Serving the blind and low vision population of South Central Kentucky
A chapter of the Kentucky Council of the Blind
SCKCB Minutes for January 6, 2009.
The meeting was called to order at approximately 7:10 p.m. at the Alive Center in Bowling Green, KY by our ex-officio "Co-President," Braden Ussery. Members present were Mitchell and Simon Reed, Sue and Max Robinson, Ron and Palma Milliman, Justin Spencer, Bill Clouse, Erica Cutright, Braden Ussery, Andrew Head, David Welch, and Nicole Punyum. Also present were potential new members Donna Tooley, Don and Mora Gerard, Garth and Gene Whicker, and Jennifer and Bella Shoemaker. Vice President Ron Milliman presided over the meeting in the absence of our current President, Nancy Imran.
The first order of business was to present the Brailed and large print bus schedules to Donna Tooley of Community Action in Bowling Green. The bus schedules are printed in both English and Spanish. Ms Tooley was very pleased with the new schedules, and said that they were probably the first and only service of its kind to have accessible bus schedules like those available for the public in the state of Kentucky! Ms Tooley also stayed as a guest at our meeting. Bill Clouse asked Ms Tooley if they had any plans to implement a fifth route. She said that their goal is to create a fifth route within the next six months.
The next order of business was to approve the minutes of the previous meeting. Max Robinson made the motion to approve the minutes, and Andrew Head seconded the motion. The motion passed.
The treasurer's report was given by Max Robinson. We currently have a total balance of $3,052.81. This amount included $1,280.74 in our 'general fund' and $1,772.07 in the 'grant fund.' A motion was made by Max Robinson to pay back the $400 that was originally borrowed from the 'general fund' to start the grant fund. The motion was seconded by David Welch. After a brief discussion, the motion carried. thus, when the $400 was moved over from the 'grant fund' back to the 'general fund,' in compliance with the approved motion, it resulted in a new balance of $1,772.07 in the 'general fund' and $1,280.74 in the 'grant fund.' A motion was made to approve the treasurer's report by Palma Milliman and seconded by Sue Robinson; the motion was approved.
Next, Max Robinson shared some information about a couple of technology devices that he brought to show the group. One was a very small mp3 player with ear buds and the other device was a magnifier, which he made himself by cutting a binocular in half; it allows him to do close up work in his workshop at home.
Old Business:
A demo of the new SCKCB brochure was passed around the room for everyone to see. It is a tri-fold 8 ½ X 11 sheet that was created by both Ron Milliman and Simon Reed. Ron wrote the copy and Simon worked on the layout and graphics. It is ready to take to the printers. The brochure will be placed in eye doctor's offices. Plus, any of our members may also help distribute them. A motion was made by David Welch to print 1,000 of the new brochures for distribution; the motion was seconded by Max Robinson and approved.
Sue Robinson gave an update on our paid membership. We currently have 18 paid members. That did not include any guest(s) present at our meeting that may have paid before leaving. Vice President Milliman brought up the suggestion made by Andrew Head at our previous business meeting about inviting other people (e.g. family members, business associates, etc.) to become Honorary Members/Friends of SCKCB as another way of raising funds. Honorary Members would pay dues, be added to our SCKCB e-mail list, and attend meetings, but would not be allowed to vote on business issues but would be invited to take part in all of our social activities, summer picnic, Christmas party, etc.
The SCKCB Grant Program:
It was noted that in order for someone to be eligible for an SCKCB Grant an individual has to be a member in good standing for a minimum period of one year. The SCKCB Grant will provide up to one half of the cost of the item(s) requested. It is up to the individual to seek funds from other sources to cover the remainder of the cost of their request. As of today, there have not been any grant proposals submitted. Thus, all eligible members were encouraged to submit a grant request. The guidelines and forms are on our SCKCB website.
Vice President Milliman requested that secretary, Palma Milliman, read the proposed Constitutional amendment for the third and final time, so that we could vote on it. Palma read the original portion(s) of the SCKCB Constitution, and then, read the proposed changes. Max Robinson moved to accept the changes as read, and Bill Clouse seconded the motion. The motion carried unanimously. Thus, the newly amended constitution will be published shortly by Max to our SCKCB website. We are still looking at options concerning the concert fundraiser discussed at our previous meeting. After some attempts at negotiating with the Jimmy Church Band by David Welch and Ron Milliman, it was decided that this particular band was not a good option for us. Therefore, we are still looking at other possibilities, e.g. the Doc Livingston's Jazz Band, the Kentucky Headhunters, etc.
New Business:
Getting our new SCKCB brochure printed up and sent out to local eye doctors is a very high priority for the first half of 2009. It was also suggested that we invite the local ophthalmologists to attend our meetings as our guest speakers. Everyone agreed that it was a good idea. The date of our next meeting is scheduled for the first Tuesday in February, which is February 3, 2009. The meeting was adjourned at 8:42 p.m. by Co-President, Braden Ussery.
Respectfully submitted, Palma Milliman, SCKCB Secretary