From ARCRA President Michael Carroll Updated 12/5/2019

October 31, 2019 ARCRA  board meeting report.

The ARCRA Board of Directors met on 10/31 and began with congratulations for Dave Therkelsen and Bill Dutton on completion of their terms. Dave served in many leadership positions including a term as President and was the “founding” Chair of the Advocacy & Education Committee. Bill was Chair of the Southern California Group, served as Region Representative for the West and was a valuable member of several committees.

During the meeting, the Board:

• Received the Nominations Report from Dave Therkelsen and elected Jim Hamilton to serve as President in 2020; Ann Byrnes (VP), Jack Campbell, (Treasurer), and Nancy Blaschak (Secretary) will continue serving their 2-year terms. In addition, John Hendrickson, Matt Meyer & Scarlet Sobasky were nominated to the Board. (See ballot in this newsletter.)

• Received Chair Jim Hamilton’s Membership Report: although total membership grew to 1,324 with about 88 new members added during the year, we’re still 29 short of where we fi nished 2018 primarily because renewals have been slow and the pool of new member prospects continues to drop.

• Approved Treasurer Jack Campbell’s Financial Reports which indicated that although we are currently tracking close to budget, a solid 4thQ will be required to break-even at about $28k at year end. Donations from members are helping to off set lackluster membership income.

• Received a Communications Committee report from Nancy Blaschak who noted that our monthly eNewsletter had an August “open rate” of 64% which compares favorably with industry standards and added that a refreshed format would be rolled out soon.

• Received a report from VP Ann Byrnes on ARCRA Fundraising; about $5k has been received this year with plans to appeal to Lifetime Members in late November.

Noting that this was his last board meeting as President, Michael Carroll conveyed his confidence that Jim Hamilton and other ARCRA leaders, including those providing leadership for our Affiliated Groups, would ensure that the Association would continue to speak up for Red Cross Retirees and provide other valuable benefits for our members. He added that while changes in the way Red Cross ensures payment of benefits to retirees is making membership recruitment more difficult, whether our benefits come from the Retirement System, an annuity company, the Red Cross Savings Plan or in a lump sum, we’re all still proud Red Cross Retirees and the Retiree Association can still be a valuable resource.