Missouri State University

Meeting Minutes!

*1/28/08*

Hey everyone! Thanks to everyone who attended our first meeting today! It was a great start to the new semester, but we hope to keep growing, so bring your friends next time! Following are the minutes from tonights meeting.

- We started off the meeting with cookies and soda and informed everyone what the meeting was all about. We introduced the organization as well as the officers. Ashley Carleton is the President, Stephanie Adzima is the Vice President, Azure Risor is the Secretary/Treasurer, Amanda Willoughby is the Public Relations Chair, and Sierra Nugent is our Membership Development Chair. We also have two advisors. Katie Davis works at Big Brothers Big Sisters and Melissa LeClaire works on the first floor of the PSU.

- We then introduced all of our committes. There are four committes that we ask you all to be a part of. This is the best way to get as involved with the organization as you can. Stephanie Adzima is the head of the Social Committee. This committee will plan all of our social events, and we are looking at having between 2-3 this semester. Sierra Nugent is head of the Membership Development Committee, which is the best committee to get involved in to include your littles. This committee helps link our organization with the Big Brothers Big Sisters program. Azure Risor is the head of the Fundraising Committee, which comes up with ideas and then puts on fundraising events for socials and anything else that the organization is interested in doing. (We did Christmas Angels last semester.) The fourth committee is Public Relations Committee, led by Amanda Willoughby. This committee is the one that helps get our name out on campus via publicity. We are a new organization, and have a lot of room to grow! Be thinking about which committee you're most interested in because next meeting we'll be breaking up into committees to discuss our goals and some ideas for the semester!

- We then had all of the members fill out member applications. If you are a new member (not returning from last semester) we ask that you fill one of these out! These give us an idea of who you are, what you're all about, and how we can better the organization. We also asked for dues if anyone had them. They will be $10 and will be good for a whole year. A t-shirt is included with the dues, so that's basically what you're paying for.

- Jacob Sappington was our guest speaker for this meeting. He was voted "Big of the Year" last year and came to give us all inspiration for the start of our first week of programs. He talked about his experiences growing up being a little in the program, and now he is a Big and has had the same younger brother for 5 years. He also gave us tips on how to get past the awkward "first encounter" with our littles. He was very inspiring and had a lot of good stories. Following his speech, we paired up into groups and discussed people that had a huge influence in our lives. This helped us get to know each other and also put us in the mood to mentor in just a few days.

- Just a few announcements: This Wednseday there is a volunteer fair in the PSU lobby from 10-2. Big Brothers Big Sisters will have a table set up there for two different reasons. One is to get more volunteers. We currently need about 132 more volunteers for this semester. The other reason is to get our voice out about the student organization. If you feel comfortable talking to people about what we're about, Katie Davis asks for your help. She will be sitting there all alone and would like some company. If you can find a time between 10-2 that you would like to help her, contact her at kdavis@bigbro.com. She'd really appreciate it!

Secondly, the annual Bowl for Kid's Sake will be coming up shortly. It will be March 13 at Lighthouse Lanes and March 15 at Battlefield Lanes. It's an easy and fun way to help support Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Ozarks. There are 5 people per team, and each person is asked to raise $50. Any money over $50 may possibly include a prize. You can have anyone on your team, and Big Brothers big Sisters has come up with an easy way to help you fundraise. You can visit the website http://www.bbbsozarks.kintera.org/ to fundraise online and create your team! Get a team together and have some fun!

REMINDER: Don't forget your programs start this week!

Thanks to all of you who attended meeting! We hope to see you at the next meeting WHICH IS MONDAY 2/11 FROM 4-5 PM. in PSU 314. Bring back your applications and dues!

Feel free to contact any of us (exec.) if have any questions!

 

*2/25/08*

Hey everyone! We just got done with a great meeting! It was a lot of fun and we learned a lot about each other. Thank you so much to everyone who came. Please encourage your friends and other members to come to meetings! They're only 45 minutes to an hour!

Here are the minutes for tonight's meeting

* We started off with a welcome and announcements.

     1) Bowl for Kid's Sake is coming up! Our organization is wanting to get a team together! There are 5 members on a bowling team, and the team must raise $250 to play. We are going to raise this money as an organization, so each individual player doesn't. All you have to do is show up to bowl! We are also going to sign up volunteers for the day. We are doing the 11:30 am session on March 15. You can either sign up to volunteer then (if you're not bowling) or for another session! The more help they get, the better! To sign up to be on our team, go to http://www.bbbsozarks.kintera.org/. The directions are easy to follow! Just click on "My Team Page" then click on "Join our Team" and then fill out the information! It's super easy and will be a lot of fun!

    2) To go right along with Bowl for Kid's Sake, we need to find a way to get "giveaway" prizes. Every year they give away many prizes at each session. Azure has the letters that you can give to companies if you don't feel comfortable talking to them personally. Anything will work (gift certificates, t-shirts, small trinkets). If you know of anyone that might be willing to donate, please let Azure know. Her e-mail is Azure22@missouristate.edu

     3) At our next meeting we will be doing our Spring Break letters to our letters! Be thinking of what you want your letter to say so that you can have enough time at the meeting to decorate it and make it as personal as you want it! The children will really love getting these.    

* We then did a member activity that was lots of fun! We all told interesting facts about ourselves depending on how many pieces of candy we had. It was interesting and we shared lots of laughs! It's really nice to get to know everyone in your organization!

* As part of membership development, we had a short discussion about our experiences this semester at our sites. We each talked a little bit about our littles and then a few of us shared memorable experiences that we've had so far with our littles. It was fun and inspiring. I know we haven't had very many chances to go to our sites because of weather, but it'll get better and your littles will look more and more forward to seeing you each week!

* We then reviewed each committee again for those who forgot or who have never been to a meeting. Then we broke up into those committees and discussed things that need to be done. Please keep up with your committees! If you have any ideas that you and the head talked about, just e-mail them and let them know your ideas! We can't keep this organization going without you guys!

IF YOU ARE INTERESTED IN BOWLING OR VOLUNTEERING FOR BOWL FOR KIDS SAKE, E-MAIL STEPHANIE AT Adzima1014@missouristate.edu.

Thanks again for those who came! See you next meeting! Remember, it is March 10 at 4:00! Same place!

 

*3/10/08*

* Announcements:
1) Bowl for Kid's Sake is coming up! It's this Thursday and Saturday. Our organization has a team set up, and they will be bowling on Saturday at 11:30am at Battlefield Lanes. We had previously talked about getting volunteers during that time slot, but they have already been filled, so all we need is for people to come out and support the girls! Hope to see you there!
2) We are going to be holding a kickball tournament sometime in either April or May (exec. needs to finalize the date still.) We are very excited about it, but don't have the final small details figured out yet. We are going to need all of your support, though. It'll be very fun. We will keep everyone updated once we know exact details about everything!
3) We are still accepting donations for Bowl for Kid's sake if anyone has acquired anything. These can be small prizes, gift cards, t-shirts, etc. The giveaways are distributed at each session during Bowl for Kids Sake, so we need lots of them. Please just ask a few companies that you know of to see if they're interested. If you find anything, contact Azure Risor at Azure22@missouristate.edu
4) We finally have a website! Go check it out at organizations.missouristate.edu/bigbrotherbigsister.
 
* We then had a membership development activity. We split up into groups of 4 and each had a few questions that we answered as a group about our relationships with our buddies, how they've changed, and what we'd like them to be like. It was very informative and insightful!
 
* The fun part was next: our Spring Break cards! We all made cute Spring cards for our buddies, since we won't be seeing them for a while during their Spring Break, and then our own. We want them to know we are still thinking about them! It was a fun time.
 
* We did not break up into committees this week, but we will next meeting!
 
* The next meeting will be Monday, March 31, same time, same place. It's right after Spring Break, so don't forget! We have a challenge for this meeting, as well: Bring a friend! The reasoning behind this is because the Board President from Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Ozarks will be speaking, and we really want to make a good impression on him. You don't only have to bring one friend either, it can be many! The more the merrier! Talk to someone at your site and see if they'd be interested. Another incentive: POSSIBLE free pizza. We'll get back to you on that!
 
Hope to see you all at the next meeting! Have a GREAT Spring Break and be safe!