Minutes
NBHA General Meeting
Municipal Building, October 14, 2014 – 7:30PM
MEETING CALL TO ORDER:
7:30 – Vincent
ATTENDEES:
Jay Soloway, Cheryl Vitow, Marilou Carty, Barbara Hillenmayer, Jane Prestup, Linda Sheehan, Vincent Sheehan, Connie Hambel, Judy Kosiar, Susan Keller, Michele Andrea, Dan Smith, Lisa Coletta, Sandra Erickson, Ron Witkowski, Jocelyn Caffrey, Sharon Weinstein-Canavan, Annemarie Walters, Erica Bundy, Nancy Costello, Donna Hildreth, Diana Sichta
TREASURER’S REPORT:
Read and approved. Available on request
MINUTES:
Read and approved. Available on request
MONTHLY UPDATES AND REPORTS
Donation Cans – Sandra
This month, we fed 8 dogs and 17 cats. Special thanks to our new member Marilu Carty who generously offered to take a donation can to her job!
Dog Walk – Michele/Dan
Totals available: 13 Sponsors, 11 Paid. 34 Vendors, 8 Paid. 35 Dogs Pre-registered, 133 registered the day of the event, as well as 1 cat. Gross for event was $8,119.35 with a net of $6,382.71. Total NBHA jar, $105.35 in donations, and $118 donated for the dog items at the NBHA table. Michele stressed the need for more adoptable pets and more vendors for next year. Michele and Dan thanked the volunteers for their tremendous efforts. NBHA thanks Michele and Dan for another successful event!
Food Drive, CCAT, TNR – Donna
No food collections were done in September or October. Donna reported the total # of cats TNR’d from inception to date was 225. There were 24 TNR’d in September. Nala and Jasmine (2) were euthanized and we have 8 kittens in foster. Thanks to Sandra for stepping in to adopt Baby Baby! The total donations for the program to date: $6,255. We will discuss funding and balance at PFA. Sandra is working on donations from Target 2. Full report available on request.
Membership Report – Cheryl
Cheryl proposed some ideas for a membership drive. She explained the levels of membership and discussed incentives, discounts, and benefits of membership. The membership drive will also be centered around tabling events. Other ideas were plans for an Open House, and a Call to Action with incentives. The target date is January 2015. Cheryl will contact Amanda regarding the Twitter account. She stressed the need to build a relationship with the community and suggested a budget of $1500 for investments over the course of the year. The budget would be reviewed at every meeting. Motion was made and approved for $1500.
PR, Toyota, Bowling – Jay
Jay will accept all notices and flyers as well as ideas for events. He will also try to contact radio and other media for events.
Discount Cards – Susan
Susan reported sales of 31 cards, bringing the total to 178 for a profit of $1154.81.
Great job, Susan!
The South Brunswick car wash is under new management and no longer accepting our gift cards. Michele will seek alternatives.
Magyar Bank – Dan Dan spoke with representative from Magyar bank to discuss food drives and monetary support. More details to follow.
Financial Report – Sharon
No Report
UPCOMING EVENTS AND NEW BUSINESS
Planned Projects – Group
Bowling Event will be on October 18, from 6-10PM, at Carolier Lanes. Jay is the chairman and will distribute flyers. An E-blast was sent.
Milltown Yard Sale will be held at 308 Crestwood Drive on November 1, 9AM-4PM with a Rain Date of November 8. Donated items can be dropped off from October 15-28 at the site. For more details, contact Csilla at 732-227-1443
Fundraising Idea – Marilu suggested the possibility of a Halloween/Dressup for dogs.
MrSubs – A new date has been assigned. The next dine to donate will be on Monday, October 20, from 4-7 and every third Monday of the month thereafter.
Toyota Event will take place on November 18 at DCH Toyota on Livingston Avenue, from 11-4, in the service area. Toyota will provide the refreshments and anyone who eats a slice of Jay’s Kitty Litter Cake will receive $5 off the price of an oil change!
Bertucci’s Dine to Donate date will be announced soon. The restaurant needs paperwork completed before assigning a date.
Comedy Club/Rummage Sale
Stress Factory – Preliminary plans are in place for the comedy show in February. This year we will partner with Karma Cat. Volunteers are needed! PR is extremely important for this event!
A budget of $2000 was proposed and approved.
Fundraising, Food Drives, Partnering – Group
Fundraising Idea – Marilu suggested the possibility of a Halloween/Dressup for dogs.
Food Drives – The Girl Scouts and Key Club will possibly work with us on food drives.
OTHER DISCUSSIONS
Good and Welfare – Group
Love2Brew –
Sandra introduced Ron Witkowski. He wanted to do something to benefit animals and has offered a event, Pints for Paws at Love2brew. He will donate proceeds to NBHA from certain products at his business during the entire Month of November. He will write and produce his own press release, and he has his own posters. We will also advertise the event at our Bowling event, on Facebook, and Eblast. Contact: Ron@love2brew.com
Nominating Committee –
A nominating committee for officers was named and briefly discussed. More information will be available in the future.
Community Cats –
Eileen expressed concern over feral cats in an area on Rt. 27. She will contact Second Chance for Animals and discuss at a later date.
More Feral Cats –
Cheryl discussed an option for relocating feral cats at Seer Farms. She strongly suggested that anyone interested in the relocation check and visit the location, first.
Dog Park –
The Dog Park hours have been changed. The new hours are 8AM-Sunset
MEETING ADJOURNED
Reminders:
Our next meeting will be on November 10, 2014.
Hope to see you there!
IMPORTANT: At NO time should any member speak on behalf of the NBHA in any formal or informal capacity, without the prior knowledge and approval of the NBHA Board. This includes any town council meetings, public forums, media representatives, clubs, organizations, etc.
Please direct correspondence, including questions, comments or suggestions to:
Secretary – Diana Sichta Email – Viper0603@aol.com