January 2020 Meeting

Pastoral Council Minutes,  January 21, 2020
Present: Ruth Schluter, Jeff Keen, Kelly Flege, Phil Paladino, Father Dave, Wayne Green

1. Meeting called to order by Ruth. Father Dave started with a prayer.
2. Tabled approval of December minutes due to lack of quorum.
3. Phil shared that the church is looking at using Fair Trade coffee. The idea was introduced by the Peace and Justice committee and the Finance Committee approved. Currently the Church spends about $500 per year with Parish Life covering $250. Parish Life contribution will stay the same. Members of the Pastoral Council expressed that they were also in favor of the idea.
4. Tabled approval of the Peace and Justice tithe due to lack of quorum.
5. Long Term Planning meeting on January 28th, at 7:00pm. Tab Ray will be the chair. Other members will be Jeff Keen from Pastoral Council, Joe Barber from the Finance committee, Chuck Mashek from the Knights of Columbus, Tim Dreesman from Building and Grounds, Wayne Green from Faith Formation and Peace and Justice committees, and Gabe Stauffer will be an at large member.
6. The March Pastoral Council meeting will be moved to the 24th.
7. The Parish Life committee will be giving up organizing the Bazaar. The Pastoral Council would like to express thanks to Parish Life for all the work they have done over the years to make the Bazaar a success.
8. The attendance at the 4:00pm Mass on Christmas Eve about 800. There were about 250 at the 8:00pm Christmas Eve Mass and about 300 at the 9:00am Mass on Christmas Day.
9. Kelly gave an update from the Finance committee. The bill for the repair of damage caused by the sprinkler system leak was signed by Ruth and will be sent to the Arch-Diocese.
10. There will be a Time and Talent Fair the weekend of February 29 and March 1st.
11.  A parish retreat with Anthony Digmann is taking place Sunday, February 16th and Monday, February 17th. Both sessions will be at 6:30pm. Anthony will be speaking at the Masses that weekend.
12.  Meeting was adjourned with Father leading us in prayer.

Submitted by Wayne Green
 
 
Finance Council Meeting – Jan 21, 2020
Attendees: Kelly Willis, Kelly Flege, Becky Willson, Scott Danner, Joe Barber, Steve Phyfe, Fr Dave Ambrosy. Also present: Deacon Phil Paladino, Dixie Jacobs.
Monthly Financials: Offertory is about $21,000 over last year’s giving and this year’s budget. Christmas offering was also above budget by $2,000. We received a $10,000 bequest, which will be deposited into the memorial fund.
Letter to Parish: Kelly Flege distributed a draft of a letter to go with the financial summary to the parish. The finance council made some minor modifications, then approved its inclusion in the mailing to parishioners.
CFAD – “Foundation for our Catholic Community”: Fr Dave and Dixie met with representative for this fund, which is an option for long-term savings/endowments. It is not subject to archdiocesan taxa. The CFAD would return 4% annually rather than the Archdiocesan Deposit & Loan’s (D&L savings) return based on market fluctuations. The 4% would give the parish steady income, and also allow for growth of the principal to off-set inflation. The CFAD has a 1% annual fee. The parish’s religious education endowment and cemetery perpetual care would qualify for this investment. The CFAD is separate from the archdiocese, but the investment in it is supported by the archdiocese. The council asked Dixie to get an annual report for the CFAD, what is the annual return for the archdiocese D&L for the past 5yrs, and where will the ArchOne fund be invested.
Coffee: The peace & justice committee is making a recommendation to use Fair Trade coffee, which compensates coffee farmers justly. They would like to purchase it through Equal Exchange, which also donates a portion of sales to Catholic Relief Services. It would cost about double the current coffee, but the support of fair trade coffee makes a positive impact on small scale farmers’ livelihoods and on the health of the earth. The total cost would be about $600/yr. Joe made a motion to recommend to pastoral council to use fair trade coffee for the parish; Kelly W seconded. The motion passed unanimously. The recommendation will be sent to parish council.
Long-Range Planning: Joe Barber will be the finance representative but is unable to attend the first meeting. Scott Danner volunteered to attend that meeting.
Next meeting Feb 18. Kelly F and Kelly W will not be able to attend the Feb meeting. Meeting adjourned.
 
 
Saints Café All Group Meeting January 2020
Attendees:  Jim & Linda O’Donnell, Dortha Winer, Marty Van Hemert, Kathy Magnall, Brenda Geuther, Dolly Kreger, Nancy Carlson, Evelyn Aubrey, Ron Zelle, Michele Fischer.
The 6 month numbers were reviewed and we are serving approximately the same number this year as last at 5,229 meals with the out of pocket costs remaining the same at 70 cents per meal for food.  In kind has continued to grow with $6,873 of items donated this year to date compared to $5,767 the same period last year.  The number riding the bus has continued to decline with 135 total riders this last 6 months compared to 154 last year in the same period.
Purchasing food from the Northeast Iowa Food Bank has allowed us to keep our out of pocket costs very reasonable and currently the Food Bank is offering meat and milk for 5 cents per pound.  Produce continues to be free and the Food Bank delivers milk and produce to be used or distributed at our meals.  We currently have a credit balance at the Food Bank of $272 and have a donation from the Women’s Group from St. Mary Church of $500 to be used for supplies the rest of this fiscal year.  The Women’s Group has committed a $1,000 grant for our use next fiscal year.
We need to apply for the Bremer/Waverly Foundation grant by March 31st.  We received $3,500 this last year to be used for transportation and supplies.  We used $2,500 of this grant for transportation and $1,000 for supplies.  Assuming 270 riders per year, the cost would be $9.25 per rider. The cost of supplies has continued to increase and we currently spend about $2,500 annually for paper products on which the meal is served or carried out.  Because of the increased cost of supplies and reduced funding from other sources, it was decided we should apply for the $2,500 for supplies and the $1,200 we spend at the food bank from the Bremer/Waverly Foundation.  The 5 churches spend $7,200 annually for the food that is served and in kind from Hy-Vee and others is valued at $13,300 annually.  We will not know until late June the amount we will receive from this grant.
Other sources of funding to include Thrivent gift cards were identified and some of these funds are currently being used to fund the cost of food.  It was not felt this source would make up the $2,500 needed to continue Curt’s Cab.  We also discussed delivering meals to the Waverly Homes as an alternative to providing free rides.  We decided not to begin this service as we would need to deliver to other places if requested and it could become a logistics problem.  There are guests who currently travel from the Homes to our meal and take meals back for those who do not wish to attend the meal.
Reducing the hours we serve from 5-6:30  to 5-6 was discussed and Michelle pointed  out 6:30 was the cut off time due to guests who work at Goodwill not getting done until 6 PM and these hours allowed them time to get to Saint Café.    
The next large group meeting will be April 2nd at 6:30 PM at St. Paul Church. Respectfully Submitted,  Jim O’Donnell  
 
Community Meal Planning Meeting February 2020
Attendees:  Tom Singewald, Dolly Kreger, Jan Kriener, Nancy Carlson, Jim & Linda O’Donnell
Last month we served 186 meals of pork loin slices, mashed potatoes with mushroom gravy, corn, bars and ice cream.  The meal cost -0- as all meat had been purchased before.
In February we plan to serve chicken tetrazzini, jello with fruit, corn, cookies and ice cream.
 
In March we serve two meals, the first will be scalloped potatoes with ham, squash, bars, and ice cream.
The second meal will be chef surprise.
The grant request for the Waverly/Bremer Foundation which must be submitted by March 31s will be for $3,700 to be used to pay for supplies $2,500 and purchases from the Northeast Iowa Food Bank $1,200.  It was decided at the Group Meeting not to include moneys for transportation this coming year.
The next meeting will be March 4th, 9:30 AM in conference room at St. Mary Church.