Society
of
Of St. Austin Catholic Parish
Minutes of the February 4, 2014 meeting of the Society of
St. Vincent de Paul, St. Austin’s Conference,
Present:
Phil
, Andrea, James D, Huddie, Mary Lou, Leslie, Gary, Fr. René, Catherine, Jim,
John, Susan, Mike,& Elaine.
Christmas
Basket Project:
Huddie explained the delivery problem at the North Loop Apartments
on December 21, 2013. Several drivers from St. Austin’s took baskets to this
apartment complex and this caused a back up at the two available elevators.
Apartment staff told the St. Austin’s folks to just leave the food baskets
and gifts in the dining room and they would be delivered as space became available
on the elevators.
This caused another problem because the application papers
listing the recipient names and apartment numbers were not attached to the
boxes. Therefore, it was difficult for people to deliver the food and gifts
to the right apartment. When Huddie became aware of the problem, she made
a list of all the
Huddie said that she and co-coordinator Jennifer discussed
this situation afterwards and came up with some suggestions for next year’s
delivery that includes:
·
Having a point person at
·
Enlisting the aid of several young people to
help carry baskets to appropriate apartments
·
Making sure the apartment manager knows when the
delivery will happen and who will receive baskets
·
Using colored tags on the baskets that
coordinate to apartment numbers
·
Using different colored tags for each floor of
the complex
Huddie also addressed the problem of the large number of
families helped this year. She will ensure that fewer families are on the list
for the 2014 Christmas Basket project.
She also said that some parishioners brought gifts in after
the baskets had been filled. Because they did not meet the deadline for gift
delivery, a St. Vincent de Paul member, Elaine , was recruited to shop for
gifts the night before delivery. Huddie said that we need to stress the importance
of deadlines for food and gifts in next year’s advertising for the project.
Andrea suggested that maybe we could bring some attention to
this project in mid- summer, maybe have a “Christmas in July” promotion that
would announce the project and explain how it works.
H-E-B cards
Another aspect of the Christmas Basket project that members
discussed was the H-E-B cards. All of the
Andrea asked if there was anything SVDP members could do to
help plan this project earlier in the year. Both Huddie and Jennifer
recommended that advertising and information about the Christmas Baskets should
begin before next year’s Holiday Fair.
In summary, Huddie gave these numbers for the Christmas
Baskets:
596 people were helped; 126 people were
Huddie said that she had great cooperation with St. Austin’s
school and their liaison, Lisa Carruth. She also said that the Calendar Club
donated games and puzzles as gifts for the project.
New Business:
Mike announced an election for president of the SVDP Central
District and passed around an information sheet for the candidate, Letha Wiley.
If elected, she will take office March 1, 2014.
Minutes:
The
minutes of the January 7, 2014 meeting were approved without comment.
Capital
Area Food Bank: Mike reiterated the fact that the Food Bank is
requiring us to make food deliveries to 25 families a month to qualify for
food purchases through the Food Bank. To date, we have not made this quota.
In January, 23 families received food.
Jim said that most people who call for food ask for an H-E-B
card. He said the reason is that many elderly people are on a limited diet
and the food in the pantry does not meet their dietary requirements. They
want and need fresh food.
James D. said that he and Judy are making a point of meeting
people in the Blacklands community. They have spoken to the management there
and told them about the food pantry. He said this community is happy to get
food.
Mike said that he and Phil will meet with Food Bank staff.
They are willing to work with us to reach our quota of food distribution.
Phil reminded members to always fill out the food
distribution sheet in the pantry. These numbers are used on our report to the
Food Bank and we are currently under-reporting the numbers. He also pointed out
that many SVDP members don’t regularly come to the monthly meetings and they
miss hearing the discussion on all these topics.
Fr. René asked if food bags could be given to the people who
come to the Thursday Outreach program. James said he and Judy will talk to Pat
Macy about this again. There may also be some young people who would like to
get some of the food.
Leslie said she would contact the staff at the Mary Lee Foundation
to see if we could work with some of their clients, who are low-income and
need food occasionally.
Dispatcher’s
report: Jim reported receiving 89 calls on the message line in January.
This resulted in 24 home visits with 40 people being helped.
Treasurer’s
report: Catherine presented the January report.
The maximum amount of help per client is $200 – approved by
acclamation.
Google
help: Andrea gave a demonstration using Google to access the SVDP
monthly calendar. She will send an e-mail to members listing important points.
Next meeting:
James D will present a film highlighting Fr. Maloney’s talk
to the SVDP National Assembly last September at the February 18 meeting.
This will be at 7 p.m. in Paulist Hall.
Unapproved minutes submitted by Mary Lou.