Assistance League Mid-Missouri
Newsletter - September/October Vol. 24 Issue 7
Upscale Resale - Assistance League of Mid-Missouri
Assistance League Mid-Missouri is a non-profit organization volunteer organization serving identified needs of children and adults in the Columbia community.
Email: almidmo@gmail.com
Website: http://almm.org/upscale_resale.php
Location: 1729 West Broadway, Columbia, MO
Phone: (573) 445-4803
Facebook: facebook.com/UpscaleResale.ALMM
ALMM 2015-2016 Executive Board
President Elect: Sondra Flaker
Vice President - Operations: Mary Stixrud
Vice President - Membership: Marilyn Starwalt
Vice President - Marketing Communications: Sue McDaniel
Vice President - Strategic Planning: Margie Meyer
Recording Secretary: Sue Hoevelman
Corresponding Secretary: Jan Mees
Vice President - Philanthropic Programs: Phyllis Stoecklein
Vice President - Resource Management: Mary Humlicek
Vice President - Finance: Nancy Cooper
Chapter Treasurer: Donna Buchert
Chapter Liaison to Auxiliary & Juniors: Linda Rudroff
Parliamentarian: Karen Neely
Auxiliary Officers for 2015-2016
Auxiliary Vice Chair: Barb Reed
Recording Secretary: Gail Tolbert & Susan Moore
Philanthropic Vice Chairman: Robin Ward & Cheryl Kendrick
Membership Vice Chairman: Sue Ann Schaefer & Phyllis Moore
Resource Development Vice Chairman: Mary Colgin
Communication Vice Chairman: Cindy Mustard
Liaison to Chapter: Judy Schuchard
Junior Officers for 2015-2016
Secretary: Lauren Martin
Membership Chairman: Stacia Coughenor
Social Chairmen: Paige Davis & Lindsey Rowe
Bundles for Babies: Robin Wenneckerr
Letter from the President
Ready, Set, Keep Going!
I love this time of year in Columbia! We have a few weeks of relative calm, then the energy returns with students descending on all our institutions of learning – from Preschool through Graduate School. While I will miss the parking spaces and shorter lines in restaurants, I welcome them back to our community.
Assistance League of Mid-Missouri, however, did not stop its work during the summer. Upscale Resale sales were brisk, thanks to increased marketing efforts, creative displays of merchandise, furniture sales, and our fantastic volunteer sales force. Their hard work makes it possible to continue our mission of serving the identified needs of children and adults in the Columbia Community.
Many of our philanthropic programs continue year-round, but others follow the school calendar. Help will be needed with Kaboodles, Links to Learning, and Operation School Bell® so look for those opportunities in the Monday Morning Memo.
Our first cookie bake will be on September 15. You’ll have the opportunity to sign up at our regular meeting on September 8 for this fun experience – no experience needed! If you can’t help on this bake, you can order cookies online or with our printed order form.
We will welcome more new members after Orientation on September 1. I encourage ALL of you, new members or “experienced” members, to get involved in our great organization. We need MANY hands to make all our programs work, to make our shop successful, and to support fundraisers such as the cookie bake.
I’m sure you read the eLink Newsletter from National, but this piece from our outgoing National President, Nancy Reberger, stood out for me: “The Assistance League has gone through and is in the middle of several changes. The website and how we manage data is changing, the structure of the National office has changed and the National Board and Leadership Team will change. This means moving from our current state (what we have known and done), progressing through a transitional period and arriving at the future with improved, and possibly new ways, of doing things. This transitional period can be a time of uncertainty, as it requires us to accept new perspectives and often learn new things. However, as our conference theme states, we celebrate our past and embrace the promise of the future.”
Your elected delegates (Betsy Rall, Marilyn Starwalt, Sue McDaniel, alternate Sondra Flaker) will be attending the National Conference in San Diego from September 16-20. I’m sure we will hear more about the changes listed above and how they will affect our chapter. We have some changes of our own on the horizon. We have two new positions: Philanthropic Program Assessment Coordinator, and Community Liaison. We have new software for Cookies. We have identified all those who deposit money and listed them as the Deposit Team. We will develop a job description for Day Managers. We have a wonderful “storeroom” where the non-functioning bathroom was. We are intentionally asking newer members to serve in leadership roles. We will work on transparency throughout our great organization. We will continue to encourage members to ask questions (either directly or in the suggestion box) when something is not clear. And we are just getting started!
Together, let’s “Celebrate our Past and Embrace the Promise of the Future!”
-Betsy Rall
Kaboodles
ALMM volunteers tackling the momentous task of unpackaging 4,600 bars of soap, and 2,300 shampoos, toothpastes, toothbrushes, brushes, combs and lip balms on Thursday, August 20. It job was started at 9:30 and completed around noon. Thanks to everyone who helped with this organization.
On Saturday, August 22, from 10:00 am to 12:30 pm, nineteen Mizzou freshman helped the ALMM volunteers assemble 2,150 Kaboodle kits. This was organized by Mizzou as part of a community service project for incoming freshman. It was interesting to watch them become acquainted with each other as they were working with people they had just met. The conversation became more animated! Their contribution is much appreciated!
End of the Line
The end of the line for the kaboodle kit as students give them to ALMM volunteers to store in the boxes. Note the stack of boxes behind Susan Thomas.
Soap
Walking the line to pick up 2 bars of soap stacked on the right.
The Whole Operation
MOMOM Dental Clinic Volunteers Enjoyed Our Cookies
“The cookies were such a hit and I heard so many compliments from Friday night and Saturday. Thanks to all Assistance League bakers."
-Jerry Harris, Chairperson of the Hospitality section of MOMOM.
ALMM provided cookies for more than a 1,000 volunteers at the free dental clinic held July 31 –August 1st at the Hearnes Center. We provided 800 cookies for the volunteers for the volunteer dinner Friday night and in the hospitality area the day of the clinic.
They came asking for those wonderful delicious home-made cookies. When we ran out and only had a few broken ones left, they said they would even eat the crumbs and they did. In fact two ladies from St Louis are trying to figure out a way to get them when we make them this year. We might be surprised to see them arrive at our doors while we are baking this winter. ALMM also got good exposure with our logo and signs so they knew we donated the cookies.
The clinic was an amazing event and many businesses donated food and supplies. I am sure the Missouri Dental Association Foundation was impressed with what all Columbians did to make this clinic such a success. More than 1,720 patients received much needed dental care. I am so proud ALMM could be a part of this event.
Thank you to our bakers who baked one Sunday afternoon to make this possible – Bette Struckhoff, Sandy Happ and her daughter, Jane Smith, Karen Rogers and Betsy Rall. It was a fun afternoon of laughter and sweating but will worth the effort when you saw the smiles of the volunteers when they bit into a cookie.
-Jean Gurucharri
Operation School Bell
Following are days we will be dressing the kids:
September: 22,23,24,29,30
October: 1,6,7,8,14,15,20,21,22,27,28,29
November: 4,5,11,12,18,19
Contact Barb Seabolt at bseabolt@socket.net or 346-3648 to sign up.
Cookie Connection
Cookie Connection is at work again, making a few changes for the first bake and looking forward to another great year.
Without you, our wonderful helpers, this fundraiser would not be possible. So—in advance, THANK YOU.
Here’s what’s different:
- Boxes only, no bags. The bags available were either so waxy that labels did not stick or so thin that the grease (Egads!) came through. For packagers, a little more attention to chocolate smudges will be required; for dressers, a little more time in getting a ribbon on every box. On the plus side, the chance that intact products will reach our consumers increases.
- One dozen box costs $8. Who knows how this will affect sales? The big customers we called on last December before making this decision thought this was a good idea. No one questioned why; everyone complimented the packaging.
- One less big order. One of our corporate buyers has been asked by headquarters to discontinue ordering. That means 35-40 fewer dozen each bake. The plus? We have motivation to mention cookie orders to our car salesman, accountant, or real estate agent—anyone whose livelihood depends upon a client/customer base needs a way to say, “Thank You.”
- More programs acknowledging supporters with a cookie delivery. This is an easy way to say, “We appreciate your help,” to vendors, service providers, and donors. Just write Transfer on the completed order form, have it signed by a chairman, and the $5-a-dozen box with a personalized message will be delivered.
- Additional committee help. Several volunteers have been added to do behind-the-scene administrative tasks: Carla McFarland, Jane Smith, Jan Haffey, and Lynne Moore. And, other personnel changes are soon to come.
- A large customer email list. More than 200 previous customers received an order form the week of August 24. This will create an uptick in online orders.
- Functioning website. After a full year of website orders, we think we know what we’re doing.
- New software in the making. We’re anticipating the completion of new software for data processing. Improvements should be evident in the ease of data entry, size of routes, delivery sequence, and label format. More on that as the program develops.
What’s the same:
- Knights of Columbus continues to be a huge helper in this fundraiser. Not only do we have a very reasonable rate of rent, but also we use equipment that belongs to the Knights.
- Superior bakers. Sandy Happ and Bette Struckhoff will be chiefs in the kitchen for another year. As you may recall from our April bake, we had too few rejects to treat our student helpers.
- Dough balls. For $10, members can purchase two dozen dough balls in a ziplock bag. To do so, complete the order form and write Dough Balls in the message line. You can pick up your bags at the Knights of Columbus on bake day. (What could be better as a hostess gift?)
- Experienced drivers. We hope to increase the number of routes for our November bake. Until then, our faithful drivers and runners make the best of a routing program that is out-of-date and out-of-sequence.
- Faithful volunteers. We continue to count on your willingness to get all of the tasks completed in a few hours. Measuring, mixing, scooping, baking, flipping, boxing, dressing, labeling, packing, delivering—what a job! Hundreds of dozens in a few hours. People who have not seen our operation have difficulty believing it can be done.
That’s like much of what we do in Assistance League of Mid-Missouri. If you’re not part of it, you have trouble imagining that a group of women can accomplish so much.
The dates we work:
Sept 15 | Nov 17 | Feb 9 | April 19
Please mark your calendars. Come join us.
-Cookie Connection Committee
New Member Orientation
On Tuesday, September 1, twelve potential new members listen to Anne Cook talk about Links to Learning. In the orientation participants learned about ALMM programs. This orientation is coordinated by Donna Beckett and Ann Taylor.