Minutes: January 22nd, 2013

Meeting called by: Leah Elzinga, Chair
In attendance: Leah Elzinga, Wayne Rufiange, Eva Scrimshaw, Amy Duvall, Robin George

1. Meeting opens 5:38pm
2. Additions or amendments to the agenda.
a. Adopt agenda by Eva; seconded by Amy
3. Reports
a. Treasurer’s Report
i. Current balance approximately: $11.5K
ii. Totals from:
1. Winter Market Concession: $387
2. Winter Fundraiser: $2987
3. Silent Auction, Lollipops and Bake Sale: $3322
4. Bottle Drive: $515
Going forward it was decided that we would need substitutes for both Purdy’s (MASSIVE technical difficulties on their end made them almost impossible to deal with) and Fundscrip (though parents sold over $12K in cards, the school only profited a few hundred. If the same money were spent on a fundraiser with even a 30% return, the profit could have been $3500). Leah mentioned that she had spoken to Kelli Sales with Gold Canyon about possibly teaming up over the holiday season since that company is currently offering a 40% return) There is some skepticism about how much the product would sell but Kelli has been invited to June’s meeting to present the program to the PFA. Mr. Rufiange also suggested La Montagne fundraising chocolates as they also have a 40% return.
4. New Business
a. PFA Special Event Coordinator: Eva nominates Robin George as Special Event Coordinator, who is subsequently voted in unanimously. The PFA created the role in order to have someone spearhead the decorating, setup, etc. involved with the many events in which the PFA participates (auction, bake sale, family dance, etc.)
b. GICs: Amy motions that we put at least $5K into GICs in accordance with the funds division percentages voted in at the start of the year ie. 50% for the playground. Motion
is seconded by Eva and passed unanimously. The funds will be put into a 16month flex GIC later this week.
c. Library Funds: Leah motions that, as per the funds division percentages (25% school resources and supplies), $2500 is given to the school to pay for in-class books, grade 4-6 level library books, etc. Amy seconds, and motion is passed. Mr.Rufiange will oversee the purchase of these books and supplies and will present PFA with receipts so the school can be reimbursed.
d. Hockey Hooky: Mr Rufiange has decided against pursuing this event with the support of the PFA. The general concensus is that an expense this large should elicit more enthusiasm than this one did. Other suggestions, skating, an outing to the CCC could be considered in the future.
e. Grand Opening: Mr. Rufiange has purchased “Dragon Hands” (like the foam fingers you would see at sporting events) for each of the students for the Grand Opening February 6th. He has asked the PFA for their support in paying for half, approximately $600. The PFA will provide Mr.Rufiange with a cheque for this expense under the “Student Events” category.
f. St. Patrick’s Day Family Dance: the family dance will be held Friday, March 15th in the school gym. PFA will provide the concession and possibly miscellaneous novelty items for purchase. The March PFA meeting will focus on any final preparations for the dance. The remaining lollipops (approx. 50%) will be available for purchase at the concession).
g. Chamber of Commerce Concession: it was decided that the PFA simply does not have the volunteer support nor experience to run an event of this magnitude. However, Leah will contact the church representatives that ARE running it to see if we could provide some volunteers in exchange for funds raised.
h. Mother’s Day/Spring Fundraiser: though a catalogue featuring several home businesses was brought up the logistics were a problem. Instead the PFA has decided to focus on one major spring fundraiser: Calahoo Meats. Tentatively, the plan would be to hand out the forms to students March 29th, with forms due back three weeks later on April 19th. This should provide enough time to get orders back and ready to distribute the weekend BEFORE mothers’ day.
i. St.Jean Baptiste Festival: Dunktank. Eva will stay in contact with Paul Smith of Smith’s Music about MPES running the dunktank at the festival for one day. The festival is the third weekend in June.
j. Community Carnival: The community carnival will be held June 1st, the first weekend, as per the decision made last year to hold it each year on the same date. Mr.Rufiange has said that this year the event CAN be held on MPES property. An idea for fundraising would be to host a multi-item raffle wherein the lots are themed baskets of items, one basket per grade, comprising donations from the students and their families pertaining to the theme: ie. Movie Night, A Day at the Beach, etc.
k. Playground planning: February’s PFA meeting is being set aside to focus specifically on a direction for the playground project, spearheaded by Brandi Robinson.
l. Leah is creating a PFA Calendar that will be posted on the Parents’ Board, in the Parents’ Resource room, on the school website, and on both the PFA and MPES Parents’ Facebook pages. The calendar will list the dates for ALL upcoming meeting for the remainder of the school year, as well as listing the events in which the PFA is involved, including upcoming fundraisers and community events. As such executive members and interested parents will be able to plan well in advance in order to attend meetings and participate in events.
m. Storage: PFA will be allowed to set aside some of the shelving in the Workroom in order to store the decorations and supplies, from tape and binder clips, to lights, and leprechaun hats, purchased with PFA funds. This way each year the operating costs related to events and fundraisers can be kept in check, while being significantly less wasteful. Leah will set up the storage by the end of the week at the same time as bringing in the PFA Calendar and this meeting’s minutes.

5. Meeting Adjourned: 6:24pm