The Roy Williams Foundation Meeting Minutes, Meeting 34

Date of Meeting: Meeting 34 3/27/2022 1300 MST
 

Roll Call:

 

Chairman: Alhaji Bangura- Present

Vice-Chairman: Dave Newton- Present

​

​Board Members/Directors:

Zach Krause- Present

Kit Steimle- Present/left early

Dexter Pitts- Present (On Duty)

Travis Garvin- Present

Ashley Ottmer- Present

 

​Secretary/Treasurer:

Bret Collyer- Present

 

Assistant Secretary:

Amber Collyer Holmes- Present

 

Call to Order.

Additions, Deletions or Changes to the Agenda?: Director Steimle stated that he had to ‘get on
the road’ and asked if he could present his report on the recent Landcruiser event he
participated in representing the RWF. All agreed and Steimle reported that “During March 17-
20th I attended the 19th annual LSC Roundup. 140 vehicles and 200 participants and thousands of
people were in attendance. This event raised money and awareness of Veterans and First
Responders issues. It was a great event and a lot of fun and now a lot more people are aware of
us (the RWF). I dropped a business card in all of the ‘welcome bags’ that each participant got
and added the DeWalt toolkit that we purchased to the prizes that were raffled off. Collyer
asked Steimle how much money did he think we may receive for the tool raffle? Steimle replied
that he is still waiting for a phone call from Swearingen (event organizer), but it will be
interesting to see if donations start arriving in our mailbox. He added that the outreach aspect is
already bearing fruit as a distressed fireman has reached out to him for some help. Chairman
Bangura asked Steimle if he should send them a thank you note for helping us get our name out
there? Steimle replied that ‘that would be nice and he would get Al some contact information’.
All members thanked Steimle for his report and efforts and he signed off from the meeting.

 

Adoption of Meeting Minutes, Meeting #33 3/6/2022: Director Garvin made a motion to
approve, seconded by Director Ottmer. Motion to adopt minutes as written adopted,
unanimous.

 

Old Business:

 

Conflict of Interest Statements Still Due: Newton and Bangura.

 

Two Alternate Director Positions to be filled: All members still searching for a good candidate.

​

New Business/continuing business:
Local Scholarship Program, Draft News Release (included with Agenda): Secretary Collyer asked
all members if they had a chance to review the materials. Everyone had, Chairman Bangura
started the discussion by stating that ‘we need to be careful and deliberate about how we start
off to see what we can learn from it, adding that we wouldn’t want it to compete with (or
detract from) our organization if we get it wrong. Collyer continued that he has been
communicating with the Editor for the local newspaper as well as the Guidance Counselor for
the high school to be sure our messaging is in place once we decide exactly what we want to
do. Director Pitts asked Ottmer “Realistically, how far will $500 go towards the education
needed for a career in mental health services?” Ottmer, responded, “Not very far, but every bit
should help someone”. Director Krause (who’s wife is working on her MH degrees) added that
$500 would help cover the cost of the books for a semester. Director Garvin stated that $500
would help us get more applicants for us to consider. All agreed that $500 was an appropriate
amount for our first scholarship program and will be a good way for us to learn the best way to
administer such programs in the future.
 

Director Pitts changed course with a discussion about the movement to remove the “D” in
PTSD, noting that the D stands for “Disorder”. He continued that during his time with the crew
from the Black Rifle Coffee Company (BRCC) podcast, they continually corrected him. Their
thinking was that it is not a “Disorder” in the sense that, these reactions to stress and violence
is natural. It would be more disturbing if a human being experienced violent trauma and was
unaffected by it. The term was trending toward “PTS, or Post Traumatic Stress”. Pitts asked the
rest of the members; “What do you all think?” Director Krause replied that he understood the
line of thinking, but that he thought that keeping the “D” was important, because it is
universally recognized as a problem that people experience. He then asked Ottmer what she
thought. Director Ottmer replied that from a technical perspective, the “D” is important from a
“Diagnostic standpoint” and is regarded as a clinical term which helps dictate how treatment is
prescribed and administered. Vice Chairman Newton agreed with Ashley, that the “D” should
remain. Ottmer stated that the term “PTS” might not be recognized by the mental health
community. Chairman Bangura agreed and it was decided that all RWF official communication
will continue to include the “D in PTSD”.
 

Review Volunteer form: (Waiting to hear back from Ottmer): Ottmer reported that the form is
“Intense” and needs refinement to better reflect what we are looking for in volunteers. Collyer
added that he wrote the initial form to satisfy the IRS when applying for our nonprofit status
and knew that it would need more scrutiny. This will be an ongoing project.

 

Desired changes to website: Cody has recently made several changes and updates: It is
suggested for everyone to look at the website and their Bio’s on the “Meet our Governing
Body” link, some may want to change them up: Collyer asked if everybody had time to look at
the website, most members have. Collyer explained that all Directors should review and update
their personal Bio’s to make sure they still reflect what they want people to know about them
and used Bangura as an example. Chairman Bangura’s personal profile still had him listed as an
Alternate Director (instead of Chairman) which Cody updated for him. Bangura noted that all
members should read and update their profiles.
 

Logo Change Discussion: Assistant Secretary Holmes is working on a few ideas
 

Critical path/Structural Discussion for the RWF:
 

1) Fundraising update: Pitts made a home run with BRCC: Secretary Collyer stated that he
really enjoyed listening to the podcast and other members congratulated Pitts for the
successful interview noting that it was full of laughter. Pitts reported that they were
already aware of the RWF and that he received a verbal commitment to supporting us
with a $5k donation. He added that they explained that they mail checks on 10 day
cycles. The maximum donation they contribute is $10k, but we would be grateful for any
amount. Pitts was concerned that we had not yet received anything from them and was
willing to call them every few days to inquire. Collyer replied that the mail service ‘out
here’ was notoriously slow and he will keep checking and keep the group informed.
 

Steimle to update on the Landcruiser Event Fundraiser: Done previously under
Additions/changes section
 

2) Structure evolution (Bangura): Chairman Bangura stated that he would like to ‘push’ this
item until he is able to have a discussion offline with Director Ottmer.
 

3) Advertising/outreach, Is our social media effective (Holmes): Secretary Collyer invited
Asst. Secretary Holmes to give an update on our Social Media projects. Holmes reported
that she is currently working on Director Krause’s bio for her ‘Director Spotlight’ project.
The posts that she has generated have reached 300 people, led to 140 engagements and
10 new website ‘winks’. We have gained 10 new people in 4 days. She noted that
several non-profits have asked us for permission to promote us (the RWF), but she is
researching them first. Director Pitts asked for names and she gave a few names
(redacted here). Pitts opined that ‘some of them are vultures’, noting that he has been
approached by several of them regarding his book and that they just want money. He
has fallen for some of their schemes and has wasted a considerable amount of money
for “promotional activities” and saw no benefit for the amount of money he spent.
Bangura recommended that Holmes take as many notes as possible and learn all that
she can about the business as we move forward. Newton agreed and stated that we
need to be very careful about who we deal with on the social media side of things. A

general discussion followed and all members thanked her for her efforts, with some
members noting that we have come a long way in a short period of time with her help.
 

4) Training opportunities update (Ottmer): Director Ottmer began by reporting that she is
all set up and making the final preparations needed to conduct QPR training. She asked
“Do we want to do the training in person during the yearly meeting, or virtually?”
adding that it can be done in an hour, maybe two. Bangura replied that since the in-
person meeting is at least several months away and it will be likely that not all members
would be able to attend, that virtually would be better and sooner would be better than
later. Secretary Collyer added that maybe we could set it up for our next meeting, by
briefly conducting our business and dedicating the rest of the meeting to the QPR
training. All agreed that this was a good approach and Ottmer said that she would be
sending out materials for the training via email in the coming weeks.
 

Financial Update:
Checking Account Balance:         $325.93
Savings Account Balance      +  $4,587.69
Monetary Assets:                        $4,913.62
 

Paid: Ship-N-Things shipping charges $75.09 Credit Card Bill: $53.23-Vista Print Business cards
Charged to CC: $269.00 for Toolset raffle for Steimle and $10.00 renewal with Colorado
Secretary of State Periodic Report. Also completed 2021 tax return with IRS form 990-N
 

*Anything Else/general discussion:
Comedy Club Fundraiser Last Wednesday of each month works best. October 26th? Collyer
reported that the October date works best for Jason Benci (the organizer of the event) since the
November timeframe would conflict with the Thanksgiving holiday. Some members stated that
they would have to see how this would conflict with the hunting seasons, but all members
would make an effort to attend if possible. This will be a continuing discussion.
 

Collyer then asked if all members received the letterhead that Holmes sent to everyone (they
had) so he reminded them that they could customize it for their needs locally and sign them as
a “Director” unless it was a more important event, in which case they would coordinate with
Bangura or Newton for a higher-ranking signature.

 

*Next Meeting April 10
 

*Meeting Adjourned: 1357