here - GPA
Transcription
here - GPA
GPA Houston Monthly Membership Meeting Tuesday, July 19, 2016 Tracy Gee Community Center 6:30 p.m. MEETING MINUTES Attendees: Arden Tucker Jennifer Winters Kathy Henry Marlane Bernardo (phone) Sherri Clark Meeting Commenced: 6:30 pm Treasurer’s Report – Not available at this time Meeting Minutes – Not available at this time Dogs Dog Status Dahlia is possibly going to be adopted by the son of the woman who found her as a stray. Wilma is still healing from her broken knee – no running allowed Boo is still in foster-with-intent Vergil’s tail is now healed Arya pulled out one of her nails in the kennel Cabo appears to have an eye disorder and will see Dr. Swanson Hugo is a double cryptorchid so we will have to use one of our premier vets for his surgery. Rosie is likely going to be adopted this week.in An 11 year old female, Sara, is being surrendered to us soon. Tres still has a bad case of hookworms and giardia. Current Adoptions, Applications 30 adoptions to date in 2016 o 1 adoption appointment tomorrow o 2 possible adoptions on Saturday 24 applications at this time o 7 prior adopters o 13 applications in process Events / Fundraising Houston World Series of Dog Shows – July 22-24 We still have a few holes in the schedule where volunteers are needed. Mark and Nancy will set up the booth for us. Jim Kent Memorial Ducky Dunk Recap Water was very cold but it was a lot of fun Event raised over $10,000 (not counting any matching funds) Considering doing this again next year – maybe the last week of June. Next year we may have it where people can pledge in honor of a person or their pet. Golf Tournament – October 14th at Southwyck We already have our first team and our first hole sponsor Tickets will be on sale soon through the gift shop Some prizes for the auction have already been purchased including a 60” television. Fall Auction Auction is postponed until next spring Coffee Fundraiser A member’s sister is selling coffee that is ground and packaged near Brenham. A 1# bag sells for $16.99 and has free shipping GPA will receive 10% of the purchase We are using 4 of the 6 “Stella” art pieces on the packaging. The sales are through eBay. Adjourned at 7:05 pm Kathy moved to adjourn and Jennifer seconded the motion. Approved. GPA Houston Monthly Membership Meeting Tuesday, June 21, 2016 Tracy Gee Community Center 6:30 p.m. MEETING MINUTES Attendees: Arden Tucker Pat Freytag Sherri Clark Marlane Bernardo (phone) Kim Harrison Mark Brooks Guests: Jennifer Winters Meeting Commenced: 6:40 pm Treasurer’s Report – Reports for March, April, and May 2016 March 2016 - Net Income for the month is negative Income o Corporate donations from G E Foundation and Amazon.com. o Received donations for the General Fund. o Additional revenue was received from adoption fees, 2016 dues and merchandise sales. Expenses o Expenses beyond normal monthly items included: Food for the membership party 2 months of AT&T bills and service for modem April 2016 - Net Income for the month is negative Income o Corporate donations from Phillips 66, Chevron, iGive, NGA, Amazon.com, Safeway (Randall’s) and Kroger Share Program. o Received donations for the Greyt Wellness Fund and for the General Fund. o Additional revenue was received from adoption fees, 2016 dues and merchandise sales. Expenses o Expenses beyond normal monthly items included: Quarterly tax preparation Cost of “Rainbow” T-shirts (all have been sold) May 2016 - Net Income for the month is positive Income o Corporate donations from Amazon Smile and Amazon.com. o Also received a corporate donation of $7,188.72 from Subaru for their “Share the Love” event held mid-November through year-end. o Received donations for the Greyt Wellness Fund and for the General Fund. o Additional revenue was received from adoption fees, 2016 dues and merchandise sales. Expenses o Expenses beyond normal monthly items included: Fee for the booths at the July Dog Show. Annual E-Grey subscription Mark moved to approve the treasurer’s reports and Arden motion. Approved. . Meeting Minutes – Minutes for prior meeting were sent out and approved earlier by email. Dogs Dog Status Boo and Ja Ja Boonie are in foster-with-intent Wilma slipped on the floor and has a broken knee Tres has been found and is staying with his foster family. Very thin with injuries and parasites. Cabernet and Audi may board during July 4th foster period if we cannot find a foster family for them Current Adoptions, Applications 28 adoptions to date in 2016 19 applications at this time o 9 approved o 10 pending o Many prior adopters wanting another dog Finance & Investment Report – 1st Q 2016 - Kenny prepared a variance report comparing 1st Q 2016 to 1st Q 2015, 1st Q 2016 to 4th Q 2015, and 1st Q 2016 to 2015 Average. A lot of the variance in this analysis is due to the timing of the receipt of matching funds for December 2015 vs. December 2014. 1st Q 2016 to 1st Q 2015 o 1st Q 2016 has negative net income vs. positive net income for 1st Q 2015. The main difference is that the December matching funds for 2014 were paid in January 2015 and the matching funds for 2015 were paid in December 2015. 1st Q 2016 to 4th Q 2015 o 1st Q 2016 has negative net income vs. positive income for 4th Q 2015. December matching funds for 2015 were paid in December 2015 so there was a large private donation seen for the 4th Q 2015 instead of being booked in the 1st Q of 2016 as in the previous year. 1st Q 2016 to 2015 Average o 1st Q 2016 has negative net income vs a slight positive for the average of 2015. This was again primarily because of the December matching funds were booked in December 2015 instead of in January 2016. Building Fund - Discussed if there are any restrictions related to the GPA Building Fund. Based on our search of GPA’s records, there is not a legal document associated with this fund. It is a “rainy day” fund and it appears that the money does not need to be used for construction of a new building. Board Membership - Jennifer Winters submitted her application for board membership. After reading her application, the board unanimously approved her application. Welcome Jennifer. Events / Fundraising Jim Kent Memorial Ducky Dunk Will be held on July 4th in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of North Hampton, NH Marlane and Joe Bernado will brave the cold water to raise funds for GPA in memory of Jim Kent. Already have pledges of approximately $1600. Houston World Series of Dog Shows GPA will have a booth at the event and needs volunteers (with or without your greyhound) – July 22nd, 23rd, and 24th. New Storefront – Natural Paws in Vintage Park Shopping Village (249 & Louetta) This will be a new event for GPA and will be held each month on the 3rd Saturday of the month. Gilman Subaru Storefront Because of the new Natural Paws storefront on the same day, we will need to see if we can get additional volunteers for Subaru. Will try to switch the time to 2 hours instead of 3 hours. Adjourned at 7:50 pm Mark moved to adjourn and Arden seconded the motion. Approved. GPA Houston Monthly Membership Meeting Tuesday, March 15, 2016 Tracy Gee Community Center 6:30 p.m. MEETING MINUTES Attendees: Arden Tucker Pat Freytag Sherri Clark Marlane Bernardo (phone) Kathy Henry Mark Brooks Meeting Commenced: 6:35 pm Treasurer’s Report – Report for December 2015 Net Income for the month is positive Income o Corporate donations from Giving Works, GE Foundation, Chevron, iGive, Amazon.com, TGA Grant and Kroger Share Program. o Received donations for the Greyt Wellness Fund and for the General Fund. o Additional revenue was received from adoption fees, 2016 dues and merchandise sales. Expenses o Expenses beyond normal monthly items included: Posters for Gillman Subaru, two months fee for Rite Response, and charges for boarding at Best Friends (higher than normal number of dogs in program) Sherri moved to approve the treasurer’s report and Mark seconded the motion. Approved. . Meeting Minutes – Minutes for prior meeting were not available Dogs Dog Status There are currently 25 dogs in the program including 7 permanent fosters, 12 available and 6 with vetting in progress. Reggie was adopted Gordo is in foster with intent Geaux Geaux was adopted Jolie had additional x-rays on her leg and they have been sent to Dr. Wall Henna was recently returned Current Adoptions, Applications 14 adoptions to date in 2016 22 applications at this time Events / Fundraising April 16th – Three events No Label Brewery “Pups and Pints” Event – Katy TX Gillman Subaru Storefront Texas A&M Vet School Open House Spring Auction We will decide the exact date when Sherrie Kent returns from vacation. Tim Heller is helping to check the descriptions for accuracy. Limited Edition T-Shirt We have new limited edition t-shirts on order. Pat showed the new design. Golf Tournament Discussion about Gillman Subaru being a possible sponsor for the golf tournament. Bylaws Joe Bernardo is involved with revising the National GPA bylaws and will get a copy of those revisions to us as soon as they are available. GPA Houston will start working on our bylaw revisions after reviewing the national changes. Some potential changes being discussed for GPA Houston are allowing spouses to serve on the board at the same time and changing the minimum number of board members. Adjourned at 7:30 pm Arden moved to adjourn and Sherri seconded the motion. Approved. GPA Houston Monthly Membership Meeting Tuesday, January 19, 2016 Tracy Gee Community Center 6:30 p.m. MEETING MINUTES Attendees: Arden Tucker Pat Freytag Sherri Clark Kim Harrison Marlane Bernardo (phone) Kathy Henry Meeting Commenced: 6:50 pm Treasurer’s Report – Report for November 2015 Net Income for the month is negative Income o Corporate donations from Amazon Smile, Halliburton, Hale Pet Door, Chevron, and Amazon.com. o Received $1376 (partial total) from the 2015 online auction o Received donations for the Greyt Wellness Fund and for the General Fund. o Additional revenue was received from adoption fees, 2016 dues and merchandise sales. Expenses o Expenses beyond normal monthly items included: Constant Contact terminal and boarding at Best Friends (higher than normal number of dogs in program) Sherri moved to approve the treasurer’s report and Arden seconded the motion. Approved. . Meeting Minutes – Minutes for October and November were sent out prior to the meeting. Arden moved that the minutes be approved and Kim seconded the motion. Approved. Finance & Investment Report – 4th Q 2015 Kenny prepared a variance report comparing 4th Q 2015 to 4th Q 2014, 4th Q 2015 to 3rd Q 2015, and 12 months ending 12/31/2015 to 12 months ending 12/31/2014. . 4th Q 2015 to 4th Q 2014 o Both quarters have positive net income; however 2014 had a larger gain primarily because of large private donations from the golf tournament fundraiser. o Medical Expenses were lower in 2015 4th Q 2015 to 3rd Q 2015 o Positive net income for the 4th quarter but negative for the 3rd Q. o Larger private donations in the 4th quarter because of the matching fund drive. 12 months ending 12/31/2015 to 12 months ending 12/31/2014 o Both periods have positive net income with 2014 about 20% higher. o Private donations were more in 2014 because of the golf tournament. o Large difference in payroll and payroll taxes because of an additional employee in 2015. Kenny also prepared graphs for the period 2006 to 2015. Graphs show GPA has had positive income for the year since 2010 even though medical costs have been increasing. Dogs Dog Status There are currently 30 dogs in the program including 9 permanent fosters and 1 on medical leave. Four pending adoptions: John, Felix, Astrid and Speed. Kaskey was returned. We lost permanent foster Nina due to seizures. We have 11 new dogs (6 female, 5 male) in the program that are going through vetting. Will do small dog testing next week The breeder says Diaz and Nova are small dog and cat friendly but they went wild at the vet when they saw small animals. Current Adoptions, Applications 56 adoptions in 2015. Have 4 adoptions to date in 2016 23 applications at this time – 7 are current members wanting another dog. Events / Fundraising No Label Brewery “Pups and Pints” Event – Katy TX – December 19th Recap It was a nice day and GPA had 10-12 dogs. A lot of people came by to visit our dogs A non-animal group had a raffle at the event so we will consider doing this in the future. A loose greyhound was walking around near the highway and a group of GPA volunteers found the owner and gave him good information about taking care of his dog and not allowing her to run loose. We will try to get on their schedule again in March or April Member Appreciation Party February 7th 2016 – Houston Farm & Ranch The party will be from 11:30 – 3pm – ending a little earlier because of Superbowl. We will have a silent auction instead of a live auction this year. Volunteer awards have been shipped and Kathy Henry will announce the winners. Sherri will do the welcome to the event. We are having 36 limited edition T-shirts made to sell. Nancy Brooks is taking care of the table decorations and Sandy Herman is preparing the goodie bags. Gulf Greyhound Park Closing We received boxes from the track containing their adoption records so that we will be able to help identify found/lost dogs adopted from GGP. We also got 15 racing silks, a baby bed in the shape of a race car, chairs and tables and material that Sherrie Kent is using to make coats for greyhounds. Golf Tournament Our 2016 Golf Tournament is set for Friday, October 14th 2016 at Southwyck. They are charging us the same price as in 2014. December Matching Funds Very successful matching funds program - surpassed 2014 totals. Adjourned at 7:30 pm Kim moved to adjourn and Arden seconded the motion. Approved. GPA Houston Monthly Membership Meeting Tuesday, November 17, 2015 Tracy Gee Community Center 6:30 p.m. MEETING MINUTES Attendees: Arden Tucker Pat Freytag Sherri Clark Kim Harrison Marlane Bernardo (phone) Meeting Commenced: 6:30 pm Annual Meeting Treasurer’s Report – Report for October 2015 Net Income for the month is negative Income o Corporate donations from Phillips 66, John Dalton Racing, Event Wines, Chevron, iGive, Safeway (Randall’s) and Amazon.com. o Received $1290 (partial total) from the 2015 online auction o Received donations for the Greyt Wellness Fund and for the General Fund. o Additional revenue was received from adoption fees, 2015 and 2016 dues and merchandise sales. Expenses o Expenses beyond normal monthly items included: HyperOffice database cost for 10 users (this fee was donated back by a member) Sherri moved to approve the treasurer’s report and Marlane seconded the motion. Approved. . Meeting Minutes – Minutes for September were sent out prior to the meeting. Arden moved that the minutes be approved and Kim seconded the motion. Approved. Dogs Dog Status There are currently 28 dogs in the program including 10 that are available for adoption, 6 that are being prepared for adoption, 11 permanent fosters, 1 on medical leave. All of the dogs have foster homes scheduled for Thanksgiving foster period except for Astrid and we have a potential spot for her. Audi did well during her spay. Kaskey and Penny are in homes as “foster-with-intent”. Nick and Carly were adopted recently and are doing well in their homes. Shyla and Hendrix are doing well in their foster homes. Current Adoptions, Applications 52 adoptions in 2015 through mid-November. 21 applications at this time – 12 approved and 9 are pending. Events / Fundraising Gulf Greyhound Park Closing We have a statement about the cessation of live racing at GGP on our website and will add one to the next newsletter Ken Hoffman had a link and blurb about GGP in his column Pat will talk to Genie at GGP about getting a “Marky” (lure) to use in an auction Online Auction Auction made about $5500 – still have some shipping costs to calculate. Kingwood Barkfest – November 7th Windy and rainy weather for the event. Need to revisit whether or not this is a good event for GPAH No Label Brewery “Pups and Pints” Event – Katy TX – December 19th Andrea Steger is coordinating this event. We still need more information about the event. Kim will contact Andrea and the brewery Christmas T-shirt We will have a limited edition Christmas t-shirt – total of 36 shirts. Member Appreciation Party 2016 The event will be held February 7th at Houston Farm & Ranch Vet Baskets Arden will coordinate asking members to provide appreciation baskets for the veterinarians that donate services to GPAH Matching Funds We again have a generous member who will match donations to GPAH during December 2015. Discussion Board Kate Peary is looking into a different discussion board forum program for GPAH to use with our website. December Meeting will be canceled Adjourned at 7:30 pm Sherri moved to adjourn and Kim seconded the motion. Approved. GPA Houston Monthly Membership Meeting Tuesday, October 20, 2015 Tracy Gee Community Center 6:30 p.m. MEETING MINUTES Attendees: Arden Tucker Pat Freytag Kathy Henry Sherri Clark (phone) Kim Harrison Marlane Bernardo (phone) Kenny Freedman Mark Brooks Guests: Jennifer Winters Alan Bath Connie Bath Meeting Commenced: 6:48 pm Annual Meeting Treasurer’s Report – Report for August 2015 Net Income for the month is negative Income o Corporate donations from Amazon Smile, Giving Works, Haliburton, Chevron, Safeway (Randall’s) and Amazon.com. o Received donations for the Greyt Wellness Fund and for the General Fund. o Additional revenue was received from adoption fees, 2015 dues and merchandise sales. Expenses o Expenses beyond normal monthly items included: Annual tax preparation fee for GPA Corporation Report for September 2015 Net Income for the month is negative Income o Corporate donations from John Dalton Racing, Chevron, iGive, Kroger Share Card and Amazon.com. o Received donations for the Greyt Wellness Fund and for the General Fund. o Additional revenue was received from adoption fees, 2015 dues and merchandise sales. Expenses o Expenses beyond normal monthly items included: Yearly fee for auction software (24 Fundraiser) but this cost was donated back by a member 2 months of telephone billings Mark moved to approve the treasurer’s report and Arden seconded the motion. Approved. . Finance & Investment Report - 3rd Q 2015 Kenny prepared a variance report comparing 3rd Q 2015 to 3rd Q 2014, 3rd Q 2015 to 2nd Q 2015, and 9 months ending 9/30/2015 to 9 months ending 9/30/2014. . 3rd Q 2015 to 3rd Q 2014 o Both quarters have negative net income; however the loss was less in 2015. o Higher private donations and higher adoption fees in 2015. o Medical Expenses were lower in 2015 3rd Q 2015 to 2nd Q 2015 o Negative net income for both quarters but the loss in 3rd Q was significantly more. o Lower corporate and private donations in the 3rd Q compared to the 2nd Q. o Medical Expenses were higher in the 3rd Q than in the 2nd Q 9 months ending 9/30/2015 to 9 months ending 9/30/2014 o Both periods have negative income but the loss was less in 2015 o Private donations were significantly more in 2015. Corporate donations and adoption fees were also higher in 2015. o Large difference in payroll and payroll taxes because of an additional employee in 2015. Meeting Minutes – Minutes for September will be provided in November Dogs Dog Status There are currently 30 dogs in the program including 10 that are available for adoption, 9 that are being prepared for adoption, 10 permanent fosters, 1 on medical leave. Holmes was adopted today Carly is doing well in her foster home and has lost 12 pounds. Very good news for her health. It is likely that we will not get any more dogs before the end of the year, as we will not have time to have them altered before foster period begins We still do not know what effect the closing of Gulf Greyhound Park will have on GPAH and other adoption groups. Some breeders are starting to pull their dogs out of GGP now. Current Adoptions, Applications 49 adoptions in 2015 through mid-October. 18 applications at this time. 7 applicants are approved and are waiting on the right dog for their situation or on timing issues. Several more applicants are close to being ready for adoption. Events / Fundraising National Convention – GPA Marlane and Joe Bernardo attended as GPAH representatives The GPA National president is very much on top of what is happening in the industry National realizes all groups are having a hard time getting enough volunteers and some groups are having financial difficulties. They want groups to know that national is available to help them both with financial problems and to just talk through problems and ideas. Communication from National to the chapters needs to improve – ideas for how to implement this were discussed. There is now a GPA National Facebook page where the chapters can share information about events etc. Discussed ways for chapters to support and communicate with other GPA chapters At local events, we should stress that GPAH is part of a national organization. Also need to make sure our representatives at events are racing neutral in their comments. Discussed contingency plan to move dogs to adoption groups when a track closes. In Texas, Abilene (TGA) has space for ~ 400 dogs. Need to show all of our dogs on Greyhound Data as “rehomed by GPAH” or other similar words. This gives another method of reuniting lost dogs with their owners plus it helps get more accurate information out to the public about the true number of greyhounds that are adopted. National bylaws are out-of-date and need to be updated. Joe Bernardo is on the bylaw review committee. Online Auction Auction is in progress and ends next Monday. 153 items in the auction – current bids ~$2400 Nancy Brooks will help with packaging and shipping CreekFest/Blessing of the Animals - Recap Mark reported that GPAH received some donations and that while there may not be any immediate applications from the event, seeds were planted for future adoptions. Kingwood Barkfest – November 7th Terri White, Kathy Henry and Mark and Nancy Brooks will attend plus possible other volunteers. We will have a tent and canopy Last year the event was “rained out” even though it ended up not raining. Festival hours are from 10-4. We need to have volunteers there for the entire shift. No Label Brewery Event – Katy TX - December Andrea Steger is coordinating this event. One animal group is invited to attend on Saturdays The venue is outside and is pet friendly so people bring their dogs. We need more information about whether or not we can have raffles, take donations or sell items. Old Town Spring Storefront On December 12th the event will change times from 2-4 pm to 11-1 pm because of a conflict with a members wedding. Adjourned at 7:39 pm Pat moved to adjourn and Mark seconded the motion. Approved. `GPA Houston Monthly Membership Meeting Tuesday, September 15, 2015 Tracy Gee Community Center 6:30 p.m. MEETING MINUTES Attendees: Kim Harrison Mark Brooks Sherri Clark Kenny Freedman Arden Tucker Guests: Meeting Commenced: 6:40 pm Treasurer’s Report – Not available at this time Meeting Minutes – Minutes for July were sent out prior to the meeting. Kim moved that the minutes be approved and Mark seconded the motion. Approved. Dogs Dog Status Currently 31 dogs in the program, 10 are permanent fosters, 10 are available for adoption, 9 are in the process of being medically evaluated and 2 have adoptions pending (Daisy and Dottie). Penny is doing well in foster but she is still timid. Express is having health issues and has had several vet visits. Nina is new to our permanent foster program. She is a lovely 10 ½ year old cow dog that will be going to an experienced foster home. Shirley is also new to the program. She was found as a stray in Garwood, TX along with a Saluki that is going to STOLA. Shirley was spayed and had a dental last week while she was in quarantine. She will be coming to the kennel tomorrow. Nicholas is being treated for a potential UTI and seems to be doing better. We recently got in Rosewire, Lochte, Stevie and Cabernet. Current Adoptions, Applications 41 adoptions so far in 2015 (net of returns) and 2 dogs have been chosen and will be adopted soon. 18 applications Several adopters are approved and waiting on the right dog. 3 of these are current members waiting on another dog. Events / Fundraising Old Town Spring Meet and Greet Mark and Nancy Brooks are taking over as coordinators for this event Fall Online Auction – Event will be held October 18th – 26th Pat finished proofing the auction items list and photos. Arden and Sherri will also proof everything. Gulf Greyhound Park Closure Discussed what effect the end of racing will have on GPAH. There are a lot of questions and not many definitive answers Big questions are: o Will there be enough greyhounds in the future o Will there be too many greyhounds needing to enter adoption programs at the same time. We will await more information from official sources before trying to make any long term decisions Kingwood Barkfest Event will be held November 7th Kathy Henry and Teri White will be the coordinators The weather was forecast to be bad last year so GPAH did not attend. We are hoping for better weather this year. No Label Brewery - Katy Event will be held December 19th from 12 - 3 GPAH will be the only animal group there that day Event will be held outside – they limit the attendance to 800 people. CreekFest/Blessing of the Animals Event will be held October 3rd Mark and Nancy will be the coordinators. Need to pick up additional GPAH banners from the office. Possible event – Animal Parade & Festival in Rosenberg We do not have much information about the event at this time other than the date – October 25th. Adjourned at 7:27 pm Sherri moved to adjourn and Mark seconded the motion. Approved. `GPA Houston Monthly Membership Meeting Tuesday, August 18, 2015 Tracy Gee Community Center 6:30 p.m. MEETING MINUTES Attendees: Kim Harrison Mark Brooks Sherri Clark Pat Freytag Guests: Meeting Commenced: 6:47 pm Treasurer’s Report – Reports for July 2015 Net Income for the month is negative Income o Corporate donations from Giving Works, John Dalton Racing, Event Wines Chevron, and Amazon.com. o Received donations for the Greyt Wellness Fund and for the General Fund. o Additional revenue was received from adoption fees, 2015 dues and merchandise sales. Expenses o Expenses beyond normal monthly items included: Quarterly tax preparation fee Annual liability insurance premium High vet bills including $4000 for emergency surgery for Zullo. Kim moved to approve the treasurer’s report and Mark seconded the motion. Approved. Meeting Minutes – Minutes for July will be provided next month Dogs Dog Status Currently 28 dogs in the program, 11 are permanent fosters including Dottie and Express, 9 are available for adoption and 8 are in the process of being medically evaluated. Dottie came in from Lott, TX. She is very anemic and can’t have shots or spay until she has gained weight and her blood work is better. She is staying with an experienced foster family and is already gaining weight. Cat testing and small dog testing will be set up soon. Current Adoptions, Applications 35 adoptions so far in 2015 (net of returns) 20 applications Several applicants are ready to adopt, a few have been on the list for quite a while without adopting so will probably drop out. The rest are working through the process with office visits, home visits and reference checks. Events / Fundraising Fall Online Auction – Event will be held October 18th – 26th Sherrie Kent has been working hard on this and has many of the items photographed and ready to load in the software program. Nancy Brooks has offered to help. Gillman Subaru Storefront The August storefront was much slower than the prior month. Some of the people who stopped by seemed seriously interested – planted seeds for the future Had good volunteers working at the event. Discussed having a larger banner Kingwood Barkfest Event will be held November 7th Kathy Henry and Teri White will be the coordinators Other Handicap Van donation Mark Brooks told us about a program where Las Vegas Metro/City donates handicap vans to non-profit groups once they have a certain amount of miles on them. We discussed whether or not a van would be of use to GPA-Houston. Adjourned at 7:34 pm Mark moved to adjourn and Kim seconded the motion. Approved. `GPA Houston Monthly Membership Meeting Tuesday, July 21, 2015 Tracy Gee Community Center 6:30 p.m. MEETING MINUTES Attendees: Arden Tucker Kim Harrison Kathy Henry Mark Brooks Sherri Clark Pat Freytag Marlane Bernardo (phone) Guests: Lisa Kostrzynski Nancy Brooks Meeting Commenced: 6:37 pm Treasurer’s Report – Reports for April, May and June 2015 April 2015 - Net Income for the month is negative Income o Corporate donations from Giving Works, Hale Pet Door, Event Wines, Chevron, and Amazon.com. o Received donations for the Greyt Wellness Fund and for the General Fund. o Additional revenue was received from adoption fees, 2015 dues and merchandise sales. Expenses o Expenses beyond normal monthly items included: Event fee for use of Houston Farm & Ranch for Membership Party Filters/adapter for the water lines at the kennel. Boarding fees for 3 dogs (quarantine for stray/shelter dogs) Valentine, Anubis and Lulu May 2015 - Net Income for the month is negative Income o Corporate donations from Amazon Smile, Giving Works, Halliburton, John Dalton Racing, Chevron, iGive, NGA and Amazon.com. o Received donations for the Greyt Wellness Fund and for the General Fund. o Additional revenue was received from adoption fees, 2015 dues and merchandise sales. Expenses o Expenses beyond normal monthly items included: 2 months of AT&T phone service Higher than normal vet bills. June 2015 - Net Income for the month is positive Income o Corporate donations from ThermoFisher, Jefferies & Co, Chevron, Safeway (Randall’s), Kroger Share Program, and iGive. o Received donations for the Greyt Wellness Fund and for the General Fund including a donation from Kathy Glockl’s estate. o Additional revenue was received from adoption fees, 2015 dues and merchandise sales. Expenses o Expenses beyond normal monthly items included: Fee for the booths at the July Dog Show. Annual copier maintenance fee Worker’s compensation insurance premiums Annual fee for Constant Contact (newsletter service) Mark moved to approve the treasurer’s reports and Sherri seconded the motion. Approved. Financial Variance Report – Kenny prepared a variance report comparing 2nd Q 2015 to 2nd Q 2014, 2nd Q 2015 to 1st Q 2015, and 6 months ending 6/30/2015 to 6 months ending 6/30/2014. . 2nd Q 2015 to 2nd Q 2014 o Both quarters have negative net income; however the loss was less in 2015. o Higher corporate and private donations and higher adoption fees in 2015. o Payroll costs and payroll taxes are higher in 2015 because of an additional employee. 2nd Q 2015 to 1st Q 2015 o Negative net income for 2nd Q and positive net income in 1st Q. o Significantly lower private donations in the 2nd Q compared to the 1st Q. o Payroll taxes were higher in the 2nd Q than in the 1st Q 6 months ending 6/30/2015 to 6 months ending 6/30/2014 o Both quarters have slightly negative income o Private donations, corporate donations and adoption fees are all higher in 2015. o Large difference in payroll and payroll taxes because of an additional employee in 2015. Meeting Minutes – Minutes for March and April were sent out by email and approved in June. The meetings for May and June were canceled so there were no minutes for those months. Dogs Dog Status Currently 29 dogs in the program, 10 are permanent fosters including Dottie, a new senior expected to be a permanent foster. Dottie came in from Lott, TX. She is very anemic and can’t have shots or spay until she has gained weight and her blood work is better. She is staying with an experienced foster family and is already gaining weight. 7 new dogs came in last week. New dogs are very friendly. Three girls came to us from HOT when they had to close. They have had shots and been spayed already – Astrid, Josie and Amira. Express is doing well for a 12 ½ year old. We have not heard anything from his prior owner. Current Adoptions, Applications 32 adoptions so far in 2015 (net of returns) 16 applications – 1 with a pending adoption 2 current members want to adopt again 4 applicants have been approved and are waiting on timing or for us to have the right dogs to choose from. A new adopter/foster family will be coming in next week with their shy greyhound, Phoebe. They are hoping that she will be more comfortable and gain confidence from being with another greyhound The rest of the applicants are moving through the application process. Events / Fundraising Houston Dog Show Recap The booth looked great and it was very nice having 3 spaces Volunteers did a good job including several new people and dogs. Only made $265 this year – usually we make enough to cover the cost of the booths. There were less people attending and less quality vendors this year. Next time we will have a table out front with a large donation jar on it. This year it was on the side and not everyone saw it. The setup and tear down was fast and very well planned out. Gillman Subaru Storefront This will be an ongoing event on the 3rd Saturday of the month Sonya Denisuk and Mark Brooks will coordinate the event The dealership is small and does not have a lot of space for us – we will need to bring a maximum of 4 dogs for each shift. Mark has a banner to use for the event and we will have a donation jar. We have been tentatively chosen as one of two charities to receive funds during Gillman’s End of Year sale event (mid-November through December 31st). For every car sold during that period, one of the charities receives $250. GPA National Meeting – September 18th and 19th Marlane will be attending the meeting as the representative from GPA-Houston. She has not received a lot of information yet so she doesn’t know the schedule. She will bring back detailed information about what GPA National has planned. Vet Research Study A vet at the dog show is doing research and talked to some of our members about using greyhounds for the study. They would need blood samples which should not be a problem. They also want a skin sample ~ 1” sample from under the arm which might be a problem for a greyhound with their thin skin. We need more information about this to be able to make a decision. Adjourned at 8:17 pm Sherri moved to adjourn and Arden seconded the motion. Approved. `GPA Houston Monthly Membership Meeting Tuesday, April 21, 2015 Tracy Gee Community Center 6:30 p.m. MEETING MINUTES Attendees: Arden Tucker Kim Harrison Kathy Henry Mark Brooks Sherri Clark Pat Freytag (phone) Meeting Commenced: 6:54 pm Treasurer’s Report - Not available at this time Dogs Dog Status Currently 27 dogs in the program, 8 are permanent fosters including Buttercup, a new permanent foster 3 new dogs are coming in next week. Rebel, a 10 year old male is being surrendered. We will take him then he will be going to GALT. Carly, who was adopted about 5 years ago is being returned because of family problems. Elsa has 4 broken toes instead of the 1 that we knew about when she came in. The breaks are not recent. Two new dogs will need to be treated for tick-borne disease but have low titers. Plan to do small dog testing later this week Cogburn will be fostered with intent by the same family that adopted Dreamer. Current Adoptions, Applications 19 adoptions so far in 2015 (net of returns) 14 applications (2 just came in) – 1 plans to pick up Blaise soon Several applicants are waiting on moves, graduation etc. Events / Fundraising Barkin’ Beans Event Recap The rain held off, but there was almost no traffic. Store is very nice and the owner, Leslie gave a bag of beef lung filets for the kennel dogs. We will try again in the fall. Spring Online Auction Auction will be postponed because our auction coordinator has health issues. We will look at having a small Facebook auction. Texas A&M Vet School Open House The annual event will be this Saturday, April 25th. There are a lot of new people signed up to participate Gillman Subaru Storefront Sonya Denisuk has met with Gillman Subaru and they would like to host and event for us It will be either the 1st or 2nd Friday in May Lisa Kostrzynski is taking over the items we will be handing out at the event for their approval This may be a regular event if it is successful April Murphy Second Saturday at Winter Street Studios – June 13th from 2-5pm April will again be highlighting GPAH in her studio at this event. No greyhounds will be allowed to attend April will donate one print to GPAH for every print sold at the event Caricature Artist Kim met an artist who draws caricatures of pets and she will donate one for us to have in an auction or other event Greyhounds as Emergency Blood Donors Mark Brooks told us that Stuebner Airline Animal Clinic is offering free services for greyhounds whose owners would bring them in as emergency blood donors. His 3 dogs will be signed up for this. Dr. Choyce at All Pets Animal Hospital in Katy also offered this for greyhounds. Discussed how to let our members know about these offers. We will send Lisa K the information about the programs. Adjourned at 7:48 pm Mark moved to adjourn and Sherri seconded the motion. Approved. `GPA Houston Monthly Membership Meeting Tuesday, March 17, 2015 Tracy Gee Community Center 6:30 p.m. MEETING MINUTES Attendees: Arden Tucker Pat Freytag Sherri Clark Kathy Henry Mark Brooks Kim Harrison Marlane Bernardo (phone) Guests: Laurie Green Dave Clark Meeting Commenced: 6:54 pm Treasurer’s Report January 2015 - Net Income for the month is positive Income o Corporate donations from WoofTrax, Schwab Charitable Fund, BP, John Dalton Racing, Event Wines, Chevron, Meyer Foundation, Walmart, Safeway (Randall’s), TGA (grant), Kroger Share Program, iGive and Amazon.com. o Received an additional $60 for the Fido’s Photos Christmas photo fundraiser. o Received donations for the Greyt Wellness Fund and for the General Fund. o Additional revenue was received from adoption fees, 2015 dues and merchandise sales. Expenses o Expenses beyond normal monthly items included: Yearly sales tax Tax preparation fee for W-2’s and W-3’s High Protatek fees for tick-borne disease testing because there were a lot of new dogs to evaluate. Costco yearly membership National dues ($3 for each dog adopted and $3 for each dog returned) Costs for cardiologist to evaluate Kaybee Sherri moved to approve the treasurer’s report and Kim seconded the motion. Approved. Meeting Minutes – November minutes were sent out prior to the meeting Mark moved to approve the minutes and Arden seconded the motion – Approved. January minutes were handed out during the meeting and several small changes were made. Mark moved to approve the minutes as corrected and Arden seconded the motion – Approved. Dogs Dog Status Currently 26 dogs in the program, 8 are permanent fosters There are pending adoptions on 3 dogs: Menlo, Tea Rose and Vodka. Small dog testing was done recently with poor results. We have several very high prey drive dogs. Several of the new dogs also had hookworms and will need to be treated for tickborne diseases. Blaise will need to be treated for Babesia Keefe still has high Erlichia titers after being treated with Doxycycline for 30 days. Prior titer was 1:89,000 and current is 1:49,000. He will need to stay on Doxycycline for another 2 months then he will get Babesia shots. Arden will foster him throughout his treatment. Patrice is doing very well in her foster home and sleeps on her foster father’s lap. Pedro is doing excellent in his foster home with Pat. Turbo and Zullo both have very high prey drive Current Adoptions, Applications 12 adoptions so far in 2015 (net of returns) 3 pending adoptions of current dogs. Many applicants need small dog friendly greyhounds Events / Fundraising Member Appreciation Party We had a good turnout for the party considering there were a number of other events being held that day around town. One negative issue was that we were locked out of the venue in the morning so we were not able to get in early to set up. All the volunteers worked very hard to get everything ready before most of the members arrived. It appears that we netted between $1500 and $1600. Barkin’ Beans Event Event is planned for April 11th from 1-4 on the sidewalk in front of the Barkin’ Beans Pet Nutrition store. The owner of Barkin’ Beans says that there is usually a lot of foot traffic on Saturday afternoon It is in the same strip center as Bayou City Seafood on Richmond Ave. and Bayou City Seafood will provide snacks Spring Online Auction Auction will probably move to late May or June. Nancy Brooks offered to help with the auction Will need donations of items for the auction – a notice will be placed in the newsletter Texas A&M Vet School Open House The annual event will be on April 25th. Jennifer and Brent Winters have offered to help Kathy Henry organize the event this year We will be in the same spot as last year with 2 ½ spaces and a fan. Will need the logo for the newsletter. Membership Renewal We plan on sending out a renewal letter with an emphasis on updating contacting information rather than focusing on the membership dues. With our new database, we want to make sure we have current information on as many members as possible with more information about the dogs included on the form. Discussion about sending out an email letter then following up with regular letter and maybe a phone call for those who do not respond. Will check into whether it is possible to have an electronic version of the renewal/information form on the website or in HyperOffice Volunteer Involvement There was a lot of discussion about ideas for getting more members involved with the organization events and especially with becoming members of the board. We will include an article in the newsletter each monthly highlighting a member of the board (or other person actively involved with GPAH). They will talk about “why I like being on the board” or “why I choose to be involved with this activity” Kathy Henry volunteered to be the board member highlighted for April. She will focus on the A&M event that she has been involved with for many years. New Discussion Board Our current discussion board is outdated and not many people are using it. We will look at options for upgrading/changing it. GPAH Bylaws of the Corporation Our current bylaws are 25 years old and need to be reviewed and possibly revised. Arden will send out copies of the bylaws to members of the board. Adjourned at 8:40 pm Kim moved to adjourn and Mark seconded the motion. Approved. GPA Houston Monthly Membership Meeting Tuesday, January 20, 2015 Tracy Gee Community Center 6:30 p.m. MEETING MINUTES Attendees: Arden Tucker Pat Freytag Kim Harrison Kathy Henry Mark Brooks Ken Freedman Guests: Jennifer Winters Brent Winters Sandy Herman Meeting Commenced: 6:47 pm Director Resignation Lisa Pierce is resigning from the Board and the Adoption Committee as of March 1, 2015. We would like to thank Lisa for all her work on the adoption committee, fundraising and general dedication to the organization and look forward to seeing her at our future events. Treasurer’s Report November 2014 - Net Income for the month is positive Income o Corporate donations from Macaroni Grill, Amazon Smile, Giving Works, Hale Pet Door, Chevron, Amazon.com and Safeway (Randall’s). o Received and advance on the 2014 December Matching Fund o Some revenue from the fall online auction and calendar sales o Late payments for golf tournament received o Received donations for the Greyt Wellness Fund and for the General Fund. o Additional revenue was received from adoption fees, 2015 membership dues and merchandise sales. Expenses o Expenses beyond normal monthly items included: Event fees for the golf tournament Cost for switching from Trackabeast to Hyperoffice Boarding fees while dogs in The Woodlands facility December 2014 - Net Income for the month is negative Income o Corporate donations from Texas Adopt a grey Society, Chevron and NGA. o Generated ~ $485 from the Fidos Fotos event; $3,480 from the Fall Online Auction o Received donations for the Greyt Wellness Fund and for the General Fund. o Additional revenue was received from adoption fees, 2014 dues and merchandise sales. Expenses o Expenses beyond normal monthly items included: Cost for the new Hyperoffice Database (however the cost was donated back to GPA) Shipping for the online auction items Boarding fees for The Woodlands location Higher than normal veterinary charges Mark moved to approve the treasurer’s report and Kenny seconded the motion. Approved. Dogs Dog Status Currently 19 dogs in the program 10 in permanent foster 5 out 10 new dogs have Tick Borne diseases New dog in on Friday, 11yrs old. Current Adoptions, Applications 57 adoptions for 2014 (net of returns) 13 current applicants – plus some members who are possibly looking for another greyhound Most of the current applicants require a small dog friendly hound. Events / Fundraising Membership Appreciation Party – February 15th at Houston Farm and Ranch There will be items for a silent auction and raffle Not too many responses at the moment however this is normal and people either register last minute or just show up. T-shirt colours were discussed and the conclusion was to offer 2 colours, purple on green and green on purple. New logo created for us by member Crystal looks wonderful! December Matching Funds Drive Recap During the month of December, a member had generously offered to match donations up to $20,000. The total amount raised during the drive including the matching was approximately $43k. Calendar for 2016 Began discussion on the type of calendar we should produce for 2016. Recapped calendar sales from previous years and pros and cons of various types. No conclusion reached and decided to postpone further discussion until the Spring. Future Fundraising / Events Discussion around a big fund raising event for 2015. Challenge we have is not coming up with ideas but rather the volunteers to research options and then coordinate the events. Casino night and events at a brewery were mentioned. Will be revisited in future meetings. Walk-for-a-dog App – some of us are registered but we are unsure of how it all pulls together and how we receive money but we’re doing it anyway. Spoke about some of the other ways we can earn donations by doing the things we do every day – Kroger, Amazon Smile (GPA Houston Inc.), Randalls, iGive etc. Suggested putting flyer in the giveaway at the appreciation party to remind us of ways to generate money without even trying! Adjourned at 8:35 pm Arden moved to adjourn and Kathy seconded the motion. Approved.