NBHA General Meeting
Municipal Building, Hermann Rd. North Brunswick
September 8, 2014
MEETING CALL TO ORDER: 7:35 Nancy Costello
ATTENDEES: Nancy Costello, Lisa Coletta, Donna Hildreth, Judy Kosiar, Sharon Weinstein-Canavan, Connie Hambel, Michele Andrea, Susan Keller, Dan Smith, Erica Bundy, Diana Sichta
TREASURER’S REPORT: Read and approved. Available on request.
MINUTES: Available on request.
EDUCATIONAL PRESENTATION: There was no Education Corner this month.
MONTHLY UPDATES AND REPORTS:
Donation Cans – Sandra No report. Available on request. If you know a store or area business where we can keep our donation cans, please let Sandra know!
Food Drive – Donna Donna reported that there were 647.45 lb.s of dry food, 724 cans of wet food distributed to date. No food drives scheduled as of this date. Help from Girl Scouts is pending.
CCAT, TNR – Donna Donna reported that as of August 31, 2014, the total number of TNR for the year was 185, bringing the total from the beginning of the program to 215. Two cats, Maria and Hope, had to be euthanized. Trapping will resume in September. Donna will be trapping twice a month. This program is a great success and a much needed service. However, we need more trappers and funds to continue. Please let us know if you can help or know of anyone who can! Full report available on request.
Membership Report – Cheryl No report. Cheryl was not in attendance. Available on request.
PR, Toyota, Heritage Day, Bowling – Jay No updates available. Jay was not in attendance.
Discount Cards- Susan Susan reported sales totaling $844.81, to date. Cards will be available at Heritage Day on September 20, Community Park, and at all of our events. We discussed the possibility of discount cards as prizes at our dog walk. The cards are a great gift idea! Please share and buy them!
Financial Report – Sharon Sharon reviewed our finances and stressed the importance of proposing a budget for events, before the event. Expenses MUST FIRST be proposed and approved. Reports are extremely important for details and budget approval. Sharon also asked to have the minutes sent to her.
Mr Subs – Donna Our last Dine to Donate on August 20 returned $61. The next date will be on September 17, from 4-8PM and the 3rd Wednesday of the month, thereafter.
UPCOMING EVENTS AND NEW BUSINESS
Feral Cat Day- Donna/Diana Feral Cat Day, October 16, is a weekday, and no event is scheduled. Donna and Diana have contacted the Girl Scouts who would like to work with NBHA on shelters, possible food drives, and other fund raisers. Details to follow.
Dog Walk – Michele/Dan October 5- Plans are in place and the project is on schedule. BJ’s is on board as a sponsor, bringing the total to 11 Sponsors and 31 Vendors. We have many gift certificates pledged and several have been received. Events for the day have been arranged. Trifolds and lawn signs are still available. Please see Dan if you can place them. Contestants for the costume contest will need to show registered wrist bands.
We are asking people to please share their photos from the dog walk. As of now, we have 9 rescue groups that will attend the dog walk. We’re still looking for rescue groups. Please contact Dan or Michele if you know of a rescue.
Since Jay was not available, we did not have a PR report, or a list of people/media contacted. Suggestions for contacts were: Channels 12 & 15, The Sentinel, Kim Jackson and Kathy Chang, as well as the Home News & Tribune. Erica Bundy will also try to reach out to these contacts. If you have any information, or other way to publicize the event, please let Dan or Michele know. Michele will reach out to the Pet Stop
OTHER DISCUSSIONS:
Planning Projects for 2015 – Group
Better organization is needed for projects. It’s important to plan an event, before deciding to engage in, or commit to any project. That includes the ability to stay within the budget, arrange to acquire any needed materials, recruit volunteers and work as a team to orchestrate plans. Communication, networking, and public relations are essential.
Newsletter – Diana
Diana plans to publish the first newsletter in October. It will be a quarterly newsletter, and dedicated to NBHA news. I welcome any articles, or news you can share. If you have any information about animals or humane groups that you would like to see in the newsletter, please contact Diana. Viper0603@aol.com
Comedy Club/Rummage Sale – Group
Planning to begin soon. Details to follow.
Fundraising, Food Drives, Partnering – Group
The Girl Scouts and Key Club have offered to help with some of our upcoming events. Details to follow.
Good and Welfare – Group
Tote Bags- $500 budget proposed and approved.
Helmetta Shelter is invited to participate in our Dog Walk
MEETING ADJOURNED: – 9:00PM
Reminders: The Municipal Building will be CLOSED on Columbus Day. Our next meeting will be on TUESDAY, October 14, 2014. Hope to see you there!