Present: Louis
Lafevre, Marie Haaf, Carrie Goodman, Nancy Webster, Lois Kuter, Sam Lemon,
Melissa Elliott, Carol Ann Gray
Regrets: Julie Kiene, Anne Humes
1. Meeting opened with silent worship.
2.
Minutes were approved, with changes to meeting dates. Scheduled Indian Committee
meetings for 2001-2002 are Sept. 22, Oct. 27, Nov. 17, and Dec. 8 of 2001; and
Jan. 12, Feb. 9, Mar. 9, April 13, May 11, and June 8 of 2002.
3.
Lois Kuter gave the treasurer’s report, indicating that there is $6,216.06
remaining to be used before the end of December 2001. She also delivered a
year-end wrap-up for 2000-2001.
4.
Sam Lemon, clerk, gave the committee updates on two grant requests: · No more
information has been received on the Piney Lenape request. · The FCNL grant
that we approved in June has been paid.
5.
The Indian Committee approved the request from the MOWA Choctaw Friends Academy
for a grant of $2,030 to be used for furniture and equipment for the school’s
kindergarten and first grade classes.
6.
Sam visited Keenan Shenandoah at Delaware Valley Friends School. This seems to
be a good fit for Keenan’s needs, and he is now established there.
7.
This year, the Indian Committee will consider requests at alternate meetings,
leaving the remaining meetings as time to talk about policy issues. Grants will
be considered at the following meetings: October, December, February, April, and
June.
8.
The nominating committee gave its report. Lois Kuter will be clerk, Carol Ann
Gray will be alternate clerk, and Louis Lefevre will be treasurer, The Committee
is seeking a recording secretary. Carol Ann Gray will work with the clerk to write the annual report, and
Carrie Goodman and Sam Lemon will collaborate on web site development. These
names were approved.
9.
Regarding the request by Jill Kinney, a graduate student in history at the
University of Rochester, Sam Lemon will write to her to get more information.
Questions raised: Is she asking for money to copy the tape? How much would it
cost? How wi ll she use it? Would we be given a copy of her dissertation, when
completed? Where is the original copy archived?
10.
The committee discussed buying a laptop computer for writing minutes during
meetings, keeping minutes in one place for archiving and easy referral, keeping
mailing lists, formatting business cards and application blanks for grants.
Carol Ann will check into prices for new and used models.
11.
Carrie and Sam will move ahead with establishing the Indian Committee’s
website, looking for a consultant.
12.
There was a discussion of what should be sent to the Quaker Collection at
Haverford College.
13.
At our next meeting, we will do some brainstorming about recruitment of new
members.
14.
Sam listed some policy issues we should address: scope of PYMIC grants,
guidelines for scholarship requests; whether we want to set geographic
boundaries on grant requests; networking with other Indian committees or groups;
outreach to Indian tribes and organizations in the tri-state region; questions
regarding international relations; approval of Burlington conference report.
15.
The committee approved the idea of assigning a committee member to track each
grant that is approved and get a follow-up report.
16.
There was a brief discussion about the issue of setting geographic boundaries
for our grant requests. These are some of the comments: What as the intention of
those who left the bequests that provide the money we use? Needs are vast, and
our funds are modest in comparison. Requests
by Quaker organizations for projects that would involve U.S. groups across
borders might be one acceptable form for grants made for international concerns.
We could also choose to emphasize subject areas or local or national concerns.
How do we want to set limits on scholarships, or do we want to discontinue
considering them? We would like more voices present for this discussion and will
continue it at the next available time.
17.
The Committee discussed the need to find a more efficient and tactful way to
assist Members with any expenses they may incur in completing work for the
Committee. We were reminded that Committee
Members had very different levels of financial wealth or lack of wealth and that
we needed to be sensitive to this. It was proposed that we set up a mechanism
for members to request reimbursement directly from the Clerk without bringing
needs to the full committee. Treasurer's Reports would not include specific
names to whom we reimburse small expenses, but would track our spending for "volunteer
expenses" so we can budget realistically to meet needs of members. This
will be discussed further at the October 27 meeting.
18.
The Committee began discussion of policy issues related to our funding
priorities, budgeting, and operation, but deferred in-depth discussion to the
October meeting.
19. The Committee adjourned the meeting at approximately 12:15 with a period of
silent worship.
Respectfully submitted,
Melissa Elliott
10/18/01
