Community Relations Commission

CITY OF WHEATON COMMUNITY RELATIONS COMMISSION Minutes - Wednesday, November 4, 2015 I. Call to Order: by Chairman Ronnie Gillis at 7:05 p.m. II. Roll Call: Commission Members Present: Commission Members Absent: Ronnie Gillis Bill Balis Bill Gilbertson Bobby McNeily Dan Loftus Tony Lyons Erik Miller Vickie Miller Renee Webb III. III. Citizens to be heard: We were visited by the following students from the Wheaton North High School Government Class: Theo Gabriel, Theophilus Cook, Aidan Johnson, Graham Wilson, Stefan Fleps, Austin Tate, Erik Mueller, Matt Brcka and Nathan Zeuch. After Ronnie gave them an overview of the our basic Commission activities the students were very interested in our work and participated in the discussion offering suggestions to the family Christmas stocking program for the families of our adopted troops and some even volunteered to help us pack for it. They also informed us of their community service activities through the Key Club. IV. Approval of the minutes: from October 7, 2015. Erik moved, Vickie seconded and the motion for approval carried. V. Continuing Business: A. Military Projects – Bill Gilbertson. Bill reported that while the contributions of stocking stuffer items to our donation boxes had been weak, cash donations from our sponsors, the Women’s Club and the French Market had been very good. Since we found out that the main body of our Infantry unit had been deployed into Kuwait, we decided we would celebrate their return home next July and just concentrate on providing the Christmas stockings and gift bags for the children of the families at Ft. Riley. Bill indicated he had already been in touch with Chaplain Davis who would be providing the names and ages of the children to be gifted. We decided to meet on December 3 to prepare the stockings and gift bags for shipment. B. Cultural Diversity – Dan Loftus. Dan and Bobby had met with Betsy Adamowski from the Wheaton Library to discuss ways to improve the event. They did decide to hold the event sometime in August so it wouldn’t conflict with the start of the NFL season. It was felt that having it in September this year may have affected attendance. Dan said that Betsy was considering buying their own display tents so they wouldn’t have to rely on the Park District. C. Make a Difference Day – Bill Gilbertson. Bill felt that we needed to think of a new format for the Make a Difference Day Event. In recent years we have concentrated on encouraging our citizens to volunteer for community service projects and, specifically, to have people support our military projects. But the national focus on MADD is directed to that specific day. Bill is thinking we should redirect our efforts to line up specific volunteer projects for people to participate in on that actual day. D. Serve Illinois/Cities of Service – Renee Webb. No report. E. Good Citizens – Vickie Miller. No report F. Treasurer’s Report – Bill Balis. No report (not present) G. Media Coordinator – Bobby McNeily. No report (not present) -1- VI. New Business: None VII. Commissioners Comments: No comments. VIII. Adjournment: Vickie moved and Renee seconded a motion to adjourn at 8:25 p.m. Motion passed. -2-