Minutes
Saline County Fellowship Steering Committee
May 15, 2000
(unapproved)

The meeting was called to order at 10:15 AM by Chair Cheryl Zimny.

The Kids Count in Saline County project was first discussed.  Most of the funding for the conference is coming from the Juvenile office, but Extension is also contributing funds.  Also participating are in the project are Saline County L.I.F.E. and the Inter-Agency Council.

The project will kick off with a conference scheduled for June 22 at Arrow Rock.  The main item on the conference program will be the showing of a video on "The Troubled American Family--Which Way Out of the Storm?" followed by a public issue forum on this topic. A challenge course will also be conducted.

The facilities at the Old Tavern will accommodate a maximum of sixty participants.  The fees charged by the Old Tavern are $13/person for use of the facility and a nice lunch.  Moneys not used for the conference (up to $6,000) will be made available to fund grant proposals for innovative ways to improve Saline County's Kids Count statistics.

It was voted to allocate $400 from L.I.F.E. funds to cover the gap of $3 between the Old Tavern charge of $13 and the conference registration fee of $10 and to provide honorariums for Dean Larkin (who will be moderating the public issue forum) and possibly one other person who might be assisting.

Mary Ann volunteered to assist with registration on the day of the conference.  A couple more volunteers from L.I.F.E. and the Interagency council will assist her.  Volunteers will also be needed to help with the challenge course if the size of the group necessitates breaking the challenge course up into stations.  The Extension office will handle the registration money.

Discussion next turned to the second stage of the L.I.F.E. program.  On the matter of a L.I.F.E. class reunion, one suggestion was to combine the get-together with the Saline County Study retreat.  Another was to have the reunion in Slater.  A planning meeting was set for Monday July 10 at 3:30 PM at the Extension Center.  The planning group will consist of any interested volunteers from among the five L.I.F.E. classes as well as the L.I.F.E. steering committee.  On the agenda for discussion at the meeting will be planning for a reunion of L.I.F.E. classes and a discussion of the next steps for the L.I.F.E. program.

The meeting adjourned at approximately 11:30 AM.

Submitted by Mark Belwood