The Roy Williams Foundation Meeting Minutes, Meeting 20

 

Date of Meeting 3/14/2021 2:00pm MST

Type of meeting: Live, Internet, Zoom

​

Roll Call:

Chairman: Zach Crevier- Present

Vice Chairman: Dave Newton- Present

​

Board Members:

Zach Krause- Present

Alhaji Bangura- Absent

Kit Steimle- Present

Dr. Michelle Flores- Absent

Matthew Anderson- Present

 

Secretary/Treasurer:

Bret Collyer- Present
 

Assistant Secretary:

Hailey Steimle- Absent
 

Alternates:

Dexter Pitts- Present

Matthew White- Absent

 

​Call to Order.
 

Additions, Deletions or Changes to the Agenda? Secretary Collyer suggested that any
members who would like to discuss hunting options while members are in Colorado for the
September (yearly) meeting should stay on Zoom after the meeting is over.
 

Adoption of Meeting Minutes, Meeting #19 held on 2/20/2021
Chairman Crevier made a motion to approve the minutes as written, seconded by Director
Anderson, motion passed unanimously.
 

Old Business:
 

*Database/Spreadsheet progress: Chairman Crevier asked Director Steimle how our
independent contractor (Mary Cloud) was progressing with our ‘resource
database/spreadsheet’. Director Steimle replied that she was somewhat overwhelmed and
surprised by the amount of information and sheer number of groups out there that are willing
to help Veterans and First Responders. He added that she is probably 80% finished with the
document, but due to her time constraints and the overwhelming volume of groups, she may
not be able to actually finish it. Secretary Collyer noted that, “really, this is a good problem to
have” adding that it’s great to know there are so many organizations out there and it will
become even more important to vet the organizations to ensure that we are sending clients to
the absolute best, most qualified organizations that we can. Director Krause agreed, saying that
‘We can weed through (Vet) them on a case, by case basis or as time allows’. Chairman Crevier
mentioned that we should go ahead and pay Mrs. Cloud for her efforts even if she doesn’t
completely finish the project, we all knew it would be a very big project. All were in agreement
with his sentiment. Steimle said, that he will contact Mary after our meeting and she will e-mail
it to him. He added that after he reviews it, he will e-mail it to all of us. Secretary Collyer added,

that she should invoice the RWF for payment and he can write her a check as soon as possible
with the consensus of the Board of Directors.
 

*Update Bylaws to include new members: Chairman Crevier asked Secretary Collyer if he had
found time to update the Bylaws to allow for our new members. Collyer replied that yes, he
‘found time to finish it this morning’, the project is complete.
 

*Termination of the “Donate Now” Button: Chairman Crevier asked Collyer if he was able to get
rid of the Donate Now button, Secretary Collyer indicated that he has called them a couple of
times so far and has only managed to get stuck on their phone system “Hold-loop” for long
periods of time. But added that he will keep trying and exploring new ways to contact them and
that he is growing frustrated due to the fact that they (Heartland Direct) are still removing
money from our accounts every month for “Fees”. He will make sure that this stops as quickly
as possible. He informed the Board that his Son (Web-Master Cody) has already
removed/disabled the button from the site.
 

*Still waiting on a few members to complete COI forms for 2021: Chairman Crevier lightly
admonished the members who have yet to complete their COI forms and reminded them to get
it done. Secretary Collyer said he would re-send the policy and forms to the members. Collyer
noted that those who have not yet finished the forms are: Assistant Secretary Steimle, Vice
Chairman Newton, Alternates Pitt and White.
 

*Business cards for Flores and Pitts: Chairman Crevier deferred to Director Steimle for an
update as to the status for the business cards for Dr. Flores and Alternate Pitts. Steimle said,
he’s been busy working on getting his Mother moved into new housing and that has been
taking all of his spare time. He added that it won’t take too long and will get with Alternate Pitts
soon (while Steimle is in town) and order Director Flores’s cards at the same time, then seek
reimbursement from the Foundation.
 

New Business
 

*Alternate Pitts to lead discussion about his thoughts and ideas about how to proceed with our
mission, from a Purple-Heart Veteran and current Law Enforcement Professional working for a
large Department: Chairman Crevier then invited Alternate Pitts to share some of his thoughts
with the group about what may and may not work, operationally from his perspective, to
further the mission of the RWF. Alternate Pitts (attending the meeting from his police cruiser)
began by stating his appreciation for the RWF and what it was trying to accomplish and that he
was glad to be part of it. He stated that his ‘Biggest thing was personally working on removing
the stigma that comes with asking for help and sharing his emotions with his co-workers at
appropriate times when they arise, instead of bottling them up. Soldiers and Police Officers are
supposed to be tough, and they are tuff, but they are also Human Beings. Even tough people
need help sometimes and it is impossible to constantly keep up the tough-guy persona and,
frankly, those who never show emotion are actually more of a danger to themselves and others
as they may lash out someday with no warning. So, he is trying to “Normalize needing help”

among his colleagues. To that end, he has begun planning to start his own Podcast called “I am
Pitts” where he plans to let it all hang out there; his deepest thoughts, feelings and emotions
with the hopes that it will help himself and others to deal with their problems. All agreed that
this approach will take a great deal of courage and that we would all be interested in listening
to it. Pitts thanked everyone for their encouragement and stated that he would send a link to
everyone after recording his first episode.
 

*Chairman Crevier to lead a discussion about planning for our Mid-September In-Person
Meeting, to include fundraising ideas (i.e. Sponsored 5k run, ruck march, merchandise, BBQ
etc.) Now that Covid is diminishing: Chairman Crevier began the discussion about planning for
our in-person meeting. Director Anderson asked what the proposed dates were for the
meeting. Crevier and Krause said they were hoping for the week of September 5-11 in order to
realize better weather, possible fishing and hunting adventures. Director Steimle noted that
Labor Day (Sept 6 th ) weekend is always a busy time in the area due to the “Seven Peaks Music
Festival” held in Buena Vista, so any events we schedule may compete with it. Secretary Collyer
suggested that we may be able to use that fact to our advantage for fundraising. Steimle replied
that it was a possibility with planning, but it may be difficult to pull off. The general consensus
of the Board was that we should tentatively stick to the week of 5-11 for planning purposes and
see how it develops. A general discussion was had about activities and fundraising (i.e. ruck
march, fishing tournaments, 4 wheeling adventures, bar-b-q’s etc.). Director Anderson spoke
about his willingness to help design and procure tee-shirts to sell and use as prizes for whatever
activities we can put together to help spread the word about our mission. All agreed that this
topic would remain an ongoing discussion.
 

Financial Update: Secretary Collyer led the group through the financial report as follows:
 

(2/1/21-2/28/21)
Checking Balance: beginning: $862.47
Deposit- Amazon Smile:           $15.84
Check # 1021 to Collyer           -$270.00 Signed by Crevier, reimbursement for website renewal.
Ending Checking Balance        $608.31

 

(1/01/21-3/1/21) Beginning Savings Balance: $3,195.87
4-Deposits/Credits:                                           $4,444.51
Interest paid:                                                               0.23
5-debits (transaction fees)                                   -$172.21
Ending Balance:                                                 $7,468.40
 

Total monetary assets: $8,076.71
 

*Secretary Collyer will continue efforts to de-activate “Donate Now” button and work on
“Closing out” 2020 taxes, which should be a simple postcard form.

 

Anything else?
 

*Consider reviewing Mission Statement to better reflect evolution of RWF at next meeting:
All agreed, but no further discussion
 

*Hunt planning for members-post RWF meeting (remain on Zoom):
(Post meeting hunting discussion ensued after adjournment).
 

Other: Chairman Crevier suggested that we start the process of advertising our in-person
meeting as soon as possible and stated that we should create a new Fundraising Letter that can
be posted anywhere that our members frequent. All agreed that this was a good idea; updating
our FL would be prudent. Vice Chairman Newton suggested that we add a website section to
begin communicating with the public about planning for our in-person meeting and events.
Alternate Pitts talked about the need for a social media presence, including Facebook and
Twitter. Secretary Collyer recalled that at one time, Assistant Secretary Steimle was going to
create a FB page for us, but she is a very busy person and she didn’t have time, (she already
monitors our e-mail everyday at no charge). Collyer added that during those discussions, all
agreed that the sites administrators would have to try to keep the postings non-partisan due to
the dangers associated with being too political, we don’t want to fall into the trap of being
‘controversial’ and/or alienate anybody. Pitts agreed and said that he would look into creating a
Facebook Page and seek out other platforms to help spread our message. Director Krause
spoke about his recent conversations with Travis Garvin who, again would very much like to
help the RWF; noting that Travis was a good friend of Roy’s, misses him terribly and is well
qualified and educated to help the organization, especially with the Technological aspects of
social media. He will call Travis later to see if he would like to write a Bio and Letter of Interest
for the RWF to consider as an Alternate Candidate. Garvin and Pitts might work together as
administrators for Social Media. Director Krause asked Vice Chairman Newton if he had seen or
heard from Alternate White lately. To which Newton said “yes, (he had) just got home after
spending a few days with White”. A discussion was had among members about how to address
White’s continuing absence at our meetings. Newton made clear that on-top of White being
very busy, he ‘has a lot going on’. Crevier asked Newton to remind White, that “We are here for
him if he ever needs to talk about anything”. Newton said he would relay the message and then
added that he “would suggest that you guys should start looking for a replacement’’ and that, ‘I
(Newton) will talk to him to see what he wants to do’. All agreed that we would hate to lose
White, but would understand if he wants to leave the RWF leadership team. Secretary Collyer
mentioned that he had rewritten the Bylaws to allow for three Alternates, so White could still
be on board (for now) if Garvin became an Alternate. All members agreed that regardless of
White’s decision, he would always be welcome at our meetings in the future.
 

Next Meeting:

 

March 28th
 

Meeting Adjourned:
15:06