Warning Order and opening prayer
Pastor
Old business
- OB is hosting church fellowship on Sunday, 26 May 2024.
- Dawn: cookies, table cloth, napkins, etc.
- Tammy & Mike: fruit
- Marty: submit cake order
Boyd will pick up the cake. Kathy will supplement with crackers/cheese/nuts or the like.
- Claire’s Cafe in Catalina is shutting down this year, so we will need a new venue for Veterans’ Day. Some possibles:
- Sunny Side Cafe in Catalina
- Jerry Bob’s in Catalina
Catalina Elks Lodge has offered us tables at their Veterans’ Day event. They are serving breakfast at their event. After brief discussion we decided to decline the offer, as we prefer to support a local restaurant (in the form of the meal vouchers we hand out) at our Veterans’ Day fundraiser and memorial service.
Pastor and Vicar offered to put out feelers to local restaurants to see if we can find a new host (they will start with Rancheros Market in Catalina, next door to Claire’s).
New business
- LWML grant
Dawn reported that our OB chapter has been awarded a $3000.00 grant by LWML, which will arrive in late 2024 or early 2025. We will use the funds to purchase gift cards for women veterans. The VA will assist in identifying and vetting women veterans to receive the gift cards. Dawn proposed that we have a small ceremony at the VA when we hand out the gift cards, possibly accompanied by religious materials. Pastor will contact the VA Chaplain to see if there are any specific needs we might address for their chapel.
Discussion followed about organizing a field trip to the Tucson VA for members of our congregation.
- Possible changes to Stand Down
Dawn informed us about possible changes in venue for future Stand Downs. The organizers of the Stand Downs are debating (1) the current format, using a motel, which is expensive but allows homeless veterans to get some shelter, showers, etc., and (2) a more affordable outdoor venue (such as Kino Sports Complex). The event itself, and our part in it, would not change either way, though weather may be a small consideration. Pastor noted that the event has been outdoors in the past, under a large tent, so weather would not interrupt the event.
The last Stand Down had about 190 veteran participants. The next Stand Down will be in March 2025.
Dawn also reported that discussion is underway about gathering and distributing holiday food boxes; we last participated in this in 2022 (members of our congregation supplied food boxes and delivered them to San Manuel).
- Esperanza en Escalante
Boyd made a brief presentation about Esperanza en Escalante (EEE), showing their location, their mission statement, their funding sources, etc. Our OB chapter occasionally provides donations of clothing and small household items to EEE, as the opportunities present themselves. Pastor noted that EEE is transitional housing for veterans, and that there are similar facilities in existence or being created in other parts of the country.
Other business
We are going to send a formal thank you to Soldier’s Best Friend. Marty proposed a $200 donation to accompany the thank you; Christie seconded, and the group unanimously approved. Marty will follow up on preparing the check for $200.
We had a brief discussion about an OB area in the new CLC building, including materials that have been gathered over the years documenting the activities of our OB chapter. Kym noted that these materials would be appropriately housed in the church library (Kym is coordinating the library). Pastor reminded us that this would need to be brought to our Building Committee. Dawn is a member of the Building Committee so will take this for discussion.
Pastor asked us to get the word out that May is Military Appreciation Month, and many business offer discounts to veterans.
Details can be found at: https://www.legion.org/honor/261702/military-appreciation-month-discounts
Financial
Marty reports that OB has $2,948.88 in our account. There is a $0.14 charge by the bank – Marty will investigate.
Next meeting
Next meeting TBD in August. June and July we will be on summer hiatus.
Closing prayer
Vicar