labeling the gifts was a very good idea. The assistance from the Academy was appreciated. At the event, the only significant mishap was that the colonia Nueva Esperanza was short about 50 chickens.

There was discussion regarding whether the Epiphany event conveys enough spirituality and also whether the event was the best use of MC’s limited funds. Church leaders at two of the three colonias expressed concern over the event sending the wrong message to the families that participate and the leaders would rather see MC participated in sustainable programs within the colonias. It was noted that the Epiphany is the one charity event that MC performs each year and that the rest of the work MC performs is more programmatic in nature. Further discussions on this topic may be held in future months.

Note: The January MC board meeting will be at 7:00 pm on February 20.