Next meeting: August 22 at 12:30 Note this is earlier than usual, since we need to make sure we are prepared for the Beckmann event. (I’m still checking to make sure Fourth Reformed can host us.)
Present: Al, Dave, June, Kris, Lou, Mary-Ann, Mary J., Mary D., and Stephanie
Mary J. led the meeting and took notes.
Prayer: Mark 6:30-34, Litany to the Holy Name (The Fire of Peace, p. 179)
Political-candidate survey Dave has put together a rough draft of a survey and gave it to Stephanie to pick up the project from there.
Present: Al, Dave, June, Kris, Lou, Mary-Ann, Mary J., Mary D., and Stephanie
Mary J. led the meeting and took notes.
Prayer: Mark 6:30-34, Litany to the Holy Name (The Fire of Peace, p. 179)
Political-candidate survey Dave has put together a rough draft of a survey and gave it to Stephanie to pick up the project from there.
Video about hunger in Holland
Yadah Ramirez (a student from Holland High who recently helped make a video about discrimination in Holland) and Stephanie have agreed to try to make a brief video about hunger in Holland. They intend to interview people who have experienced hunger, asking them what they would like others to know about their experience or situation. The purpose of the video is to drive home the reality of hunger in Holland and help dispel common myths about hungry people. Once the interviews are recorded, Dominic plans to do all or most of the editing.
So, we need to find people for our interviews. Suggested sources include CAH, Community Kitchen, Rescue Mission, and local pantries. Fourth reformed has given us a list of candidates, and St. Vincent promises to ask clients if they’d like to be interviewed. (I visited St. Vincent’s after the meeting.) We may need to have people sign a statement authorizing us to use their interview. Anyone with a specific lead on interviewees should contact Stephanie and Mary J.
We plan to post the video on our web site, and possibly show it at the David Beckmann event.
Church visits and survey
Kris and Lou reported that they distributed their packets as much as possible. They did not manage to actually ask the survey questions. Overall, a couple of address errors were encountered, and a few respondents did not recall getting their packets. Anyone who would like to resend a packet or send to a church not on our list is welcome to get a new packet from Mary J.
Mary J. asked for feedback on her column for the Sentinel (reporting on our survey). Al suggested that the sentence about medical emergencies leading to poverty should be strengthened by referring to “millions of families.” Others suggested that the list of agencies supported by local churches include the Rescue Mission and Christian Neighbors.
Publicity for Beckmann event
Kris and Lou volunteered to contact the Holland and Zealand classis of the CRC to ask them to promote the Beckmann event. The deacon’s conference will also be able to help with promotion. Also, the deacon’s conference will have a training event in October and has indicated that they would like a BFW breakout session. Kris said he could help with that.
Mary J. or Stephanie needs to send out to our team a pdf version of our poster, so that we can all distribute it more readily.
Community Partners. Mary J. has a letter ready for local agencies, informing them of the Beckmann event and inviting them to share with us what is at stake for them in the lame-duck session. Team members signed up to deliver the letter, along with appropriate materials.
Political leaders. We have another letter for local government functionaries. Mary J. will make sure that letter gets sent out soon.
Sentinel. Dave agreed to work on getting the Sentinel to publicize the Beckmann event. We have a press release from Mike Troutman. We hope to add some information about local hunger and concerns of local agencies before submitting it to the Sentinel. We also need to add our website to the press release.
Radio stations. Al will approach WHTC about publicizing the Beckmann event. June mentioned that many people listen to Christian radio. Any one who knows the specifics about such stations should let Mary J. know, so we can follow up.
Postcards. We have the names of 113 area BFW members who have not supplied email addresses to Bread. Tentatively, we will send them postcards, though we have to think about our budget (see below).
Email reminders. We have email addresses for many BFW members, area churches and agencies, etc. Dominic has been working on getting email reminders to all such contacts.
Maas Auditorium preparations and budget
We plan to have 150 chairs set up for the Beckmann event. Stephanie will ask if we can offer local agencies to have a table in the back of the room. If the answer is “yes,” then team members delivering publicity materials will mention this opportunity to the agencies. Already, CROP and BFW are planning to have tables.
Stephanie has checked with Hope about food availability. They provide water at a cost of $5/50 people, bread and jam at $0.95/person, and coffee at $1.00/person. If we figure water, bread, and jam for 150 and coffee for 100 people, that comes to $257.50. We have about $70 in a bank account but may need some of that for more printing or postage. So, we need to come up with somewhere around $200. Kris said he may be able to get a donation from the Christian Reformed World Relief Committee.
Yadah Ramirez (a student from Holland High who recently helped make a video about discrimination in Holland) and Stephanie have agreed to try to make a brief video about hunger in Holland. They intend to interview people who have experienced hunger, asking them what they would like others to know about their experience or situation. The purpose of the video is to drive home the reality of hunger in Holland and help dispel common myths about hungry people. Once the interviews are recorded, Dominic plans to do all or most of the editing.
So, we need to find people for our interviews. Suggested sources include CAH, Community Kitchen, Rescue Mission, and local pantries. Fourth reformed has given us a list of candidates, and St. Vincent promises to ask clients if they’d like to be interviewed. (I visited St. Vincent’s after the meeting.) We may need to have people sign a statement authorizing us to use their interview. Anyone with a specific lead on interviewees should contact Stephanie and Mary J.
We plan to post the video on our web site, and possibly show it at the David Beckmann event.
Church visits and survey
Kris and Lou reported that they distributed their packets as much as possible. They did not manage to actually ask the survey questions. Overall, a couple of address errors were encountered, and a few respondents did not recall getting their packets. Anyone who would like to resend a packet or send to a church not on our list is welcome to get a new packet from Mary J.
Mary J. asked for feedback on her column for the Sentinel (reporting on our survey). Al suggested that the sentence about medical emergencies leading to poverty should be strengthened by referring to “millions of families.” Others suggested that the list of agencies supported by local churches include the Rescue Mission and Christian Neighbors.
Publicity for Beckmann event
Kris and Lou volunteered to contact the Holland and Zealand classis of the CRC to ask them to promote the Beckmann event. The deacon’s conference will also be able to help with promotion. Also, the deacon’s conference will have a training event in October and has indicated that they would like a BFW breakout session. Kris said he could help with that.
Mary J. or Stephanie needs to send out to our team a pdf version of our poster, so that we can all distribute it more readily.
Community Partners. Mary J. has a letter ready for local agencies, informing them of the Beckmann event and inviting them to share with us what is at stake for them in the lame-duck session. Team members signed up to deliver the letter, along with appropriate materials.
Political leaders. We have another letter for local government functionaries. Mary J. will make sure that letter gets sent out soon.
Sentinel. Dave agreed to work on getting the Sentinel to publicize the Beckmann event. We have a press release from Mike Troutman. We hope to add some information about local hunger and concerns of local agencies before submitting it to the Sentinel. We also need to add our website to the press release.
Radio stations. Al will approach WHTC about publicizing the Beckmann event. June mentioned that many people listen to Christian radio. Any one who knows the specifics about such stations should let Mary J. know, so we can follow up.
Postcards. We have the names of 113 area BFW members who have not supplied email addresses to Bread. Tentatively, we will send them postcards, though we have to think about our budget (see below).
Email reminders. We have email addresses for many BFW members, area churches and agencies, etc. Dominic has been working on getting email reminders to all such contacts.
Maas Auditorium preparations and budget
We plan to have 150 chairs set up for the Beckmann event. Stephanie will ask if we can offer local agencies to have a table in the back of the room. If the answer is “yes,” then team members delivering publicity materials will mention this opportunity to the agencies. Already, CROP and BFW are planning to have tables.
Stephanie has checked with Hope about food availability. They provide water at a cost of $5/50 people, bread and jam at $0.95/person, and coffee at $1.00/person. If we figure water, bread, and jam for 150 and coffee for 100 people, that comes to $257.50. We have about $70 in a bank account but may need some of that for more printing or postage. So, we need to come up with somewhere around $200. Kris said he may be able to get a donation from the Christian Reformed World Relief Committee.