Date: Friday, June 8, 2007

Location: Perkins Restaurant, US 60/US19, Clearwater, FL

In Attendance: Ronnie Taylor, Nicole Hadley, Amanda Alamo, John Dellavalle, Tammy Gibson, Jeff Tayntor, Jalika R Waugh, Heather Brealey, Tracy Enright

Meeting was called to order by Nicole Hadley at 7:10pm.

AGENDA/ITEMS ADDRESSED

• We started off the meeting with some introductions, as new and old members mixed it up!
• An agenda was passed around to keep the meeting informative yet casual enough to talk it all over. The following items were discussed/addressed:
• Review membership information
• Update on website
• Upcoming Events
• Community Service/Criminal Justice Projects
• Roundtable Discussion

Community Relations/Community Service:

“Adopt-a-Highway”: JRW has called the Hillsborough DOT representative and discussed transferring the contract NPP currently has to Pinellas County, as most members could more easily commute to this side of the Bay. After JRW's conversation, the DOT rep said he'd "call back" with the information on transferring contract. That was in MARCH. Until we hear from the HDOT, we are not cleaning up the area on the Courtney Campbell Causeway. We will continue to hold the sanitation items hostage until we get our contract transferred.

Habitat 4 Humanity: JRW discussed that this kind of project would not need all members to be present to participate. At any time, NPP members can wear their shirts (if they have one; if not, we discuss that below) and sign up for a H4H job. It is quite rewarding and a great way to serve our community. For members who are not close to Pinellas county (as that is the H4H we get info for), they can research joining their local H4H by going to the website: http://www.habitat.org/cd/local/. Once you type in your zip code, they will give you information for a local chapter near you! Any time a member participates in a H4H event, wearing our shirt will get our name out there and we can honor you in our quarterly newsletter!

Cell Phones for Good Use: JRW discussed a project coordinated by the Largo Police Department. The domestic violence (DV) representative mentioned they would greatly appreciate old or used cell phones (with wall chargers) to give to DV victims who go back home so they have a method of contacting 911 in case of emergency. Several members mentioned they have some phones and would be willing to donate them. Another idea brought up was to kindly solicit patrons of cell phone stores to donate their old ones if purchasing new ones. Chris B. works at a cellular phone store and he will be asked if that is something we can do at his business.

Activities:

JRW has set up a "Guest Speaker Dinner Meeting" for SEPTEMBER. Our guest speaker: Cpl. Rusty Roberts from the Pinellas County Jail. Due to his rigorous training schedule, the soonest he could be available was Friday, September 14. He is available from 6-9pm and was eagerly looking forward to it! Nicole H. and JRW will arrange the catering and specifics of where to house the meeting.

Saturday, October 13 (@ 8AM) is the Tampa Police Department's Memorial Run. JRW will speak with the contact person and find out details/information about signing up and any fees that should be paid. UPDATE: JRW spoke with the Lt. in charge of organizing the Memorial Run. He mentioned it is a 5K run/walk and the entrance fee is $15 per person. I told him about our group and he mentioned several things: 1) If we run/walk as a group (more than 8 folks) he can give us a discounted price; 2) TPD usually does a charity fundraising for the Memorial Run at a Sports Authority store in Tampa, They can't get over to Pinellas anymore and would love our help. They do this on a Saturday in mid/late September and said we could "volunteer" for them by getting folks to either sign up for the run or donate the money. If we say the donation fee is $20, we can give TPD their $15 and we keep the extra $5 for our Chapter. He also mentioned that they could use volunteers for projects and such and JRW told him we'd love to volunteer (hope y'all didn't mind!). He will keep in touch with me to let me know when they need (and how many) volunteers and we'd get with them to work their projects.

November (Thanksgiving) is when we'd like to collect food for our Metropolitan Ministries "Boxes of Hope". Around late October, we will begin asking for donations and set up a collection drop off to get those foods to folks who would appreciate it.

December (1st Saturday) brings us another opportunity to run/walk for a good cause. Pinellas County Sheriff's Office has a "Run with the Stars" event but will not have any information posted on it until early November. JRW will find out as it occurs with her connection at the SO.

Financials:

Beth Z. and JRW will review bank statements to determine how much is available in the NPP account. With that number, we should be able to figure out fundraising needs to supplement fliers, postings, mailings and other incidentals naturally incurred with any business.

JRW expressed to members that it may seem like a lot of money to dish out $60 every year ($30 to Nationals and $30 to NPP) but we, just as any other business would, need to have a working capital available to our Chapter for any financial issues that may arise. It was agreed by "Board" members that cutting off new applicants at $15 for half year membership was ok. If a member joins after June 1st, they will pay $15 membership dues. Otherwise, dues notices will be sent out for collection at the beginning of each calendar year.

UPDATE: Beth Z. will review all paperwork (as given by JRW for paid dues) and send out email notices to those who have still not paid NPP chapter dues. Also, bank issues will finally be resolved once she meets with former President M. Maley to retrieve bank statements, credit cards, etc on Monday, June 18. Once that is accomplished, JRW (as secretary) and Beth Z. will update any banking information needed.

Fundraising/Miscellaneous:

JRW will be sending out an email to all members asking for shirt orders. Our "shirt guy" Kyle Peeples, has a list of all items he can give us with our logo: long sleeve t-shirts, polo shirts and mock t-necks. All that is needed from members is size and quantity. Once an order has been placed, JRW send off and it should take a few weeks to get the order in.

Tracy E. would be willing to work on the website (as Chris B. has been very busy) and get it actually updated! When Chris B. gets a chance, we will transfer all emails/passwords to Tracy so she can fix pages, update info, and work on making it absolutely beautiful! Thanks so much Tracy for stepping up to the plate and getting this moving for us.

Amanda A. had some really good fundraising ideas: A proposed dog wash at Crest Lake in Clearwater (as well as looking into the working with the K9 unit at Pinellas Park PD??) when the Honor Society @ SPC ISN'T working the dog park (!) In addition, Amanda A. also mentioned a "toners for cash" program in which she would provide hundreds of toners for us to donate for cash. Jeff T. said he knows of a Pack-n-Ship place that would allow us to ship them for free. All we need are volunteers to pack up the toners, etc. into the boxes and we should be able to get anywhere from $2 to $100 for all of them. If we can collect some of these 2 or 3 times a year, we could actually gain some funds for our bank account. UPDATE: Beth Z. said she can get tape and boxes from her job and we can get this moving!! JRW, Beth Z, Jeff T, and Amanda A. will coordinate getting this together so we can raise those funds! Beth Z also suggested sending letters to businesses for their toners and do pick ups; also, perhaps doing a candy fundraiser as well as supporting our own walk/fundraising drive.

Nicole H. (speaking for Diane A. who was working and had to miss the meeting) mentioned that we should get back to also doing something for ourselves, such as a Bowling night or Mini Golf. Most folks said it's too hot for Mini Golf but Bowling sounded pretty good! Nighttime bowling, Large Group deals and League info were also mentioned and Amanda A. said she would check into it. "Prodigal Son" John D. has returned and also mentioned a "hot dog cookoff" to be held at his place in Lakeland. JRW will be beating him senseless and we will coordinate a date/time that works for everyone. Other items brought up were a volleyball league and we will talk about it again in future meetings.

JRW will make sure the PO Box zip code is correct. UPDATE: Beth Z. will find out the actual zip code. Right now, the zip code is 33781. When Tracy takes on the website, she can update the zip code and contact information.

Meeting was adjourned by Nicole Hadley at 8:19pm.