‘Health and Resource Expo’ moving to new MAC building
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Executive Director Bunch announces upcoming retirement
The St. Francois County Community Partnership (SFCCP) met Jan. 10 for the first meeting of 2024 at the SFCCP office in Farmington.
Season of Hope 2023 was the first item discussed, and then a meeting was planned to consider ideas for this year’s Season of Hope.
“We’re going to have to look really hard at getting more funding in,” Program Coordinator Dawn Sander said. “From what I’ve understood, we serviced $70,000 worth of kids this year. There was about twice that much need out there. So, we need to really look hard at working all year round and doing a little bit more than just sending out mailers and emails asking for donations. That’s why I want to set up the early planning meeting and get a planning committee set up.”
When asked about the success of giving out gift cards to parents to make Season of Hope purchases for their kids, as opposed to SFCCP buying gifts for the children, Sander said, “It was 98% much more efficient. Farmington pulled some of their kids back out because they wanted to shop for certain kids, and we understand that that’s something we’ll discuss further at the meeting. It’s a lot of work to go do the shopping. But we got a lot of positive feedback on the gift cards. Parents liked that they could shop for their own children.”
The idea of having school representatives go shopping with the families was discussed, along with plans to meet for the upcoming Health and Resource Expo. Holding the expo at Mineral Area College’s new Industry and Technology Center was proposed, along with possible ways to cover the cost of the new location.
“After touring the new technology building at Mineral Area College (MAC), I was blown away and so was Bill, and we would like to move the venue out of the gym and to the technology building,” Sander said. “However, they won’t let us have it for free. To rent the building itself is $525 for the day, which is reasonable, but where they’re getting us is the event setup charge, which is $5 per table and a dollar per chair.
“I estimated that if we have 100 tables to set up with chairs, it will be about $1,275. I did apply for the BJC grant of $3,000 that would cover it if we got it. But it’s huge, it’s nice, it’s 100% handicap accessible, and the parking is right there. It’s really nice. If we’re hosting a health fair, then people who are handicapped are going to be there.”
Executive Director Bill Bunch said, “And there’s a lot of space behind the building where the vans we have can park, which is going to make it so much better to have it there. Even if we do not get the BJC grant, the sponsorships should cover the cost.”
Past experiences of hosting the health expo were discussed, and Bunch said, “During the first year of the pandemic, we were debating whether to have it or not. The second year, we were told by MAC that if they had makeup games or something, we wouldn’t be able to get the gym, so we started looking around for other venues in the area. We struck out big time. It’s been a godsend that they built this facility over there, and it’s going to be so good for a lot of our organizations, not just ours.”
A motion was made to change the expo’s venue to the Industry and Technology Center, and all were in favor of doing so.
“Some of the things I’m trying to do is get more businesses in there, and because this is our twenty-fifth annual, I’d like to make it big,” Sander said.
School grants, such as the ACT and Prevention grants, were discussed, and Partnership updates were given.
“Well, the only update is the fact that I’m leaving sometime in the very near future,” said Bunch. “We haven’t had a director’s meeting since the first week of November, and they canceled the one in Jan., so, hopefully, I’ll be here long enough to take whoever replaces me to the February meeting.
“When I was hired in 2016, I promised the board I would be here for five years, and I’m going on year eight now. I’ve been in this field of work for 44 years now, and it’s time. I’ve enjoyed my time here, and I’ll stay as long as needed to train my successor. I don’t think it’ll take that long, though. If something does come up, they can always call me back in.”
Updates from Bismarck, North County, Central, and Farmington school districts were given, along with reports from MAC and the community agencies.
“Many of our families were very appreciative of the Christmas assistance we received from Season of Hope and Shop with a Cop,” said Ashley Deason with the Bismarck R-5 School District. “We’ve had a lot of donations from our community for our Food Backpack program, and we’re really appreciative of that.”
North County school district social worker Dana Barton said, “Season of Hope went very well. Everyone was very appreciative. We are serving around 140 students through our backpack program. Everyone enjoyed their break, and we’re ready to finish out the rest of the school year.”
The Central school district social worker gave similar updates for Season of Hope and Shop with a Cop, along with a discussion of a new group therapy being offered to students at Central through a grant. Marsha Petty with the Farmington R-7 School District reported similar success with Season of Hope and discussed the wellness committee’s drive for mental health.
“I mentioned Julie Downs is doing some programs with our kids at Dayse Baker and in our high school, even our middle school, for substance abuse,” Petty said. “She is trying to work and kind of get a push out into the community of doing some evening programs, not just for the kids but also for the parents, to bring awareness for signs to look at.
“So that’s something that we’re doing not just at school, but doing some outreach, and we’re excited about that. We aren’t getting a lot of input from parents coming in and wanting to participate, but I think it would be great to help get it off the ground.”
Concluding the discussion, Sander said, “The schools worked very hard to raise some of the funds for Season of Hope. Bismarck raised 25% of what the cost was for their kids to be serviced, North County raised either 33 or 38%, and Farmington raised 50%. So, these schools need a round of applause.”
Shelly Bess from Shared Blessings was among the agencies to give updates.
“For those that don’t know, we help the homeless,” she said. “We are totally volunteer-operated and run off of what is donated to us,” said Bess. “We help everyone: men, women, and children. So far, we’ve helped newborns to 82-year-olds. We usually can tell you within two hours if we can help you. It’s a program, so typically, within the next 90 days, they will be self-sufficient and not homeless. And we’re always looking for volunteers.”
Once all of the agencies that were present had an opportunity to speak, a motion to adjourn the January meeting was made.
Stephanie Kim is the assistant editor of the Daily Journal. She can be reached at skim@dailyjournalonline.com.