Minneapolis Friends Meeting

Minutes of Monthly Meeting for Business

November 8, 2020

[Names and some information edited for posting on the web]

 

In Attendance via Zoom: John K. – Presiding Clerk, Tom W.– Recording Clerk, and 48 other attenders

Silent Worship

1. Agenda Approved with some additions
2. October Minutes  APROVED
3. Reports:
   1. Loaves and Fishes Annual Report – Ann  (See attachment #1 for full report) For the past 35+ years the metro area Friends Meetings have been supporting meals in our community through Loaves and Fishes at one of the program’s sites at the Holy Rosary Church in Minneapolis.  Holy Rosary provides meals Monday through Thursday and has been serving about 80-120 meals/day. For the past few years we have been joined in collaboration with the Ismaili Community of Minnesota and the Mayim Rabim Congregation in preparing and serving meals of Chili with cheese, fruit, green salad, dinner rolls and milk.   Since the coming of COVID-19 there have been changes to the program.  Now, all meals served by Loaves and Fishes are take-out, and instead of a standard Chili dinner, we now provide Chili burritos, which are more portable.  The cooking and serving crews are smaller and everyone wears masks.  Greg, from Twin Cities Meeting, is providing much of the leadership and several from Minneapolis Friends Meeting take part regularly.  With the take-out service we serve more families now; and we are looking to create an all vegetarian Chili, which would be more economical.  Program costs have increased with COVID-19, caused by a drop in donated food and an increase in expenses for take-out supplies.   People are encouraged to participate in the program by helping cook and serve or by donating food, especially fruit. There has been a growing commitment from other religious groups to help with the meal, which has provided opportunity for interesting interactions and conversations.  Discussion: Where do we bring fruit that is being donated?  It is best to drop food off at Holy Rosary Church on the day of the meal or leave it on the front porch of Ann’s house on Harriet Ave S or at Sue’s house.  Food should not be dropped off at the meeting house. __ How has the demand for food changed?  There is more food insecurity now and we see more people picking up meals. While the serving time is limited (5:15 PM- 6:15 PM), take-out has made distributing the meals more convenient, allowing people to pick up as much food as they need, not just one meal per person.  __ Does Stewardship and Finance need to budget more money to Loaves and Fishes next year?  That is a possibility, but Ann wants to work more with Twin Cities Friends to consider other possibilities and to re-assess budgetary goals. In 2020 there were five dates to serve food. In 2021 there will be four, which is one less. Presiding Clerk will post the committee’s report to the Google group.
   2. Winter Gift Proposal – Roland.   Peace and Social Concerns committee is recommending two programs as recipients for this year’s Winter Gift.
      • Northpoint Food Shelf – located on the north side of Minneapolis. They have a number of food programs: a traditional food shelf, a program for infants and toddlers, a nutrition assistance program for seniors (NAPS), a summer outdoor food distribution that includes fresh fruits and vegetables.   The committee suggests that  2/3 of the Winter Gift would go to Northpoint Food Shelf.  www.northpointhealth.org
      • The 2^nd nomination is to Friends for a Non-violent World (FNVW) and their initiative for Bridging the Divides: Policing that works for everyone. This initiative focuses on policing that is characterized by equity, professionalism, partnership with the community and respect for the dignity of every member of our society.  The recommendation is for 1/3 of the Winter Gift to go to FNVW.  Info(Replace this parenthesis with the @ sign)fnvw.org     Discussion: Minneapolis Friends Meeting already gives $1,000 to FNVW annually. The Winter Gift would be an additional contribution designated just for this special program. Recently, FNVW went through a change in leadership and the Holiday Craft Fair will most likely not provide as much income to FNVW this year since it will be conducted online. So they would benefit from the extra support.  Also, M.D., a QVS fellow last year, is heading up the Bridging the Divide program, and it feels important to support her and FNVW — Friend asked if the Winter Gift, if given to FNVW, can be designated toward a specific program and not just go to their general operating budget. Not really, but we can indicate our intention on the contribution, and we have been assured that FNVW does apply designated checks to specific program expenses when requested to do so.   Friends APPROVED dividing the Winter Gift between two programs. 2/3’s of the gift to Northpoint Food Shelf and 1/3 of the gift to FNVW’s Bridging the Divides program.  Clerk asked for clarification on how individuals can contribute to the Winter Gift. Make a check out to Minneapolis Friends Meeting with “Winter Envelope Gift” in the memo line.
   3. Camp Annual Report – Ed (This is more of a discussion than a report.) We did not have camp this year because of COVID-19 and the challenges of holding a Fall Camp that did not rely on Zoom, would be entirely outdoors, and would be COVID safe.    Discussion: Could Meeting sponsor an event this winter or spring, organized by Camp Committee or Social Committee, such as a talent show, that could be Zoom friendly and would involve children? The talent show has been a fun tradition of the fall gathering.  E.S. – Welcoming Committee was considering a similar idea.  Presiding Clerk supports this and invites Camp and other committees to work on it.  —  Was there money budgeted for Fall Camp left over in the budget that would still be available?   There should be money available if it is needed.  — Are there other ways we could meet in person outdoors such as create a labyrinth where we walk, meditatively, spaced out safely. Presiding Clerk – these are good ideas, but no one has been willing to make it happen. — We have had success with smaller groups, like the Circle Eights, although there is some concern about promoting activities that encourage isolated groups and not the whole community. Other suggestions included incorporating a labyrinth into the winter art show held on Lake Harriet each year and holding a reader’s theater that would be aural, not just visual. It would be good if a committee took charge of this. But who? Friend spoke of the surge in COVID-19 infections right now and encouraged Meeting to plan no in-person activities at this time.  Ed said Camp Committee will review these suggestions, and Rae said Social Committee would be supportive of something, but not now, maybe in the spring.
   4. Child Welfare Report   – Rae  [Full report is in the Attachment #2] With all that has been going on in Meeting recently, the committee decided they could operate with a fewer committee members, and they have downsized from five members to two – Rae and Sally The non-active members will be available to help conduct interviews on those volunteering to be teachers, but, so far, only one person has been interviewed since last November.  There are no class room sessions at the present time.  All teaching is done online. The Meeting has a technology policy, but Rae is unaware of who is actually teaching online. Child Welfare Committee needs to coordinate more with Religious Ed on this.  Discussion: Friend indicated she was scheduled to interview with Child Welfare and asked if she should wait or do it right now. Yes, it should be done now. It is actually easier to conduct the interviews via Zoom; and if there are others waiting for an interview, they should contact the committee. There is some concern, given the current circumstances, in having the Bureau of Criminal Affairs form signed in person, in front of a notary.  Allen, a notary, will help do this for anyone in Meeting he knows personally. Anyone involved with instructing children on Zoom needs to go through the clearance process, even if they are just reading a story.  Friend mentioned that they believe the clearance policy has been relaxed if there is someone else present who has been screened.  Rae said she is more concerned about the entire technology policy being applied uniformly. Friend expressed concern about the inherent risk of Zoom and child safety because individuals can be contacted off-line without another knowing about it. Another Friend said it seems like overkill to insist an individual wanting to read a story on Zoom must be cleared first by Child Welfare. Presently, there is no clerk of Religious Education. Presiding Clerk said he will take this on and coordinate between Child Welfare and Religious Ed – we should leave the details to the appropriate committee and resolve this offline.
4. Care and Counsel Report – Judith (reporting for Nettie)    The committee recognizes that we all are care givers to one another, and this has been an especially challenging time in so many ways over the course of the last year. Care and Counsel is planning to connect with Death and Memorial Committee to discuss ways they can work together and how best to meet the pastoral care needs of bereaved families when a family member dies.   Care and Counsel is looking to engage other committees around concerns for families and children during the COVID-19 crisis. A note will be posted in each weekly bulletin providing information on how to contact the Care and Counsel Committee members. Also, a reminder that people wishing to be remembered on their birthdays should send birth date information to Judy. And any ideas or suggestions for Zoom programming following Wednesday worship should be forwarded to the committee. They are looking for creative ways to provide care, comfort, laughter and insights. This coming Wednesday Jim is providing instructions on self-massage.
5. Welcoming and Outreach: Placing messages on website “Next Door-Linden Hills” –  Keitha  Welcoming and Outreach Committee is exploring ways to reach out to our neighborhood. One idea is to place teasers on the local community website, “Next Door-Linden Hills,” that would encourage people to visit the Meeting’s web page.  They have already approached the writers group for ideas, and Keitha read one example of a teaser they could use. They might be able to write a longer article about Quakers and the Meeting.  First, they wanted to run the idea by monthly meeting to get approval.  They would ask a non-committee person to edit their messaging to make sure the Meeting is being reflected accurately.  It was noted that we have used “Next Door”, at other times, to announce Wednesday night movies or the FNVW holiday fair. Friends seemed to be quite supportive of the idea, but there were some concerns. Would the postings come from an individual or be from the Meeting?  The postings would most likely come from the Welcoming and Outreach Committee.  Friend reported that Next Door often becomes interactive and can be adversarial or antagonistic.  If so, who from Meeting would respond? How would we want them to respond? Once a post is made, it becomes public.  Seems like there is more to learn about this and we might explore other ways to advertise.  Friend asked how we currently reach out to visitors or newcomers at Meeting.  It has been quite limited.  Welcoming and Outreach has welcomed newcomers via chat, but they have not done much more than that.  They attempt to get email addresses and to initiate a one-on-one. There is already concern that we are not adequately connecting with our current visitors on Zoom; and now we are exploring additional ways to attract more visitors via Next Door.  Will we be able to reach out and welcome a greater influx of visitors?  Ministry and Counsel does not want Zoom attenders to be using the chat function during worship services. That impacts our ability to reach out and welcome new visitors, although the chat function is enabled at the close of the worship service so it is possible to connect with newcomers following the service.  Friend noted that we have reached out in the past with press releases and stories and he supports having Welcoming and Outreach move forward with this endeavor.  There was a lot of additional discussion:  The impact of COVID-19 should diminish in 6-9 months, and this would dovetail with these efforts to reach out to the community. We could think of this as a Quaker version of the “Welcome Wagon”, reaching out to the neighborhood. Another Friend stated that the conversations on Next Door can get dramatic.  How would we use it without inviting wild comments?  Presiding Clerk asked if Meeting could approve Welcoming and Outreach moving forward on this issue, trusting them to take into account all the ideas that have been expressed.  Friends APPROVED having Welcoming and Outreach Committee move forward, exploring ways to use Next Door – Linden Hills.
6. Correspondence:  A card was read that was sent from Phena.  Tom will present the memorial minute for Mumia at next month’s business meeting.
7. Closing Worship

 

Attachment #1

Loaves and Fishes Report          November 2020
I wanted to provide a short review of our 5th Monday Loaves and Fishes activity over the past year.

History -For the past 35+ years the Metro Area Friends Meetings Community have been supporting meals in our community through Loaves and Fishes at the Holy Rosary site. In its infancy we were involved when Loaves and Fishes had only one site in Minneapolis at Holy Rosary and another site in St Paul at the Dorothy Day Center. At one time we were serving 600 people with each meal. Loaves and Fishes has grown and now serves many more meals at 56 sites in the metro area. The Holy Rosary site provides meals Monday through Thursday and has been serving about 80-120 meals/day for the past few years. For the past few years we have been joined in collaboration with the Ismalli Community of Minnesota and the Mayim Rabim Congregation in preparation and serving our meals of Chili with cheese, fruit, green salad, dinner rolls and milk. In 2019 in addition to our work with meals we purchased the organization a new refrigerators to allow them to store more meals, fresh fruits and vegetables. We serve meals each 5th Monday. In 2020 there are five 5th Mondays and in 2021 there are 4 meal dates. On average we produce 250 meals with 20 volunteers with each meal date.

COVID-19 Changes.- Due to many COVID health requirements and concerns we have seen a reduction in our usual dedicated volunteers. Many of the volunteers are older or concerned about their own health with potential COVID exposure working with others that is required with production kitchen work.. We have adapted by requiring all volunteers to wear masks as well as gloves and hair coverings. Meals are served Take-out style which requires us to adapt our nutritious recipe of Chili and transform this to be a Chili Burrito. This increased our serving and production time as well as increased our costs. We now need to purchase take out containers and milk in paper cartons. Because of the reduction of fruit donations we are purchasing more fruit which is an added cost.

Meals are picked up in the lobby or outside the building, limiting guests in Holy Rosary. This also allows families to send someone to get multiple meals for their family rather than to have the entire family come to the church basement to eat. We have been able to prepare and serve this meal with a smaller group of volunteers. We have increased the amount of food that we are cooking. We are currently cooking for approximately 300 people while serving less than 200. This provides extra food at the dining site to be served at a later meal.

Coordination Process. There is a wonderful Loaves and Fishes 5th Monday manual created and refined over the past 30 years by previous coordinators. The coordinator places announcements in newsletters in advance of a meal date, orders food based on the recipe for the number of meals we intend to serve and solicits fruit donations. Time for the coordinator is a few hours prior to the meal date and 12-7pm the day we cook and clean up.

Cost -Meal cost has increased with the number of meals we are serving, as well as new unforeseen costs of the take-out meals. This was not budgeted for with our 2020 request, but generously approved of by our community earlier this year. Meals have been costing approximately $800 per meal date. In addition there has been generous fruit donations totaling approximately $250.

The $800 food cost is invoiced from the food vendor directly to Minneapolis Friends Meeting. This cost is shared between Minneapolis Friends Meeting and Twin Cities Friends Meeting. TCFM reimburses Minneapolis Friends Meeting for this cost. I anticipate food costs to continue to rise to $850/ event in 2021. However there will be a reduction of events to 4 in 2021 from 5 in 2020. For 2021, because of the cost sharing I anticipate the cost to each TCFM and MFM to be $850x =$3400 . Each Meeting will be responsible for half of the cost invoked $3400/2= $1700. This does not include the significant fruit donations that have been generously provided by our community and miscellaneous expenses borne by the Loaves and Fishes organization and the Holy Rosary church.

Volunteers- We have been averaging about 20+ volunteers between 2pm and 7pm each meal. I feel volunteers feel valued, and leave with a feeling of meeting others from diverse communities while sharing in useful work and learning or perfecting skills. We have many returning volunteers but are always looking to attract new people who would be interested in helping out!

Loaves and Fishes Site Coordinator– Loaves and Fishes has a Site Coordinator who most days is cooking and coordinating a meal and planning the next day’s food needs. Many meals are accomplished by less than 5 volunteers. Our group is very well regarded by the Coordinator. We are self-sufficient and know our way around the kitchen and work to leave the kitchen clean and tidy with another meal ready in the refrigerator when we leave. This allows the Coordinator a well-deserved break from their usual busy day.

I know we provide a vital service to our community, done with joy and love. Thank you for your generous support of this important work in support of our community.

The 2021 Loaves and Fishes events will be the fifth Mondays in 2021: March 29, May 31, Aug 30, and Nov 29

Report submitted by Greg L. and Ann L.

Attachment 2

Annual Report – Child Welfare Committee (CWC)
Date: November 8, 2020
Reporter: Rae, CWC Clerk
Committee Members: Doug, Sally, Barbara, and Sigurd

Short Description of the Committee’s Charge: To assure the welfare of all children and youth participating in Meeting sponsored events and activities through clearing adult volunteers and informing volunteers on the policies and procedures of the Child Welfare Committee. Also developing a legal and supportive system for reporting concerns about a child’s physical, emotional, or sexual welfare.

Accomplishments:

• Interviewed and cleared volunteers who volunteered to work with the Meeting’s youth
• Held an information session during midmorning program about the new Child Welfare Policies and Procedures. Attended by 40+ members.
• Held a joint session with Religious Education with volunteers/ teachers to review the new Child Welfare Policies and Procedures.
• Continued to keep organized the CWC file in the blue box in the Meeting House, ensuring
  that all forms are current and in supply for members of the meeting.

Challenges:

1. Our committee is now 2 people. With COVID we have not done anything about in servicing the teachers of 1st Day School. They need information about the technology portion of the Child Welfare Policies and Procedures document.
2. Working with the Religious Education Committee when 1st Day School is on zoom.

Upcoming Points of Attention:

• It remains a chief concern, with the new structure of the administrative office of the Meeting, who would non-Minneapolis-Friends-Meeting-affiliated organizations and individuals turn first with questions and concerns about the Meeting’s response to child-welfare related matters.
• With only S.W. and R.B.C. on the committee, can we do all the work that is required? Former members have all agreed to help with the interviewing.

How does the committee leave itself open to the leading of the Spirit? How has the committee experienced movement of the Spirit in its meetings or as it carries out its work?

• When we meet again, we will continue to validate the value of children and youth in our midst and our duty to assure their welfare and protection.  Their safety, emotional, social, and physical is always our first concern.