[fsf60k] Re: jentury 21
- From: "Michael AR Cipoletti" <ikecip@xxxxxxx>
- To: <fsf60k@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Tue, 11 Aug 2009 12:54:29 -0400
Hello everyone-
I am preparing to depart for Nicaragua on Thursday and wanted to just take a
moment to reply to this e-mail.
First off the news on the website is very exciting. I feel that it is
essential to have a web presence in order to grow and develop as an
organization. Being able to direct potential donors to a website makes the
task of fundraising much easier. Further, having an option to donate online
would be beneficial as well. We are currently set up to receive donations
online so a link to the page makes sense.
In response to the 1400 dollars in tax returns.. I realize that Peter has
had a great deal of additional work to do the banking for all the trips
however the monies raised are going toward projects that fall squarely
underneath the Friends umbrella. By my count by the end of this upcoming
trip 16 houses will have been built in Chac. one in Nuevo in addition to a
school, house renovations in Nuevo, biointensive gardens and the ongoing
water project. The goal of Friends as I understood it was to provide a means
for alumni of SF60K and members of the community at large to continue the
meaningful work that they began at Northport High School some 20 years ago.
I see the work being done as fulfilling that goal and growing and evolving
into a project impacting hundreds of young people in the United States and
many more in Nicaragua. I realize that I do not attend meetings due to the
fact that I live in Boston but I am in regular contact with Peter and a
number of other active members of the organization and do everything in my
power to ensure that the work being done is in the best interest of Friends,
Students, the university students I bring with me, and most importantly the
people that we are working with and for Nicaraguan. The groups I work with
will continue to work hard for Nicaragua, and for local projects in their
respective communities, but in my opinion the 1400 dollars regardless of
where it comes from is all being taken from the same place "project money."
This is an administrative cost associated with running a non-profit and that
is where it should come from but this constant discussion of my money and
your money and this groups money and that groups money is quite frustrating.
We are all working together towards a common goal helping people help
themselves, be that person a migrant worker on Long Island, a victim of a
natural disaster, or a Nicaraguan campesina the dollars that we work to
raise be it via letters to friends and family, going door to door, or
writing grants is not being raised so we can pat ourselves on the back but
to fund the multitude of projects that we are all working on at any given
time. All of the discussion of who is going to pay is frustrating and flies
in the face of the work we are trying to accomplish. I realize that
extensive extra hours are spent doing banking work but these extra hours
mean more dollars raised which means more people being helped.
As for liability which seems to also be a constant topic of conversation. I
understand peoples trepidation. I make clear to all groups that Friends is
not sponsoring the trip I am a member of Friends and by extension of the
work the participants are doing they are extensions of Friends. If an
official waiver is created people will sign it. Over the past several trips
we have used a waiver and Peter has a copy of it on file. Just like the
Students trips the number 1 priority on my trips is the health and safety of
the participants. Lastly I strongly recommend that we move forward with
getting chapters established. Let the groups take things like banking into
their own hands. As long as Peter has oversight on monies raised and how
these monies are used let's make everyone's life easier. Miami, Binghamton,
JMU and New Paltz have already expressed interest. I also have enough
interest in the Boston area with Northeastern University and Emerson College
plus my friends to form a chapter here. Let's make this happen ASAP so
groups can form on college campuses in the fall.
Thank you,
Michael Cipoletti
From: fsf60k-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:fsf60k-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On
Behalf Of richard wiltamuth
Sent: Friday, August 07, 2009 4:54 PM
To: fsf60k@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [fsf60k] jentury 21
dear friends,
at last night's meeting, jen brady-cotter proposed to bring us into the 21st
century with a web site. she revealed a prototype that can accommodate basic
information about our group such as a mission statement and contacts, as
well as photos, video, and links for facebooking, tweeting, tittering and
all those state-of-the-art means of communication. a logo for the site is
key, since it will top each page, and jen has a graphic artist in mind to
create one. the aim is to have the site online by october, possibly preceded
by an "under construction" early form. jen, who will be the site
administrator, is the perfect person to lead in the creation of this mother
of all web sites, but she will need lots of assistance---particularly in
providing content.
for the immediate future, jen plans to convene a brain-storming session on
the porch of her new summer (and fall, winter and spring) residence in
patchogue in about two weeks. at that meeting, assignments for generating
content will be made. if you would like to attend, email her at
jbradycotter@xxxxxxxx if you can't attend but have suggestions on design or
content, email her. after the meeting, jen hinted at the possibility of a
celebratory toast at the blue point brewing co. facility, which is
conveniently located nearby; she is negotating with the proprietor.
jen estimates the web site will cost $100 to $300 per year. this compares
favorably with estimates obtained from three commercial design companies on
long island. the cheapest of those has a startup fee of $999 and monthly
maintenance cost of $49. this plan does not offer nearly the features
proposed by jen.
in other business, pete white pointed out that friends paid $1,400 to have
tax returns prepared., even though most of the money moved in and out of the
account came from the students club and the college groups. plus many hours
wre spent in getting the numbers together. he suggested a sharing of the
cost and workload. formation of campus chapters is one way to ease the
burden.
residents of nuevo amanecer have not getting water from their well for
several weeks; instead, another nonprofit is temporarily bringing a water
tanker. the problem stems from the demise of the diesel generator and an
arsenic test by a purported government employee. this person then urged
drilling a new well about half a mile away and piping that water to nuevo.
he then suggested he would be glad to serve as the contractor for the new
project. meanwhile, the residents of the area where the new well would be
dug are opposed to the idea of sharing their water, so drilling there seems
unlikely. we agreed that whatever agency employs him needs to be contacted
to find out whether the shutdown is valid and if so, how the arsenic levels
can be brought into compliance. there are two suggested ways to reduce the
arsenic. one is to have each household filter its drinking water with a
device created by a new jersey scientist. the willingness and ability of
nuevos to do this was questioned. the other method is to install a filter at
the source to treat the water before it goes into storage tanks. pete
pointed out that $6,500 being held in a nuevo water account by conchita
could pay for the filters. it was pointed out that only water being consumed
or being used to wash vegetables or other foods being ingested has to be
treated. water for irrigation, bathing, animals or other purposes does not
have to be treated, so the amount of water that has to be treated could be
only a fraction of the total water brought out of the ground.
a recent visit to nuevo showed that 80 percent of the homeowners' plots have
not been planted. the reasons are unclear, pete said, but they may be afraid
to plant until the rainy season definitely arrives. lack of motivation is
another possibility, so a give-back policy may be needed. for example, if a
family's children are not going to school, their water could be reduced.
finally, the group agreed to have a space at cow harbor day, sunday, sept.
27. volunteers and tables will be needed.
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