[NYAGDU] October and November Minutes

[Lucy Marr]

New York Association of Guide Dog Users

Board Meeting

October 16, 2024

In Attendance: Kelleigh Larsson, Amanda Martins, Lucy Marr, Mary Lou Mendez,
and guests Jim Jonas, Margo Downey, Julie Phillipson, and Alan Larsson.

 

Minutes will be emailed before the meetings. 

Lucy says there are no changes to the treasury, and we are still
transitioning to the new bank. Aubrey, Nina, and Lucy will be listed on the
new account. 

 

Kelleigh will send out an agenda with the zoom link 5-7 days before each
meeting. If you have anything to add to the agenda, let her know. 

 

We discussed fundraising ideas. Some ideas were t-shirts, bandanas, chocolate
bars, custom dog toys, asking local pet stores for support by donating
percentages of sales for a day or having a donation jar, holding a dog wash
for donations, sewing stuffed dogs for sale, auctioning stuffed dogs/dog
food/supplies. and selling backpacks with our logo on them. For the state
convention, we discussed selling chances for a gift basket.

 

Kelleigh asked for ideas on projects for the next year. Updating the
interviews with representatives from the guide dog schools, a call for an
introduction to the guide dog lifestyle, a presentation on the Meta Ray Ban
Smart Glasses or other navigational tools, a seminar on dog first aid, dog
massage presentation, vets discussing seasonal issues with our dogs, and
producing videos on how we handle different situations with our dogs were
some suggestions. 

 

Action Items:

Amanda: Contact Aubrey about details on ordering T-shirts from the previous
vendor.

Lucy: Create list of local pet stores

Mary Lou: Gathering information on Meta Ray Ban Smart Glasses

Mausam: Researching pet policies on college campuses. 

 

Meeting adjourned.

 

Respectfully submitted,

 

Lucy Marr

NYAGDU Secretary

***

New York Association of Guide Dog Users

Board Meeting

November 20, 2024

 

In Attendance: Kelleigh Larsson, Amanda Martins, Lucy Marr, Mary Lou Mendez,
and guests Margo Downey, Julie Phillipson, and Alan Larsson.

 

For future meetings, Lucy will send the announcements to our What's App group
and New York News and Amanda will share it on Face Book. 

 

There are no changes to our treasury. Kelleigh asked Lucy to email Aubrey and
copy Nina and ask for a status update on the transfer of our account to
Citizens Bank. 

 

We have an email list on nfbnet.org. Minutes will be posted to the email
list. Please subscribe if you are not a member. 

 

We discussed the possibility of sending donation requests letters to family
and friends to raise seed money to purchase products for fundraising.
Everyone liked the idea, but there was concern that there was not enough time
to get it done before the holidays. Several members offered to help donate
funds to help purchase supplies for a fundraiser. 

 

Lucy suggested that we sell chances for a stuffed dog. There was a discussion
on how to best acquire one of the dogs like what the Seeing Eye uses for
their auctions. Mary Lou volunteered to reach out to a contact that would
have more information on where to acquire the stuffed dogs.

 

Kelleigh would like to facilitate an event in the early part of this next
year, and she was asking for ideas. Having a panel discussion from
representatives of the guide dog schools to discuss how different they are
was one option. 

 

We would like to have a resource notebook on our web page detailing various
aspects of the schools. One example is the ownership policies. Jim and Arthur
will upload any material we send them. Kelleigh and Amanda will work together
to compile information. It is important to make these resources WCAG
compliant with braille displays. 

 

Mary Lou reports that she has been approved to use her Meta Ray Ban Smart
Glasses with both Aira and Be My Eyes, so she will be able to give more
information in our future meetings. 

 

Meeting adjourned.

 

Respectfully submitted,

 

Lucy Marr

NYAGDU Secretary 

 



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