CKSCP Board Meeting
August 15, 2022
The meeting was called to order at 7:30 pm by President, Bob Herring. Also present at the ZOOM meeting were Mike Burns, Bob Derge, Frank Clark, Steve Hirschberg, Jay DeWitt, Susan Neaman, Sasha Etlin, and Guennadi Maslov.
Bob Herring previously distributed an agenda via email.
REPORTS
Meeting Minutes: Mike Burns advised that the minutes from July 10, 2022 were previously distributed. Upon a motion by Bob Derge and a second by Susan Neaman, the minutes were approved by a unanimous voice vote.
Treasurer’s Report: Bob Herring advised that Bob Derge Jr. previously sent out a treasurer’s report detailing 2022 budget activity and reflecting an unencumbered checking account balance of $23,160.94 and $20,121.65 in monies available for CKSCP projects. Three payouts of $11,378.63 for Cincy 4 Ukraine, $3,500 for tools and equipment for the Village of Dergachi, and $49,242.42 for World Central Kitchen were made during July. Mike Burns made a motion to approve the report. It was seconded by Susan Neaman and passed by a unanimous voice vote.
OLD BUSINESS
Blink Mural: Susan Neaman reported that the site for the Blink mural supporting Ukraine will be located at 1196 Dunlap Street in OTR. $1,000 has been donated to support the mural so far. Jodine Grundy has suggested a zoom meeting to work out more details.
International Children’s Day: Susan reported that there have been many emails floating around regarding the organization of the day. She knows that she will need help with the setup on September 24th at 9:00 a.m.
Kharkiv Red Cross (KRC) Visit: There was an extensive review of the recent visit from the Kharkiv Red Cross representatives. The board picnic at McDonald’s Commons went very well and Susan noted all the hard work by TJ White getting things set up at the OTR Stillhouse and distributing and tracking invitations. The comments by Mayor Pureval and Vice Mayor Jan-Michelle Kearney were right on target and well received. There was media coverage by several of the local news outlets. Our visitors were greatly appreciative of the reception by the various agencies visited. Comments on each visit are as follows:
· The visit to VA on vine Street was well received and Jay DeWitt was recognized as a celebrity by the VA.
· The visit to the Ft. Thomas VA established a great connection related to expertise on PTSD. The presenting doctor was the coauthor of the manual on PTSD training.
· The visit to the Cincinnati Area Red Cross was summarized as a “Lovefest”.
· The Rotary luncheon at the Omni-Netherland Hall of Mirrors was very well attended and the Ukrainian visitors were recognized as guests of honor. Senator Rob portman was the speaker and talked about all the efforts he and others have sponsored in the way of supporting legislation. The Rotary club made a $1,000 donation through CKSCP to the Kharkiv Red Cross. CKSCP passed the donation through in cash to best get the funding to the visitors to offset costs.
· School Psychologist MaryAnn Buchino provided a well-received presentation on techniques to help children affected by war and violence.
· Jim Titus, and architect with Titus and Dunn indicated an interest in participating in rebuilding and renovating Kharkiv when the war is ended.
· Two FBI agents came to Bob Herring’s house and provided insights on “Bad Guy” infiltration during fundraising.
· John and Francie Pepper met with the visitors via a zoom call and expressed continued support for fund raising efforts to support the Red Cross and Kharkiv in general.
· Media coverage included Channel 12, Channel 5, the Enquirer and WVXU. Channels 9 and 19 did not participate. It was noted that CKSCP needs help using social media to help drive interest in the needs of the Kharkiv region.
· The OTR Stillhouse event included approximately 50 attendees and we should have been more prepared to deal with potential donations during the event. Cincy 4 Ukraine and Hope for Ukraine were at the event and provided comments in addition to Bob Herring, and our Kharkiv visitors. Sasha noted that it was great that attendees got to meet and talk with Konstantin and Tatiana.
· Susan reported that the hosting experience with our KRC was very memorable and heartwarming.
· Susan, Bob Herring, and Sasha reported on expressions of support from retail establishments like Fleet Feet and Koch Sporting Goods and commented on a renewed interest in being involved by the Bahlers and others.
Potential Board Expansion: Members present generally felt that CKSCP needed to recruit additional board members to help meet our mission needs going forward. A couple of possible names were mentioned as obvious recruits. The board approved creating a recruitment committee tentatively comprised of Mike Burns, Susan Neaman, and Frank Clark. Mike was charged with convening a meeting for the committee to work on the process and report at the September Board meeting.
NEW BUSINESS
News From Kharkiv: Guennadi Maslov reported that Mayor Terekhov held a press conference wherein he reported that the bombing and rocketing of Kharkiv has continued unabated since the start of the war. The damage to non-military sites is quite extensive, more far reaching that damage to military installations. He also advised that most city services are operating on a regular basis but with more breakdowns of equipment. Sasha Etlin opined that another fundraising effort was very important soon to help Kharkiv survive the winter.
AROUND THE ZOOM SCREEN
· Susan Neaman expressed gratitude to Sasha Etlin for all of his professional hard work translating during the visit.
NEXT MEETING
The next regularly scheduled CKSCP board meeting is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. on Monday, September 12th. The meeting will be virtual on Zoom.
Frank Clark made a motion with a second from Bob Derge to adjourn the meeting. The motion carried by unanimous voice vote. The meeting adjourned at approximately 8:45 p.m.
Submitted by Michael Burns, Secretary