Meeting on January 16, 2022, all members of the Honey Locust Sangha Caretaking Council (CTC) were present: Patrice Watson (Facilitator), Catherine Stremlau, Dave Watts, Jim Cox, Mark Watson, Mike McGann, Mike McMahon, Tina Ray and Juanita Rice (note-taker). Sangha Treasurer Randy Reinhart was also present for the annual financial report.
 
As is our custom we began with a reading of the Buddhist Prayer for Harmony in Meetings and a short meditation.
 
Agenda Item 1: Financial Report for 2021
               Before discussing the report, Randy mentioned that the December minutes recorded the PayPal and the US Bank balances reversed.
               Sangha treasurer Randy Reinhart reviewed her financial report, citing a PayPal balance of $1,236.68 and a US BANK balance of $4,722.41; total on hand 1-06-22: $5,959.09. A copy of the report is appended to this document.
               As Randy reported, income for the Sangha is of two basic kinds: a few sangha members have monthly donations set up through PayPal and others often make end-of-the-year donations.  We have not solicited Dana at all for a number of months, pending a discussion of Sangha finances. We touched on that topic with Randy: how much money should we have on hand?
               Our regular expenses include a reduced amount (currently) of monthly rent share ($150) to the Yoga Path for sangha meetings and storage and to retain the right to our Monday night space. Because of the spike in Coronavirus danger, only two of our small groups are meeting there for now: Women's Circle (3rd Sunday) and  Noble Silence Meditation (Friday evenings).  We also pay a small annual fee to list the sangha's contact information with MeetUp, the bill for which has not been submitted yet.  Mark Watson will check up on it.
               We already have a deposit (approximately $2,000) on the books at Creighton University Retreat Center reserving space for an in-person weekend retreat in May (2022).  Normally we also pay fees for a space for the Winter Day of Mindfulness, usually Carol Joy Holling Center on the Platte. We need a financial reserve to pay for travel for invited Dharma teachers: Sister Terry Cortes Vega has agreed to teach the weekend Spring Retreat either by Zoom link or in person.  We also want to guarantee adequate Dana (shared generosity) for invited teachers and to award scholarships to retreat attendees who ask for assistance. And we don't know when we may need to pay deposits for meeting spaces next year.
               This year we also had expenses for audio-visual technology.  We purchased a Hearing Assistance System (about $500) for retreats as well as in-person meetings at Yoga Path.  Gina Matkin and Randy Reinhart have donated a Smart TV to the Yoga Path, with minor expense for cable connectors. We had considered having the sangha donate for internet service at the Yoga Path in the interest of being able to sponsor "Hybrid" Sangha meetings: I.e., meeting in person to some extent while staying connected to "distance members."  Mark Watson has already installed internet services, however, making that decision moot for the time being.  As a side note, we realize we will have to nominate a schedule of volunteers tech-person for each meeting we set up for hybrid.
               All in all, Randy estimated, as Sangha Treasurer, that our amount on hand is appropriate.  We thanked Randy for meticulous work and for presence for this discussion.
 
Agenda Item 2: Discussion of 1/15 Day of Mindfulness and planned Spring Retreat.
               The sense of the meeting was that the Day of Mindfulness (DOM) was all in all excellent, all we could have hoped.  Some ideas for future consideration:  A quick check-in at the beginning for a more personal sense, especially, of visitors we didn't know. Keep the diversity of presenters. Perhaps suggest ice-breakers for on-Zoom Dharma sharing groups. Perhaps have the DOM committee to keep a record of the planning for future use.  Mike McGann volunteered to gather the committee together again for sum-up and continuing work on Spring Retreat. Mark Watson, who has been a contact person for Dharma teachers in the past, will meet with the committee as well as Treasurer Randy Reinhart.
The committee will be Mike McGann, Dave Watts, Jim Cox, Tina Ray and Gina Matkin.
               The CTC especially thanked Gina Matkin for her work as the committee chair and as an important enabler for the smooth flow of the DOM's happy healing energy.
 
Agenda Item 3: Revising the Intro to CTC on the Website.
               The agenda included a suggested revision to the Intro Paragraph submitted by notetaker Juanita Rice, acknowledging the change in the CTC membership but with other suggestions as well, including who was OI, who was Aspirant, and who was Member At Large, as required in our by-laws.  A special acknowledgment of the service of outgoing member Gina Matkin, a sentence acknowledging the necessary presence of our teacher's presence, adjusting our suggestions for bringing items to our attention by use of the coming sangha directory.
               Most of the changes were postponed and a simple listing of all the current (2022) CTC members was recommended, with special notice that the new list had inadvertently excluded Tina Ray (Aspirant).
The discussion, however, was wide-ranging and highly informative so that we felt we had achieved a harmonious resolution, despite the fact that the note-taker who had made the recommendation was incommunicado for the whole meeting, without a microphone, without even Chat access, and with only a piece of cardboard scrawled on with a marker. 
 
And so we adjourned, happy and laughing.
 
Appended: Honey Locust Sangha Annual Financial Report
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
               APPENDED TO JANUARY 16, 2022, MINUTES
  HONEY LOCUST SANGHA Treasurer Report 06-19-21 to 01-06-22 (YTD)

  

INCOMING FUNDS (Sangha):

Dana from Sangha June-December 2021
$1,803.93

Dana from Sangha January 1-6, 2022
$1,038.22

Bank Interest
$0.12

     TOTAL INCOMING  (from Sangha)
$2,842.27

OUTGOING FUNDS (Sangha):

Rent (Yoga Path July 2021-January 2022)
($1,625.00)

TV Cables for donated TV (July 20, 2021)
($139.41)

Audio Assist Equipment (November 2, 2021)
($577.10)

     TOTAL OUTGO (for Sangha)
($2,341.51)

 

     TOTAL HLS NET SURPLUS / (DEFICIT)     >>>
$1,853.04

****************************************************************

PayPal Beginning Bal 01-06-22
$1,236.68
 

 
 

US BANK Beginning Balance 01-06-22
$4,722.41
 

 
 

Total funds as of 01-06-22
$5,959.09