Macomb Kiwanis Club Treasurer Jeremy Benson gave members an informational update on club finances and began a dialog on dues restructuring which, he said, "is critical to the future of the club."
He said our club is "very sound. We've always done well in raising funds."
Our Community Service fund balance is about $24,000 with a few small items not yet paid for. There's also a Bench Fund of about $1,000 and a General Fund. "The General Fund is where we pay for meals, dues, club expenses and some convention expenses. That's what we need to replenish." Jeremy explained that the current dues structure was set up several years ago when there were more members paying dues. "We still have fixed expenses that are not going down and fewer members to collect dues from" That led into an analysis of membership dues. Under our current structure, members are charged for Kiwanis dues and meals with one statement. We currently show 37 members. There are 20 regular members, 2 on Leave of Absence, 10 Senior Members, 2 Project Active Members and 3 spouses. Meal expense is $7.50 per meeting. We pay Hy Vee $1,740 and $150 to St. George's Church per quarter. We discussed doing away with the club paying for members meals and have members pay for their own meals weekly and only be charged for Kiwanis dues. "The actual expense we have to Kiwanis International is about $87 per member" Jeremy said. "Part of the purpose of a possible dues restructuring is to get the meal expense out of our budget. That takes the burden off the club and treasurer trying to make up the difference. Everyone will be assessed the same fee rather than various fees for different classifications. Members could pay for whatever size meal they want, even if they just want to have coffee or just dessert." Jeremy gave all of us something to think about. We will talk about both dues and possible change in location at later meetings this month.
Upcoming programs:
July 21 - A Civil War reenactor.
July 28 - Paula Pepmeyer from Ponderosa will hold a Q and A session about the possible move to Ponderosa for weekly club meetings. She can hopefully answer some of your questions about the restaurant and what they can offer us.
President-elect Debbie Vandemark presided at this weeks meeting. Following the Pledge of Allegiance and Kiwanis Pledge, John Moon led us in singing "Show Your K" and Chuck Nicholson gave the invocation.
The I-I District Convention is in August and we will have a space to display the Kiwanis benches we've built and hopefully get orders from other clubs who want to buy some. We do need some help to have people at the display space and show the benches to other clubs. Let Tim or Debbie know if you can go and help sell the benches.
Ken Harp brought our attention to an upcoming benefit Saturday at 10:00 on Glen Oak Drive that is a fundraiser for 8 year old Shaymus Guinn, the son of Tony and Karla Guinn. Shaymus is being treated for Ewing's Sarcoma, a life-threatening bone cancer disease. All proceeds from the benefit are for the Guinn family in their fight to cure his bone cancer. There will be live music, carnival games, a celebrity dunk tank, clowns, face painting, Macomb Fire Department firefighters, cookie walk, bounce tent, arts and crafts, story telling, hotdogs, treats and more. There's a special raffle for the grand prize of a Carnival Cruise. Tickets are $5 for one or five for $20. Participants are eligible to win free Amtrak tickets to Chicago. The benefit is from 11:00 AM-6:00 PM. Glen Oak is just off of Wigwam Hollow.
Debbie - "Happy it will be a short meeting tonight.
Ken Harp - Had tickets for the Cardinals/Brewers game in
Milwaukee and
really enjoyed it.
George Hermann - A couple because he's back in Macomb from
visiting
family in California.
Jack Elfrink - Yesterday was his birthday and he took a day off
to
celebrate. His son wished him luck in his "golden years."
He went to St. Louis to participate in All Star Baseball festivities.
The 50/50 Drawing was not won by Tim Moss (again!). That's only because he wasn't at the meeting. The drawing was won by John Moon who donated his share to the Salvation Army.
The latest edition of the Illinois-Eastern Iowa District "Illeiowan" newsletter is now online.
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