Rotary Club of Conifer Videoconference Meeting October 27, 2020

Announcements/Business
  • Rotary Zone Institute is November 12-14, virtual meetings and training, a great opportunity!  Check it out, https://zone2627.org/2020-rotary-institute/.
  • November 1 Lunch and Fundraiser with RI President Folger.  Register here, https://portal.clubrunner.ca/50085/Event/rip-holger-virtual-luncheon---polio-fundraiser by 10/31, Saturday.  Cost: $28, $25 goes to fighting Polio.
  • Brittany Woodrum completed her Colorado 14rs fundraiser to climb our 14rs with a 14 pound Shelterbox on her back!  She raised $100,000+.
  • Amanda, Leonor and Julie, proposed an idea for a fundraiser to raise money for our foundation by silent-auctioning COVID masks.  We discussed when would be best to do this, the consensus of ideas was to call the event ‘Mask-uerade’ and to do it before Black Friday.
  • Morti suggested the possibility of fundraising with a wine sale, possibly in January.  She has done this with Aspen Peak Winery and was very successful.  UPS & FedEx will ship.  We could realize up to $10 per bottle in income for the foundation.
  • Janine reported on the Foothills Home, Garden and Lifestyle Show pre-planning online meeting this past week.  COVID is forcing us to decide that the Homeshow will not happen next year.  She will contact vendors who left deposits with the show to see if they are willing to donate a portion of their fees to the show and the community support it provides.
Program: Wes Paxton, Rotary Conifer Foundation
Rotary Conifer Foundation Annual Report
  • Total assets, including reserves in May2019: $105K
  • Total income 2019-2020 $17K, severely impacted by the pandemic
  • To compare, in past years foundation income was $26K to $30K
  • There will be no additional RYLA scholarships.  The 2020 RYLA was cancelled by COVID-19 so 2020 funds were moved forward to 2021 RYLA, if it occurs.
  • For 2019-2020 expenses were $18K.  That consisted of RYLA scholarships, Community Grants, and scholarships for graduating high school students.
  • Approximate income for 2020-21 will be about $8K because we have been restricted by COVID-19.  Most of that came from Peach Sales donations thanks to Angela and her helpers.  Many customers donated all or part of their peach payments to the foundation.
  • We have foundation records going back 12 years and our total giving to the community through grants and scholarships exceeded  $232K!
  • 2020 grant applications are due today from non-profits.  Awards will be notified November 17th and they will be invited to a future meeting to tell us how they will use their grant funds.
  • The Foundation will be giving Scholarships in the spring.  Those applications will be due March 26th next year.
  • Our next board meeting November 10th. We will be determining the grant awards from the applications we received.
  • Questions
    • Leonor.  Can we use the ConiferFest website for the fundraisers we discussed: masks auction and wine sale?  Wes will add it to the board meeting agenda as they must approve.
    • Nancy.  What is the endowment account?  Answer: It is included in the foundation’s total assets.  Money given to foundation many years ago to be an endowment.  Former member Dennis Schavietello and Ed set up the account with $25K, the intent was to only use the interest earned for foundation giving.  The Foundation Board decides what to do with that money, now worth $48K.
    • Nancy.  How long has foundation been in existence, only 12 years?  Ed responded and informed us that records have only been kept for 12 years.  Angela said that the Foundation was formed in 1999.
    • Marlis.  For this year, we need to make up the $15K to $20K shortage in fundraising if we want to continue giving as we have in the past.  Fundraising events this winter such as Mask-querade and wine auction will help.  Marlis asked for volunteers to head these fundraisers.  Amanda, Leonor and Julie said they were already working on the mask auction fundraiser idea and they will continue the work.  Morti said that she will head the wine sales event since she has done that before but she will need others to assist.  Leonor offered to help Morti with marketing.  Wes said that the leaders will need to present their fundraising ideas to the board.
    • Tom Becker.  Suggested that he will contact his business partner to see if they can help with a dinner fundraiser for Rotary.  He and Fran own Castles & Kitchens and they could do a gourmet take-out dinner for cost to Rotary, profits would go to the Foundation.  They did a similar successful event for Stagedoor Theater.  Tom contacted Fran and she agreed that they can do the fundraiser dinner.  With further discussion, Valentine’s Day was agreed as a good time to have this event.
    • The group suggested making a video to promote Conifer Rotary to the community.  Amanda offered to help.
    • 3 good fundraising ideas for the Foundation.  Morti, Amanda, are Tom are planning to present to the board on November 10th.
  • To enable club members to observe the Foundation Board meeting, Wes will send an online meeting invite to club
  • Presentation Slides: