Society of St. Vincent de Paul- Joliet Diocesan Council

Minutes Presidents’ Meeting

Saturday, October 27, 2012

Ascension of Our Lord, Oakbrook Terrace, IL

8:00 a.m. Mass

12:30 p.m. Meeting Commenced

Thank you to everyone at Ascension for your hospitality!

Opening Prayer & Reflection Deacon Tom Thiltgen, Spiritual Dir.

“Year of Faith” We have walked through the door of faith at Baptism. The Church is asking us to open the door, learn more about your faith and walk through that door again!

COMMISSIONING NEW OFFICERS John Otto & Deacon Tom Thiltgen

The following officers/offices were commissioned:

Joe Butkovich, Council President

Emiliano Chavez, Council Vice President

Susan Lugo, Council Treasurer

Doretta Gates, Council Secretary

Mike Bernard, President St. Scholastica, Woodridge

Tony Kranz, President Holy Trinity, Westmont

Joann Zazeski, President Immaculate Conception, Morris

Darius Matonis, President Corpus Christi, Carol Stream

Steve Weber, President Our Lady of Mercy, Aurora

Congratulations to all the new officers!

ACCEPTANCE SPEECH BY JOE BUTKOVICH. Joe’s goal will be to visit each conference to learn how the Council can help your conference. He has visited two of the stores and the main office. He is looking for volunteers to make repairs to the office.

BUDGET REPORT John Otto

Final Budget for 2013 was passed out. Ending balance for 2012 was $54,394 and beginning balance for 2013 is $54,394. Motion to approve the Budget for 2013 was made by Doug Dikun of St. Luke, Carol Stream. Motion seconded by Roy Corrigan, St. Anthony, Frankfort. Motion passed. Budget was approved.

STORES REPORT Dick Walsh, Stores Committee Chair

·  Total transferred for 2012 was $420,000; budget was $386,700 so we exceeded our goals for 2013. Budgeted transfer for 2013 is projected for $403,750.

·  The Aurora store has had some necessary management changes.

·  Joliet store has undergone remodeling. New awning with logo, new floor, painting, new display cases. Volunteer participation at the Joliet store has helped with sorting, displays, etc.

·  West Chicago store façade needed repair and had to be fixed. The cost was $35,000 but since the building is in a historical district the City of West Chicago Historical Society paid half or $17,500.

·  Lift truck at the warehouse was beyond repair and a used electric lift truck has been purchased for $11,075.

·  Catholic Charities Back-to-School Fairs: We participated in these fairs in Kankakee, Joliet & DuPage County handing out hundreds of certificates for free coats.

·  Clothing Drives: Consider holding more than one per year if not already doing so. Clothing drives are a huge source of donations. We have purchased yard signs to promote the drives.

·  Recycling Centers: The stores have become electronic recycling centers. We can now take all electronic equipment including computers and TVs—working or not!

·  Volunteers: The stores are always looking for volunteers. There is help needed with sorting, paperwork. If there is something you are good at or have a certain expertise, consider sharing it! The volunteers at the Joliet Store have made a vast improvement. Contact Bill Thomas at 630-293-9755 or if you wish to volunteer.

·  Bulk Sales: We selling mixed rags, books, computers and miscellaneous metals.

FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE John Otto

We will continue FY 2013 with the $1,500 per month / per conference reimbursable cap. Caps are allotted to every conference. Some do not use it and some have balances. Those balances cannot be allocated to other conferences. The caps are more of a guideline to budget our income.

CAR PROGRAM John Otto

There were nine cars given away and 45 towed to auction or salvage. There are currently 20 names on the waiting list.

STRATEGIC PLAN-NATIONAL COUNCIL John Otto

“The 2012 Strategic Plan builds on the foundations of the 2005 Strategic Plan and continues the emphasis on the six major areas the Society believes are critical to our Mission and Vision: Spirituality, Communication, Unity, Solidarity, Collaboration and Development.” Please refer to the hand out “Council of the United States, Society of St. Vincent de Paul, Strategic Plan”. The vision statement to "End poverty through systemic change" is not a strategic vision but rather a tactical vision as we help each family and try to lift them out of poverty; as we will never end poverty once and for all.

EXPANSION Tom Pawlowicz, Chair

·  Bob Twohill of St. Philip in Addison and the Expansion Co-Chair has retired from the committee. Volunteers were needed for co-chairs. Diocese will be split up in three sections: North, Central & South. Emiliano Chavez of Immaculate Conception, Morris has volunteered to cover the South region. Doug Dikun of St. Luke Conference in Carol Stream, has volunteered to cover the North region and Tom Pawlowicz will cover the Central regions.

·  St. Isidore, Bloomingdale has been given a starter packet. Waiting to hear back from them.

·  Looking for someone to be the new SVdP Youth Chair to help start up youth conferences. St. Anthony Conference of Frankfort has a youth group that is interested in becoming a youth conference.

ANNUAL REPORTS John Otto

ANNUAL REPORTS ARE DUE 12/1/12

You can now do you Annual Report online at www.svdpusa.net. This year, however, if you choose to file your report online we ask that you also send a hard copy to the Joliet Diocese Main Office. If you have any questions, on the online filing, please contact John Otto at 630-653-6877 or .

ANNUAL DUES John Otto

DUES ARE DUE 12/1/12

National Dues: $150

Regional Dues: $ 35

International: .003 of the TOTAL RECEIPTS from your 2012 Annual Report

In 2013 the dues may change to 1% of the total receipts, except for grants and money from other SVDP units such as the Joliet Council reimbursement or the Friends of the Poor grants. The big change for 2013 will be to have Councils pay 1.5% of their income which comes mostly from stores transfers . Since Councils in the past did not pay dues but the stores paid $75 per store, the Joliet Council would have to pay about $4,500 based on $300,000 of store income rather than $450 which the stores paid in the past. This is a 1000% increase and is the major bone of contention in getting the new dues structure resolution passed. ( From early 2012 annual reports after the close of this meeting, St. John the Baptist conference dues for FY2013 are within $5 of the current dues for FY 2012.)

STANDARDS OF EXCELLENCE CONGRATULATIONS TO THE HOLY TRINITY CONFERENCE, WESTMONT. They were the FIRST conference in the U.S. to receive the Rosalie Rendu Standards of Excellence conference award!

TAX STATUS: John Otto

Each conference is RESPONSIBLE for filing their own IRS Form 990 for FY 2012. The last date to file your FY 2012 Form 990 is February 15, 2013. (Form 990 for the 2011 year is used as our start date for FY2012 is October 1. 2011.) Conferences with total receipts of less than $50,000 can file a Form 990-N, also called the postcard 990 form. Conferences with total receipts of over $50,000 and less than $250,000 file Form 990-EZ with suggested schedules A, B and O. Conferences with total receipts over $250,000 need to file the full Form 990. You can go to www.irs.gov to get the proper form and submit it to the IRS according the instructions for each Form 990 type. If you have questions contact John Otto at the above paragraph phone or email.

·  Please see the attachment given to each Conference at the meeting or mailed to those not there, to the letter “Guidelines for Conference Form 990 IRS Report”. (Those of you at the meeting received a copy. Those not in attendance, I will mail you a copy.)

·  If you have any questions regarding filing the 990, please contact John Otto.

·  Susan Lugo, Council Treasurer has offered her services to help you file as well. You can contact Susan at 630-530-7808 or .

FRIENDS OF THE POOR GRANTS: Available 2/12-28 at www.svdpusa.org.

REGIONAL MEETING:

Thanks to John Otto for the great job done organizing the Regional Meeting.

Thanks to St. James Conference for organizing the golf outing.

Gift baskets were outstanding. Thanks to all who donated!

Low attendance from Joliet Diocese. Next time Conference Presidents should push for better attendance.

MARK YOUR CALENDARS…….

NEXT PRESIDENTS MEETING

The February 2013 Presidents meeting is scheduled for Sunday, February 3, 2013 with free pancake breakfast from 10 to 11 am followed by Mass at 11:30 am at St. John the Baptist Parish in Winfield, IL. We will send a reminder out later.

NEXT OZANAM ORIENTATION

An Ozanam Orientation using the recently updated 2012 Ozanam Orientation is scheduled for December 1, 2012 beginning with Mass at 8:30 am at St. John the Baptist Conference in Winfield, IL. The new 2012 OO has two new sections, one is Poverty in America and the other is Systemic Change. All officers of each Conference must attend an Ozaman Orientation at least once every 5 years. This is an excellent opportunity to attend and catch up with our new vision of "Ending Poverty through System Change". Please call or email the main office with your attendees: 630-293-9755, .

Respectfully submitted,

Doretta Gates

Council Secretary

Wishing you and your families a happy, healthy,

safe and blessed Holiday Season!!!!

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