The Roy Williams Foundation Meeting Minutes, Meeting 53

Date of Meeting: Meeting 53 01/20/2024 1300 MST

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Roll Call:
 

Chairman: Tom McConaghy- Present
Vice Chairwoman: Hailey Fuller- Present
 

Treasurer: Robin Olson- Present

 

Secretary: Bret Collyer- Present
 

Assistant Secretary/Social Media Manager: Amber Holmes- Absent/working

Board Members/Directors:
Dexter Pitts- Absent/working
Markus Hugle- Present
Samuel Vena- Present
 

Directors:
Two Vacancies
 

Alternate Directors:
Three vacancies
 

Guests:

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Call to order: 1305

 

Additions, deletions or changes to the agenda: None
 

Adoption of meeting minutes, meeting 52 (action item):
Hugle made a motion to accept as written, Fuller seconded, the vote to adopt was unanimous.
 

Old and continuing business: Next event date? Venue? Bowling Alley? Catered by Hunger Junction? Other
Ideas? Partner with First Lutheran Church for 4 th of July cookout? Thoughts?:
 

McConaghy began the discussion by asking for thoughts or ideas. Vena asked if anyone had spoken to first
responder organizations? McConaghy replied “Yes, they are all-in except for Wednesdays, they have an ‘All-
hands’ meeting on Wednesdays. But, other than that, they should be able to be flexible, depending on shifts
and what is going on call-wise during the day.” McConaghy then asked for suggestions on dates for events.
Fuller suggested spring time is always good for events. Collyer noted that staying away from Memorial Day
weekend is a good idea based on our last Bowling alley fundraising event that was successful, but may have
been more successful if it wasn’t for the holiday while everyone was celebrating. He then noted that Saturday
May 18 th is “Armed Forces Day”. Collyer added that he was going to visit Jason Benci soon who used to tour
with the USO as a standup comedian and reminded everyone that Benci helped organize our Comedy show
fundraiser at Tres-Litros in October 2022 that was “A lot of fun and very successful”. Collyer was instructed to
ask Benci if he could help us organize another comedy show type event. McConaghy spoke about being on the
governing body for his church, which is organizing a 4 th of July cookout event and wondered if the RWF should
try to work with his church to grow the event. Hugle asked if we can bring in other veterans groups?
McConaghy replied that he will ask around among other veterans organizations. Fuller asked about looking
into organizing an event at the Taphouse. Hugle replied that the Taphouse has recently been bought by
Elevation Brewery and suggested we speak with Christian Koch from Elevation. Fuller said she would call him
(Collyer provided her with his phone number). Hugle then spoke about the Steamplant venue and noted that

it was the biggest venue in town, but might be expensive to rent. All agreed that this will remain an ongoing
discussion.
 

New Business:
 

2024 proposed budget: Olson began providing an overview of the proposed draft budget for FY 2024. She
stated that ‘We need to spend more money, we have too much sitting in the bank right now for a nonprofit
and the draft budget reflects that reality’. She added that she ‘has been going back the last few years to create
income/expenditure statements and said that we needed to establish a few different projects and goals to
focus on. Hugle then spoke about his desire to help elderly veterans maintain their homes with small
maintenance projects and suggested a small budget for supplies for such projects with a tax-letter for the
volunteer who took the time to help. McConaghy stated that is very similar to the “Helping Hands” nonprofit
that he works with. Collyer mentioned the possibility of investing in service dogs for those who need them and
a brief discussion was had about the “Heroes Banquet” to raise money for service dogs that will be held again
in mid-July. Fuller stated that she would like for us to pay mental health clinicians to help Veterans and First
Responders. All agreed and Olson asked the group “How do we pay them?” Can we reimburse clients for
services received, or deal directly with counselors and pay them directly for hours billed in a 1099 (tax form)
scenario?” Hugle stated that (Former Managing Director) Ashley (Ottmer) would be a good resource for this
effort. McConaghy stated that he will do some research to figure out the best avenue to follow. Olson
continued the draft budgetary discussion by stating that she put $1000.00 in the budget for the scholarship
award. Fuller suggested that $1000.00 for a recurring or returning scholarship might be good, but that a larger
initial scholarship might draw more applicants. She continued that if they continue to pursue Mental Health
Care degrees and keep their grades up, they could be eligible for recurring scholarships if the money is
available. All members seemed to agree with this perspective and Olson added that “The scholarship
application needs to be revamped.” McConaghy said that he will take care of that once we know what we are
doing.
 

The discussion continued with Olson suggesting that we look at creating merchandise and offering it for sale
on our website. Stating that she created a line item in the draft budget to produce hats, shirts, coozies etc. All
agreed that was a good suggestion. McConaughy then reminded the board that ‘We are a little behind with
this budget process, which would normally begin in September and finalize by the end of the year.”
McConaghy asked if members “Had any other ideas for the budget?” Collyer suggested that we allocate some
money to bid on silent auction items at the Heroes Banquet to try to win things that would benefit local
Veterans. Hugle and Vena both spoke of some of the neat items that were available last year that might be
passed on to those Veterans who might need and appreciate them. Olson suggested the need for different
accounts specific to the budget line-items, such as a dedicated “Scholarship account” as opposed to
everything being in the General Budget. All agreed that this was a good discussion and that these discussions
will continue.
 

Treasurer’s Report: Olson Reported that “The balances in the accounts are the same as last month”
($15,966.39-both checking and savings). Olson then asked the Board “In the past, you (RWF) have approved
expenditures in advance and then approved paying the already approved expenditures; Why is this?” Collyer
responded that “Was due to my ineptitude and being overwhelmed with all of the oversight responsibilities as
the leadership in place in the past seemed to have little interest in helping.” Hugle reminded Bret that Al
(Bangura) did pretty good when he felt ok. Collyer agreed and added that he was “Grateful for new
leadership”, adding “Thank you for helping!”. All acknowledged Collyer’s explanation and McConaghy clarified,
“Going forward, with an approved budget, items in the budget don’t need further approval unless there are

special circumstances requiring a change in the amounts being spent.” All agreed this was the correct
procedure. Olson then asked Collyer if the bank card he handed to her was a Debit card, or a Credit Card?
Collyer responded that it was a credit card ($5k limit).
McConaghy then asked for a motion to accept the Treasurer’s report. Vena made a motion to accept,
seconded by Hugle and Fuller. The vote to accept the report was unanimous.
 

Anything Else; General Discussion? (For the good of the foundation):
McConaghy spoke about the need for additional meetings as we prepare for fundraising events and
challenged members to “Ask yourselves, what are your time and talents? What are you going to do to help?”
Adding that “We will all have to do a little more to help and it is fun to be part of something successful.” All
agreed with this sentiment.
 

Lastly, Olson asked, “Where are we with the new Scholarship Application?” McConaghy replied that he is
planning to work on it this week.
 

Next Meeting: February 10th , 2024, 1300 MST.
 

Meeting Adjourned: 1340