Summary of September 2020 Board Minutes

The following is a summary of the Board of Trustees meeting on September 10, 2020.

• Marketing Committee (Bonnie Goldberg): The committee is working with David Haas on new ways for members to deepen connections with our members, e.g. through networking; similar interests; volunteer interests, and to increase our pool of people to present on interesting topics.

• Youth & Family Education Committee (Anne Albert): We have excellent retention in grades 4 and up, and enough registrants to run classes for grades 2 and 3, helped by the emphasis on Hebrew language instruction in the new curriculum.  Participation in lower grades is more problematic, but Rabbi Max is working with parents to create a positive experience.

• Tikun Olam (Rosalie Kurz): BZBI is partnering with POWER to contact all our BZBI congregants to ensure they have a plan on how to vote and to help them realize that plan. Although the Library program has ended, volunteers are meeting to read books, put them on a flash drive, and lend them to students.

• Early Childhood Education (Arielle Kerstein): We now have ~50% our expected enrollment, and the families are very satisfied with the program and safety protocols. A video of the program is in the works.

• Building Committee (Michael Radbill): As an addendum to his initial report, Michael now has an estimate for repairs to our chimney from a contractor he has used before and trusts. He suggests that we should do the work by the end of the year.

• Membership (Sharon Greis): Many (69%) of our members have renewed and sent in money. Board members will make calls to increase that number.

• Development (Suzanne Litke): The Annual Giving (AG) request letter is with the Executive Director and will go out just after Rosh Hashanah, with others following throughout the year (year end, Passover, end of fiscal year). As of yesterday: Total giving was $46,186.46, which includes AG.  AG itself is $9,772.  Contributions for tributes and memorials are about the same as last year, but the book of remembrance reached just 50% of our expected goal.

• Executive Director (Rebecca Slavin-Phillips): We have finished prayer book distribution, with over 100 members receiving bags containing siddurs and memorial books. We now have new blue carpet in the sanctuary, and the sanctuary tiles have been waxed.  We now have Public Hours on Tuesdays and Thursdays during the pandemic.

• Finance Committee (Brian Bushee): Despite lower Early Childhood education (ECE) enrollments, our AG is strong and membership at expected levels. We have recognized savings on security, and our current investment balance should allow us to meet our budget until February, when we will start getting cash from next year’s enrollments in ECE and from summer camp.  We also re-submitted an Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) loan application.

Respectfully submitted by Board Secretary Terry Hirshorn