 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
PRINTABLE VERSION
ATTENDANCE:
Minutes for 1/22/10 FCC-LI Advisory Board Meeting
An FCC-Long Island Advisory Board meeting was held on Friday, January 22 , 2010. It was
called to order by co-coordinators, Mandee Zapken and Beth Laxer-Limmer. There were 13
people present, including board members, committee chairs, and general members.
Discussed:
1. Yahoo group for board members and committee chairs: Any board members or
committee chairs who have not yet joined this group should please do so.
2. Last two events organized by FCC-LI:
a. Holiday party- This was a success.
b. Waiting Families meeting- It was a wonderful, uplifting afternoon.
3. Meeting place: We are looking for a new place to hold our FCC-LI meetings, due to
increasing costs at our current venue. This is essential, in order to prevent us from having to
charge members to attend our meetings.
4. FCC-LI finances: Funds are needed to maintain our organization, offset the cost of
events, and provide outreach.
a. We need to put effort into raising funds from our local community. There are so many
Chinese cultural organizations- We should try to connect with them for some of our events
(maybe co-sponsorship?) Mandee mentioned that an FCC group in California is holding a
Jane Brown workshop that is being subsidized by a child and family services organization to
make it cost-free to attending members. Also, FCC-Westchester is having a Chinese New
Year event co-sponsored by OCA. We should try to do the same type of co-sponsorship to
keep attending costs to a minimum.
b. We should look into possible grants. We would need a grant writer. FCC-Greater NY
has helped us out in the past. Other surrounding organizations we should try to contact are
OCA, Charles Wang, and a Queens Chinese cultural organization. We should search online
for grants.
c. We should form closer, mutually-beneficial relationships with local organizations, and
we should bring more attention to our group/ increase public awareness. There is an
upcoming Asian American Festival on March 20th at Farmingdale University. We should
have a booth there. Also, we should get involved in community service to make ourselves
known within the community.
d. Treasurer’s report- We opened up a new bank account, and are just waiting to receive
checks.
5. Possibility of new committee: Denise expressed interest in spearheading a cultural
awareness committee for the kids to do things together (i.e. dumpling making day, craft
making day, etc.) The board and committee chairs voted and agreed that this would perhaps
be a good idea for a sub-committee.
6. FCC-LI Lunar New Year Celebration :
a. Event details- This year’s LNY celebration will be March 7 from 2-5 pm at the Charles
Wang Center at Stony Brook University. We are not doing a big buffet this year, but instead
are having more culturally-based events (lion dance, crafts -making lanterns and masks,
marketplace, raffle, 2 workshops- art workshop and drum workshop). We are looking into the
possibility of other workshops as well, depending on cost: Columbia Chinese Yo-Yo Team or
brushpainting. Light refreshments will be served (i.e. cookies and juice). We want to keep
the fee nominal to encourage people to come. Also, to limit costs- we should look into
Restaurant Depot for our tablecloths, etc, as the prices are reasonable. We need help, so
please contact Beth if you want to help out.
b. Finances- $1880 is the projected cost for our organization. At $12 per person, we
would need at least 158 people to come to cover the cost. We will have family cap of $48 per
family (immediate family only). Attendance must be capped at 200. We will have a raffle-
Please contact Beth if you have anything to donate for the raffle (13 gifts received so far).
We are charging $100 per table for commercial vendors: China Sprout, Gail Bauer (who will
give discounts to FCC-LI members for sales on her website), China Exposure, Pearl River
TV. Other possibilities of vendors to contact: Mei Mei Magazine, Adoptive Families Magazine,
Our Chinese Daughters Foundation (OCDF). Another possibility is a book booth, with
relevant books- we can work with a book store like Barnes and Noble, or contact FCC-NY as
they have had successful book booths in the past. We should ask China Sprout to bring
flashcards (i.e. their language flashcards), rather than books, if we have a book booth. Any
FCC-LI member who wants to have a space as a vendor table, we ask for them to make a
donation (whatever they can give), whether a financial donation or a raffle donation. Another
possibility- doing the lucky bamboo table again. Maybe the Youth group can volunteer at this
table? The money made on vendor table fees will go to our organization, and the money
made on our raffle will go to orphanage assistance- Love Without Boundaries and Amity
(FCC-Greater NY’s organization).
c. In advance of the event, for the children attending the LNY party, we will be assigning
times that they should be at each workshop. We are doing this in order to prevent the pileup
at the door that we have had in the past (when people have had to sign their children up for
craft times). We may be able to have students volunteer for hands-on activities, for their
community service credit.
7. Youth Group:
a. Idea for possible fundraiser- Host an exchange of some sort (i.e. clothing exchange),
where we can all bring gently used items to be sold and bought by members at inexpensive
prices.
b. Lunar New Year- The Youth Group maybe can volunteer to help younger children with
crafts, etc (since many youth group children are older).
c. Past event- Held ice skating event. The children had a great time.
d. Upcoming meetings: Dumpling-making on February 6th, also planning April 17th
meeting at East Meadow church- game night.
8. Educational:
a. Contacted Kathy Denowski, who is interested in doing workshops with us. She is a
retired ex-adoption social worker and adoptive mom, who runs a culture camp.
b. Would like to host WISE Up program- It would be expensive, but maybe we could have
this subsidized by FCC-Greater NY. This program helps children deal with all the tough
questions from peers, etc. Maybe we should open this up to others within the adoption
community (i.e. those who have been adopted from other countries, etc.)
c. Another workshop possibility- programs regarding ESL and other special services,
what children are entitled to in the school district, etc. Maybe an advocate can come and talk
about parents’ rights.
9. Waiting Families:
a. Recent Waiting Families meeting- Had 90-95 people RSVP, and 80 showed (including
9 waiting families).
b. Numbers- 4 families just returned home with their children this Fall. There is 1 new
referral, 1 family in China now, and 2 families due to get referrals in the next batch.
Currently, there are 15 total waiting families.
c. Meetings- Meetings are held every 2-3 months. The plan is to have every other
meeting open to general membership. At the next meeting, the plan is to have Kathy
Denowski come to do a workshop on bonding and attachment, or something else pertinent to
the group.
10. Website:
a. The minutes are up from the last meeting. We get 40-60 hits on the website per day.
b. Yahoo group- We have 428 people on our email list, but only 150 people are on the
Yahoo group.
11. Fundraising:
a. Co-chair position- Mandee will help with fundraising at upcoming events (i.e. LNY
Celebration). We are looking for a co-chairperson for this committee. We won’t do any major
fundraisers until a co-chair is found.
b. Fundraising idea- FCC-LI cookbook. Maybe we can incorporate family pictures into
the cookbook, so it will include your family recipe with a photo of your family.
12. Membership: We are still looking for a chairperson for this committee- to recruit
new members and find old members who haven’t been around in a while and invite them back.
13. Men’s Group: Upcoming event idea- Long Island Ducks game, for a dad’s/uncle’
s/grandpa’s/etc night out with the kids. When the date is set, Danielle will send out a
notification to the entire FCC-LI email list.
14. Lending Library: Would like to make the lending library more public to FCC-LI
members. Kate will send email to the group before events, to let everyone know she will be
there and can bring whatever books, etc, they may be interested in borrowing from the library.
15. Holiday Party: If the economic climate doesn’t change, we should do the same as
this past year (cookie exchange). 75 people attended.
16. Other event possibilities:
a. Little Chefs in Syosset said that they will open up for an event just for FCC-LI. It
would be a 2 hour program (cooking activity), for children ages 3 and up. The children would
be split into older and younger groups. The older children would make chicken and broccoli
dumplings, and the younger children would make a traditional Chinese cake. This event
would be limited to 25 children at a time, and would include the cooking activity, a craft and
singing and dancing. It would take place on Friday evenings (dates to be decided). So, we
can set up a few Fridays, with 25 children in each session, to allow as many children as
possible to be able to attend a session.
17. FCC-LI Property for Rent: We still have for rent: A cotton candy machine, sound
system, megaphone, 2 dragon heads, craft supplies, serving tray racks and artificial
poinsettia plants.
18. Upcoming Meetings: The next FCC-LI Advisory Board meeting will be held on March
19th. Meetings are held every other month and are open to all members of FCC-LI.
The meeting was adjourned by our co-coordinators, and all were thanked for attending.