Opening

The monthly meeting of the Organ Transplant Recipients of SWFL Inc. was called to order at 6 p.m. on March 5, 2020 at by Shamie Kelly.

Announcements

• Anniversaries: Gerard (Jerry) Eichhorn (Kidney) 3/6/1991
• Attendees: Janet & David Weinstein, Carlene Brennen, Marilyn Jefferson, Frank Tutay, Melissa Tuff, Shamie Kelly, Cheryl Abraham, Rick Keatley
• Visitors: None
• Member Updates: Donna Williamson had cataract surgery in Miami however they plan to attend the next meeting. Jenniene Moran will be having surgery on her neck in NY on the 18^th so prayers are appreciated. David Weinstein is having back issues and would appreciate prayers as he continues treatment. Melissa Tuff is recovering from having her peritoneal catheter removed and a wound vac placed and is now doing in-center hemodialysis and currently on hold on the transplant list. Prayers are appreciated. Rick Keatley’s wife Patty just had knee surgery, prayers appreciated.

Reports

Secretaries: Report was submitted and approved and is available for viewing on the website.

• Fletcher Fund: Since Donna Williamson is not available there is no report on the Fletcher Fund this month
• Treasurers: As of 2/1/20 the group had an account balance of $11,965.23 and received $25 in dues paid and $21 from the 50/50 drawing and $48.60 in miscellaneous. We had $86.58 in expenses in the amounts of $20.12 and $66.46 leaving us with a balance of $11,973.25

Old Business

First meeting in the new space, we are very grateful for the new room. We do not currently have any fundraisers scheduled, but we will entertain the idea in the coming months. Reminder to the group we now have a storage unit for our “swag” and event supplies. Social media presence has improved. Our Facebook page has 337 likes and 342 people following, Instagram has 116 followers, and we also now have a Twitter! Be sure to follow and share our pages so that more people know about our group! The kidney walk is on Sunday, March 22^nd at Lakes Park in Fort Myers. We have a team for our support group and you can join online by visiting www.kidney.org and searching for a walk in your area and select the Fort Myers Walk then search for the Organ Transplant Recipients of SWFL. Last month we voted to sponsor the Organ Transplant Recipient Picnic put on by Rick Keatley in the amount of $100 and Treasurer David Weinstein sent that check last week. The picnic takes place on Saturday March 28^th at Oscar Scherer State Park from 9am-2pm. Please bring a side dish, some beverages, or ice if you plan to attend. Contact Rick with questions or for more information.

New Business

Please consider purchasing an OTRofSWFL t-shirt to represent our group at the Kidney Walk. Pitch for Life is on April 10^th at CenturyLink (Hammond) Stadium and LifeLink has a volunteer event set up if anyone would like to work their volunteer table. Shamie Kelly offered to purchase a map for Rick’s picnic for attendees to sign where they are from.

Adjournment

Meeting was adjourned at. by Shamie Kelly The next general meeting will be at 6 p.m. on April 5, 2020, at Lee Memorial Health Park in the Sanibel meeting room.

Minutes submitted by Melissa Tuff, Secretary

Opening

The monthly meeting of the Organ Transplant Recipients of SWFL Inc. was called to order at 11:50 a.m. on February 6, 2020 at by President, Shamie Kelly.

Attendees: Shamie Kelly, Melissa Tuff, Frank Tutay, Paul Lewis, And Lutkoff, Carlene Brennen, Cheryl Abraham, David Weinstein, Janet Weinstein, Mariann Jefferson, Madelyn Chrone, Mike Chrone, Sherry Farrell, Tom Farrell

Announcements

• Anniversaries: Julio Cordero (Kidney) 2/1/2012, Shamie Kelly (1^st Kidney) 2/5/2008, Donna Williamson (1^st Kidney) 2/14/1999
• Visitors: New member Sherry & Tom (caregiver) Sherry is 7 months post op for a liver from Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville.
• Member Updates: Andy Lutkoff has returned from receiving his transplant, he is 3 months post now from a living donor. He is feeling great, and grateful for his donor and his transplant team in New York. Mike Terry was recently diagnosed with Polycystic Kidney Disease and is currently in Stage 3 kidney failure.

Reports

Secretaries: Last month’s minutes were submitted and approved and are available on the OrganSupport.org website

• Fletcher Fund: Donna Williamson is absent today however; she provided a report to Shamie for sharing. The balance in the checking acct. is $8371.20 with our total assets including SWFL Community Fund are $226,213.08
• Treasurers: As of 1/1/20 we had a balance of $12,111.08 with deposits of $95 stemming from $65 in dues paid, $15 from the 50/50 drawing, and a $15 donation. We had expenses totaling $240.85 stemming from $69.85 for meeting food, $75.00 for the P.O. Box rental, and $96 for our storage rental leaving us with a balance of $11,965.23

Old Business

T-Shirts are available to order and Melissa urges everyone to purchase one or wear the one they have to the Kidney Walk at Lakes Park on Sunday March 22^nd, 2020. Registration begins at 8am with the walk starting at 8:30. We have a team created for our group and an email was sent out with the link if anyone would like to join our team and walk with us.

New Business

Shamie and Carlene have been in communication with Lee Health and they have finally agreed to give us a room in which to hold our meetings, GUARANTEED for the next year on Thursdays from 5:30-8:30 at their Health Park location. Meetings will begin there next month in the Sanibel Room on Thursday, March 5th from 6-8pm. Paul Lewis brought it to our attention to be mindful of those using public transit that the routes dwindle past 8 pm. Melissa Tuff made the motion for the Organ Transplant Recipients of SWFL, Inc. sponsor The Organ Recipient Picnic in the amount of $100, David Weinstein seconded the motion, all in favor, none opposed, motion passes. David will send a check to Rick Keatley to be used for his event. Pitch for Life will be at CenturyLink Stadium on April 10^th attendees are encouraged to wear your shirt and represent our group. Shamie suggests that we hold any fundraisers until later in the year so we will not be discussing any potential Night for Life events until we can increase our membership. Associate of Nephrology has been bought out and there will be some staff changes for those of you who see them for your kidney care.

Upcoming Events:

• Kidney Walk at Lakes Park – March 22^nd
• Organ Transplant Recipient Picnic at Oscar Scherer State Park – April 13th

Adjournment

Meeting was adjourned at 1:30pm by President, Shamie Kelly The next general meeting will be at 6 p.m. on March 5, 2020, at the Lee Memorial Health Park location in the Sanibel Room.

Minutes submitted by Melissa Tuff, Secretary

Opening

The monthly meeting of the Organ Transplant Recipients of SWFL Inc. was called to order at 11:40 a.m. on 1/2/2020 at by President, Shamie Kelly.

Roll Call: Jenniene Moran, Paul Lewis, Frank Tutay, Carlene Brennan, Shamie Kelly, David & Janet Weinstein, Rick Keatley, Mariann Jefferson, David Ortiz and Melissa Tuff

Announcements

• Anniversaries: Paige Ulrich (Pancreas) 1/3/2009, Jeff Jansen (Liver) 1/31/2002
• Visitors: None
• Member Updates: David Ortiz has returned, his received a kidney on August 26^th at Largo Hospital. He is doing well but still struggling with the BK virus.

Reports

Secretaries: No report for last month as it was our holiday meeting.

• Fletcher Fund: Donna Williamson was not in attendance so there is no Fletcher Fund report available.
• Treasurers: As of 12/1/2019 we had a balance of $12,267.70 with $8.00 in deposits coming from the monthly 50/50 drawing. There were $164.32 paid out in expenses for the holiday meeting food leaving a balance of $12,111.08

Old Business

Please remember to RSVP for food sake! We have been over/under purchasing food for meetings and unable to acquire speakers when we have less than 10 people in attendance. Shamie Kelly is in contact with Tampa General to see if they will provide a speaker for the February meeting. Since we are in-between locations for our meetings, we have not finalized any speakers. Melissa Tuff will reach out to Joe Karan from the National Kidney Foundation of Florida to see if he would like to come and be a keynote speaker at one of our meetings. He can discuss the benefits the NKFFL has to offer kidney patients.

New Business

We are looking to change our meetings from Thursday midday to an evening gathering in hopes to grow our group membership. We are still open to locations with the Center for Spiritual Living Cape Coral being one of which that was made available. As of December 30, 2019, we have received $23.70 from Amazon Smile so please continue to encourage friends and family who shop online. Our social media presence has increased, and we now have over 100 followers on Instagram and so Melissa Tuff will create a poll on social media to see how many of our followers would be interested in a night meeting. We also may consider boosting some of our posts in order to increase our following and attendees. January is the month to renew membership so please make sure to pay your dues. Rick Keatley is arranging his annual transplant recipient picnic for March and Melissa Tuff would like to propose that our group help sponsor the event. We will vote on whether the group will make a financial contribution or sponsorship for the picnic next month. There will be no discussion about fundraising endeavors until we are able to raise our membership numbers. This topic is considered to be tabled until enough members begin attending to warrant staffing and holding a fundraiser. Our March meeting location will be decided after we receive and compile the feedback received from the SurveyMonkey poll that will be emailed to our current member listing. We have two positions open, treasurer and secretary which will be delayed until next month’s meeting since there was not quorum to vote this month. Next month’s meeting will be held at the Downtown Fort Myers Library in meeting rooms A & B where we will be deciding where we will meet and on what day going forward. This year we are focused on making connections and building our membership. Paul Lewis proposes that our group get together more often socially to attend functions, events, or social gatherings while wearing our group shirts to bring more awareness to the group. The group would not be responsible for paying for the individuals in attendance as that would be the responsibility of the attendees.

50/50

$15.00 to the group and $15.00 winner

 

Upcoming Events

• LifeLink Volunteer Meeting – Thursday, January 30
• Horse & Pony Festival (possible tabling event) – Saturday, March 21
• Kidney Walk – Sunday, March 22
• Rick Keatley’s Organ Recipient Picnic – Saturday, March 28

 

Adjournment

Meeting was adjourned at 1:15 p.m. by President, Shamie Kelly. The next general meeting will be at 11:30 a.m. on February 6, 2020, at the Downtown Fort Myers Library Meeting Rooms A & B

Minutes submitted by Melissa Tuff, Secretary

Opening
The monthly meeting of the Organ Transplant Recipients of SWFL Inc. was called to order at 11:45 a.m. on April 4, 2019 in the meeting rooms at The Downtown Fort Myers Library by President, Shamie

Announcements
• Anniversaries: Derrick Thompson – Liver 4/6/1997, Joseph Myers – Heart 4/9/1997
• Visitors/New Members: New member, Vickie Milano from Port Charlotte – Large intestine, small intestine, stomach, liver, pancreas recipient 5/25/16 at Jackson Memorial in Miami. Visitor, Andy Lutkoff, – waiting for a kidney, musician originally from NY. Currently has someone testing to be a living donor for him.
• Member Updates: Melissa Tuff’s potential donor was not a match due to Melissa’s high antibodies. However, she is committed to take part in a paired exchange and once she is physically cleared for surgery, they will find a match for Melissa. Manny is finally on the liver transplant list in Tampa! Phil Schomer’s sister, Wendy, passed away from Polycystic Liver Disease.

Reports
Secretary’s report was approved, and minutes are available for view on the website. Treasurers report reflects a previous balance of $10,879.24 with $40 in deposits, $20 of which came from membership dues and the other $20 was from the 50/50 drawing. There were no expenses last month as our lunch was donated by WaWa and Melissa Tuff leaving us with a balance of $10,919.24 We also received a check for 50% of the proceeds from the recent Drag Queen Bingo event for $546.50 and there is no Fletcher Fund report available as Donna Williamson is not at today’s meeting.

Old Business
Lee Health removed all advertisements for the Kidney Walk which has all but solidified the fact they are no longer supporting kidney related events due to the closure of their transplant center. They have also chosen to not contribute to Night for Life as they have in the past and we may even be losing out meeting space at the Lee Sanctuary. More to come on that as information is gathered by Shamie Kelly. Marketing materials will be decided on by next meeting as we are in the middle of rebranding our image and possibly changing meeting locations. We are adding to the agenda next month a change of venue and date and including zoom or online conference as an option for meeting members.

New Business
Night for Life is our focus, see below. Paul Lewis is proposing a day at Hammond Stadium in August where our group would man their “community corner” table alongside other local non-profit groups. He will have a couple of dates at our next meeting available for us to vote on.

LifeLink
Next LifeLink meeting is April 25th at the Downtown Lee Library

Upcoming Events
• Night for Life – Broadway Palm on April 22nd doors open at 5
• Pitch for Life – Hammond Stadium on April 26th doors open at 5, tickets are $8 and available online

50/50
$23 to winner and $23 to group

Night for Life XII
Dr. Burtch will be buying a table for the “original” transplant team for Night for Life even though they will not be a sponsor this year. Sponsors are coming in, and donations are coming in as well, but we are focusing this year on education and our availability as a resource. LifeLink will be a part of the event as a sponsor and will have a table. Please continue to solicit donations for the event as well as sell tickets. April 15th is when we would like to have ALL donations in to the Auction Chairperson, Melissa Tuff. 41 South (band) has been confirmed, Mackenzie Morgan will be speaking about her experience as a recipient, we will have a donor family and their recipient speaking as well. Please send any information on items you receive to Melissa so that she may update the spreadsheet to reflect. If anyone has any easels that we can use to display the art that Carleen was able to procure, please let us know. Melissa is going to Coconut Point and downtown Fort Myers today to obtain items and Madelyn Chrone will be getting items from other Fort Myers restaurants and businesses.

Adjournment
Meeting was adjourned at 1:30 p.m. by President, Shamie Kelly. The next general meeting will be on May 2, 2019, at the Lee Outpatient Sanctuary 8960 Colonial Center Drive Fort Myers, FL 33905

Minutes submitted by Melissa Tuff, Secretary

Opening

The monthly meeting of the Organ Transplant Recipients of SWFL Inc. was called to order at 11:45 a.m. on March 7, 2019 at The Sanctuary located at 8960 Colonial Center Drive in Ft. Myers by President, Shamie Kelly.

Announcements

• Anniversaries:
• Visitors:
• Member Updates: Mike Terry went up to Tampa to try and alleviate the problems he has been having with ringing in his ears. BJ Odom has sold his home in the area and is moving up to the Lake Wales area to be closer to his daughter. Jeff Jansen’s family sent over all his old medications which will be getting destroyed after todays meeting so if you need any please help yourself.

Reports

Secretary’s report has been approved and minutes are available on the website. David Weinstein, Treasurer reports that as of 2/1/19 the group had a balance of $10,707.31 and we had deposits totaling $302.50, $30 of which was membership dues, $22.50 from the monthly 50/50 drawing, and $250.00 in donations on behalf of Jeffery Jansen. We had $80.57 in expenses for food from last month’s meeting and two $25 checks were sent to LifeLink in honor of members Jeff Jansen and Phil Schomer leaving a balance of $10,879.24 Donna Williamson was not present today so there is no Fletcher Fund report available.

Old Business

David Weinstein arranged for our lunch sponsor today which was Wawa on Del Prado in Cape Coral. Please thank them for their support. Shamie Kelly is reaching out to the Southwest Florida Community Foundation to ask for a meeting to be held at their new location in downtown Fort Myers and have Sara Owens come speak about the foundation and our funds being held by them. Details to follow.

New Business

Marketing material quotes are in and will be distributed via the website for members to review. We now have a donate button on our website! Please encourage your friends and family to share it throughout their community. We now have an Instagram and Twitter account, neither will be used to follow people but rather they will be used to share information about the group and events. Please share to your social media pages and ask your friends and family to follow us on our various social media accounts. Press releases for Night for Life will be going out soon. Everyone who would like to be involved with our event are encouraged to contact Shamie Kelly or Melissa Tuff to discuss where you can be of assistance. The theme of this year’s event will be similar to last year with 2 memorials for members who have passed recently. Paul Lewis suggests we work with Hammond/CenturyLink Stadium who offers 50 tickets to non-profits who are willing to mind their “community corner” during a game. Paul will contact them and gather more information for the next meeting.

LifeLink

Shamie Kelly has been talking with Ashley Moore to discuss a joint upcoming meeting. More information to follow. This month’s organizers meeting is on Thursday March 21^st at 11:30am at the Downtown Fort Myers Library.

Upcoming Events

The Fort Myers Kidney Walk is coming up on March 24^th at Lakes Park in Fort Myers. Registration begins at 8:30am and the walk begins at 10. The group is signed up and members are encouraged to join our team by visiting kidney.org Drag Queen Bingo is at the Moose Lodge on Santa Barbara in Cape Coral. The group will receive a portion of the proceeds. Admission is $10 and includes one bingo card, additional bingo cards will be for sale. Please call the Moose Lodge to RSVP as the event is expected to sell out. Flyers are available and the event is also on the website and Facebook. The next Night for Life planning meeting will take place on the 27^th at Crispers in Fort Myers at 3:30pm. Members are encouraged to ask for donations from local businesses to be used as auction items. We need your support in this to ensure the event is successful! Tickets are for sale now, invite your friends! Pitch for Life

Member Announcements

Secretary Melissa Tuff reports that her recent trip to Washington DC for the National Kidney Foundations 6^th Annual Kidney Summit was quite successful. While there Melissa met with Florida Representatives and Senators to discuss such pressing issues such as the Living Donor Protection Act and the introduction of legislation to extend Medicare immunosuppressant coverage beyond 36 months for transplant recipients. Members are encouraged to contact their local representatives asking that they too co-sponsor both of these important pieces of legislation and anyone needing help in doing so can reach out to Melissa directly. Rick Keatley has scheduled his 4^th annual transplant recipient picnic at Oscar Scherer State Park on April 13^th, 2019 from 9am-2pm. Melissa will send out the link via email for the perfect potluck so that people attending can list what items they will be bringing.

50/50

$10 to winner and $10 to the group

Adjournment

Meeting was adjourned at 1:35p.m. by President, Shamie Kelly. The next general meeting will also be on April 4, 2019, at the

 

Minutes submitted by: Melissa Tuff, Secretary

Opening

The monthly meeting of the Organ Transplant Recipients of SWFL Inc. was called to order at 11:45 a.m. on February 7, 2019 at The Sanctuary located at 8960 Colonial Center Drive in Ft. Myers by President, Shamie Kelly.

Announcements

• Anniversaries: Julio Cordero (Kidney) 2/1/2012, Shamie Kelly (Kidney) 2/5/2008, Judee Hill (Heart) 2/7/2000, Donna Williamson (Kidney) 2/14/1999
• Visitors: Leslie Logan (Liver) TGH 3/9/17 found the group through the Lee Health Newsletter
• Member Updates: Rick Keatley (Liver) has been having issues with skin cancer removals, a get well card is going around for members to sign.

Reports

The Secretary was not at last months meeting so there is no Secretary’s report available. David Weinstein, Treasurer provided a report reflecting a balance last month of $10,764.95 with deposits of $35 from membership dues and $10 from the meetings 50/50 drawing bringing the total deposits for last month of $45. Expenses from last month were $54.64 for the food provided at last month’s meeting and $48.00 for the P.O. Box totaling $102.64 in expenses leaving a balance of $10,707.31

Next month’s treasures report will reflect two donations in lieu of flowers for two of our members who recently passed. $250 from Jeff Jansen to be donated to the Organ Transplant Recipients of Southwest Florida Inc. group and $200 from Phil Schumer to be donated to the Fletcher Fund to be used specifically for medications.

Donna Williamson reports the Fletcher Fund met January 9^th, 2019 to discuss financials and board openings. We currently have one opening on the Fletcher Fund Board, which is reserved for a professional member of the transplant community (doctor, social worker, etc) and Fletcher Fund currently has a balance of $233,679.00 in total assets. Donations of $833. Interest & Dividends $549. Total in patients grants paid out last year in total $8,533.99 The Fletcher Fund has decided to increase the grant amount for $2000 total per patient for the 2019 calendar year.

Old Business

During the board meeting it was decided to pass the motion to the Fletcher Fund that the Night for Life proceeds for this year would be split 60/40 so that the group is still being supported but the largest amount of the proceeds would go to the Fletcher Fund to continue allowing us to provide financial support to patients and their families.

Donna Williamson made the motion to re-elect Shamie Kelly as President and David Weinstein as Treasurer for the current 2-year term. All members were in favor, none opposed.

Members are asked to be sure they RSVP for future meetings so that we can ensure we are not overbuying or under-buying lunches for attendees. Shamie will reach out to Walgreens to see if they would be interested in sponsoring our lunches going forward.

Night for Life the band 41 South is committed to perform. We need commitment from members since we have lost the local transplant clinic has closed and a couple of members who used to bring a lot of sponsorships and memberships. We will be able to accept cards via PayPal at the event since we now have the account set up. Tickets can also be paid for using this method. David Weinstein brought up some changes to the tickets related to the wording around the time the doors open, and auction starts. Also, he discussed the wording of the event and it was decided it should be displayed as “Night for Life XII” so that everyone will know this is our 12^th year hosting the event.

It was suggested the silent auction will be streamlined to include only higher end items ($100 or more) and lower value items ($99 or less) will go into Chinese auction. A Night for Life planning meeting will be held at Crispers located at Daniels Parkway and 41. A poll with possible times and dates for the last week of February will be sent out within the week.

New Business

Shamie Kelly is planning to meet with the director of transplant services at Tampa General Hospital to discuss how our group may be of assistance to their recipients considering they will be servicing kidney transplant patients in this area as well as those who have been previously transplanted with any organ through their hospital. Shamie has also invited Frank Gluck from the News-Press to be her guest at Night for Life since he has historically written negative reviews regarding the Lee Health transplant center without mentioning the resources our group has to offer those left in limbo as a result of the transplant center closing.

Dr. Lindsey Biondi has relocated to University of West Virginia at Morgantown as the Head of Transplant Surgery. She regrets not being able to say goodbye to her patients and wishes to convey that through Donna Williamson who recently spoke with her.

Shamie is working with Sarah Owen from the Southwest Florida Community Fund to hold one of our upcoming meetings at their new building in downtown Fort Myers to discuss their role in the Fletcher Fund and how the monies are used. This will hopefully answer any questions our members have about the organization.

Paul Lewis suggested we allow members to submit questions in advance to ensure everyone has their questions answered.

Membership packets will be organized soon with new marketing materials branded specifically for our group rather than using LifeLink materials. Shamie is currently working with Chris from Kwik Copy to get prices on agreed upon marketing materials. Some items will be ordered from Kwik Copy and some will be ordered from an online company that can mass produce the items at a reasonable cost. Items members are interested in seeing are; rack cards, business cards, branded table cloth, bracelets (the rubber awareness kind), pens, small reusable bags, car flags, window clings or magnets, license plate frames, paper fans, hand sanitizers, pins, stickers, and possibly stress balls. Paul Lewis mentioned possibly having t-shirts on hand to sell at events. Donna Williamson mentioned that Stacy Harrison could possibly redesign our logo and Shamie will reach out to her.

Website revisions were suggested at the board meeting. The website we currently have is not only unattractive, but it is non-functional. Emails with attachments must be sent separately and it is not up to par with similar group websites. The annual hosting fees for our current web designer are due in May so we will need to decide as to what we do with the website then. Donna Williamson made the motion to discuss how we can improve our website with our current designer Bob Lucas and then plan to go forward based on his advice. We are also going to investigate opportunities with local college students for internship positions to manage our email lists and website design. Donna Williamson made the motion to seek out an intern for the design of the website. Paul Lewis amended the motion to ensure all members of the group are included in the vote. All members were in favor, none opposed.

Melissa Tuff brought up the idea of re-implementing the annual picnic as a social event. The discussion will be tabled for now since there are lots of opinions on this and we are trying to keep the meeting brief. Members are needed to help man the table at the Equine Carnival in Alva. The event is Saturday February 16^th from 9am to 8pm and Sunday February 17^th from 9am to 4pm and we are partnering with LifeLink for this event since we do not have awareness swag on hand yet.

Fundraising Events

March 30^th, 2019 at 6pm there is a Drag Queen Bingo event to benefit the Fletcher Fund at the Moose Lodge in Cape Coral. The annual Fort Myers Kidney Walk will take place on March 24^th 2019 at Lakes Park, registration begins at 8:30am and the walk begins at 10:00am we have a group set up on the kidney.org page and all of our members are encouraged to join. We have reached 51% of our goal of $5000. The Lions Eye Bank is hosting a 5k walk/run on April 19^th 2019 in Tampa.

LifeLink

Pitch for Life will be April 26^th 2019 and we will not be doing the 50/50 this year as it as there were too many issues with the technology last year to warrant doing it again this year.

 

Member Announcements

None

50/50

$22.50 to the group and $22.50 to the winner

 

Adjournment

Meeting was adjourned at 1:56 p.m. by President, Shamie Kelly.. The next general meeting will also be on December 6, 2018, at The Sanctuary located at 8960 Colonial Center Drive in Ft. Myers

Minutes submitted by: Melissa Tuff, Secretary

Opening

The monthly meeting of the Organ Transplant Recipients of SWFL Inc. was called to order at 11:46 a.m. on November 1, 2018 at The Sanctuary located at 8960 Colonial Center Drive in Ft. Myers by President, Shamie Kelly.

Announcements

• Anniversaries: Mike Terry-Heart (11/2/2002), Tim Elkins-Liver (11/4/1999), Fred Brickley-Kidney (11/23/1998), Marshall Marlin-Heart (11/25/2008), David Weinstein-Kidney (11/26/1997)
• Visitors: Speaker- John L. Hogan III, Nursing Director for GCMC Surgical Progressive Care Unit
• Member Updates: Cheryl Abraham underwent a hip replacement on Tuesday of this week, she is doing well, there is a card going around for her. David Weinstein, Treasurer, is finally out of the hospital and happy to be home. He sends well wishes to everyone and thanks us for our support during his recovery. His wife and caregiver Janet Weinstein is just tired so she is not in attendance today either. The group is discussing if there is anything they can do like bring meals or something to help them. Mike Terry has been struggling with some type of infection that has spread to his head and is in a lot of pain. Shamie will reach out to them as well to discuss if we can be of any help.

Reports

The Secretary’s report was approved and submitted for posting to the website. David Weinstein, Treasurer, is still recovering from back surgery so Treasurers Report is unavailable. Donna Williamson reports that there are no updates for the Fletcher Fund.

Old Business

Comedy for a Cause is all set. There is a Facebook event to RSVP to and remember to share it and tell all of your friends, let’s pack the house! The American Heart Association’s Heart Walk is Saturday, December 8^th in Fort Myers at Centennial Park. The festivities begin at 8am and the walk begins a 9am. It is a 5k walk/run at your own pace event. Melissa Tuff has set up a team on the heart walk website under the name “Organ Transplant Recipients of Southwest Florida” and made the first donation to get the team started. Melissa has also been in touch with Savanna at the NKF about the kidney walk and found out that the cost for a table at the kidney walk for a non-profit such as ours will be $500. This will be discussed at the upcoming board meeting when we set a budget for upcoming events. Savanna also stated she could use some help promoting the walk so if any of our members have contacts in media (radio, television, print) please contact them and ask about the potential of them covering the walk. It will take place Sunday March 24^th at Lakes Park in Fort Myers. Discussion of a social event will be deferred until Janet and David (event hosts) can be present. Night for Life paperwork will be ready by Monday and they will be available at Comedy for a Cause, and the Holiday meeting they can also be emailed and/or downloaded from the website. Tickets will go on sale beginning at the January meeting so that they are not misplaced before the holidays. We will be doing $35 and $50 tickets per plan and Shamie will confirm to ensure ticket prices will remain the same but as of now that will be our general admission and VIP ticket prices. Please work on getting sponsorships between now and January, and we will work on doing a social event somewhere that our Night for Life band 41 South will be playing as to support them in exchange for supporting us. Details to follow.

New Business

Shamie Kelly’s term as President and David Weinstein’s term as Treasurer are up and there will be a nominations committee for nominations and self-submissions to be given to. Mariann Jefferson will oversee this committee. Nominations will be officially announced at the Holiday Meeting, and voting will take place in January with the new President leading the February meeting. Carlene Brennan and Joyce Rudder will assist Mariann. Gulf Coast Transplant Center was at 34 transplants completed at the time of its temporary closure. Dr. Jeac-Frank Gitue is officially gone, Dr. Biondi is still on maternity leave however it is still expected to reopen in December. Flyer is being passed around for the Holiday Party on December 6th, we have 2 rooms instead of 4 this year which will still be plenty. Group will do a potluck style for sides and desserts and the group funds will provide the meat. We will set up an online event where food items that are being brought can be listed. Bring an ornament for exchange. Room is reserved for 10:30 – 2:00pm so if you can come early to help set up, please do and bring guests! Board meeting will take place between today and the Holiday party to discuss a budget for marketing materials. Amazon Smile is still up and available, don’t forget to use it and recommend it to friends for their holiday shopping. We will also have a “Donate” button on Facebook so that we can have fundraisers using social media. We have a speaker today from Gulf Coast Medical Center, John L. Hogan III, Nursing Director for Surgical Progressive Care. He was a medic in the army where he got most of his credentials. He has been in nursing for over 30 years and has experience in many different areas and he discussed how to be a good advocate/caregiver without overstepping boundaries. He also discussed his experience in the many fields in which he has worked and their relation to transplant.

LifeLink

Service of Remembrance and Appreciation November 4^th at the Crown Plaza Hotel in Fort Myers near the Bell Tower Shoppes. The service runs 11am to 3pm and set-up begins at 10:30am. The Holiday luncheon and volunteer appreciation to take place on December 14^th at the Edison from 12pm to 2pm.

Announcements

Melissa Tuff will be speaking on an upcoming AAKP Webinar on Secondary Hyperparathyroidism on Tuesday November 20^th, if you’re interested in tuning in please contact Melissa after the meeting. Leftover food is being taken to David and Janet Weinstein to alleviate at least one meal for them while David is recovering.

50/50

$45 total group gets $22 winner gets $23

Adjournment

Meeting was adjourned at 1:50 p.m. by President, Shamie Kelly.. The next general meeting will also be our Holiday meeting on December 6, 2018, at the Fort Myers Library (downtown) Meeting Rooms A & B from 11 a.m. until about 2 p.m.

Minutes submitted by:     Melissa Tuff, Secretary

Opening

The monthly meeting of the Organ Transplant Recipients of SWFL Inc. was called to order at 11:46 a.m. on October 4, 2018 at The Sanctuary located at 8960 Colonial Center Drive in Ft. Myers by President, Shamie Kelly.

Announcements

• Anniversaries: Melissa Tuff- Kidney (10/7/2005) Paul Lewis-Kidney (10/26/2008)
• Visitors: Elle Funk visiting from our LifeLink group. Elle received a kidney/pancreas transplant at Tampa General and mostly volunteers in that area.
• Member Updates: Treasurer David Weinstein had back surgery this week. Recovery has been a rollercoaster as he is in a lot of pain. Visitors are welcome at Lee Memorial on Cleveland Avenue. A card is going around, please send David your well wishes. Secretary Melissa Tuff underwent a Parathyroidectomy last month and is recovering well. Mike Terry is recovering from a bone infection, please keep his recovery in your thoughts.

Reports

Melissa Tuff, Secretary was unable to attend last month’s meeting due to her surgery so there was no Secretary Report available. No Fletcher Fund report. Treasures report shows a previous balance of $10,703.54 with contributions of $5.00 in membership dues, $28.00 deposit from the 50/50 and $55.00 from Pitch for Life resulting in $88.00 in deposits. $150.00 was paid for food (bowling social?) and an additional $51.85 was paid for meeting food leaving an ending balance of $10,562.39

Old Business

We have a date for our next Comedy for a Cause fundraiser and it is Thursday November 8^th! Flyers are available, and an event will be created on Facebook so please share it once it is available. Let’s pack the house again! Our group recently had a table at the Walk like MADD 5k. Shamie, and Melissa manned the table with Frank and Mariann next to us with the LifeLink table. It was an interesting setup being behind the gates this year and we felt it was beneficial as we did make some connections. December 8^th is the Heart Walk at Centennial Park. Members are encouraged to bring events like this to the groups attention so that we can participate. Not all of our members are just kidney recipients, so we should be supporting ALL organ walks and awareness events. Melissa Tuff will set the group up as a team and more details will be available at next month’s meeting. Walk festivities begin at 8am and the walk starts at 9am. Please see Melissa after the meeting for additional details. Next, we will be looking into purchasing merchandise with our group name on it to hand out at events. This will differentiate us from LifeLink and help to get our name out into the community. New business cards will have a blank line for members to fill their own name in and some additional items we will be reviewing are reusable shopping bags, sunblock, paper fans with our logo on them and possibly pins. The Facebook page will be getting an update and will include a donate button so that members can create fundraisers with our group as the beneficiary. Amazon Smile is still active so don’t forget to utilize this when shopping online. We will be doing a big push for Amazon Smile usage with Cyber Monday and the Holidays coming up. PayPal setup is almost complete, we just need the bank connection and that will be done. We are improving our technology use going forward and getting up to speed with groups like ours. We will have the ability to check out at Night for Life using both Square and PayPal accounts which should greatly reduce the confusion that has taken place in the past. Subcommittees will be contacted and expected to report at the next meeting. We are going to try and be more of a “support” group and less of a “fundraising” group since that is what some previous members have felt that was what we had become. Night for Life and other fundraising meetings will begin to take place separately from our monthly meeting. Paul Lewis suggests we take a census regarding availability for these meetings in advance so that they are scheduled at times when all interested members can attend. Possibly create a Survey Monkey to take a poll. Night for Life plans are moving forward. Melissa spoke with 41 South via Facebook and they have offered to donate their $300 sound engineer fee back to the group so long as we provide them with food at the event. Norma Marlin Martin has offered her place once again to gather for our preparation meetings. Sponsorship paperwork should be available in the coming weeks. Tickets will be available online this year in addition to phone and in person. The new paperwork will also have an area in which sponsors can state whether they will be using their tickets or not so we can lessen the confusion that we had last year.

New Business

The 2019 National Kidney Foundation’s Kidney Walk is scheduled for March 24^th at Lakes Park in Fort Myers. Sponsorship is $500 for non-profits and we are considering having a table for this event. David Weinstein made the motion for the group to pay for an additional social event, his suggestion was Putt-Putt however considering David is recovering from back surgery Mariann Jefferson voted we table the discussion until David returns. Paul Lewis seconded the motion, motion carries. LifeLink’s next meeting is a travel meeting scheduled for Oct. 25^th to the Lions Eye Bank. Sunday November 4^th is the Service of Remembrance so keep an eye on your email for volunteer opportunities. Volunteer Appreciation Luncheon is December 14^th at the Edison again. Melissa Tuff proposed we hold at least one meeting a quarter, either in place of or in addition to our regularly monthly meeting for those who have scheduling conflicts and have been unable to make it to Thursday midday meetings. The meeting could be held in the conference room of a restaurant or at the Center for Spiritual Living in Cape Coral where Melissa is a member and has access to their facilities. We are looking at January as to give people time to make plans to attend. The Ruddy’s also have a club house in their neighborhood that they could use for meetings if need be. It was also discussed that we could hold another Jason’s Deli type fundraiser to inform the community of the additional evening/weekend meeting. A request has been sent to the downtown Fort Myers library to reserve their meeting rooms for our Holiday Party on December 6^th. We plan to do a potluck style dinner again with the group providing the meat and members bringing side dishes and desserts. Carleen will be putting together baskets for raffle as she did last year, and Melissa will be raffling off some awareness jewelry. All proceeds will return to the group fund. Also, LifeLink is being reached out to in regard to doing another group meeting. 50/50 was $32 so the group gets $16.

Adjournment

Meeting was adjourned at 1:40 p.m. by President, Shamie Kelly.. The next general meeting will be at 11:30 a.m. on November 1, 2018, at The Sanctuary located at 8960 Colonial Center Drive in Ft. Myers.

Minutes submitted by:     Melissa Tuff, Secretary

Organ Transplant Recipients of SWFL Inc.
Meeting Minutes
August 2, 2018

Opening

The monthly meeting of the Organ Transplant Recipients of SWFL Inc. was called to order at 11:45 a.m. on August 2, 2018 at The Sanctuary located at 8960 Colonial Center Drive in Ft. Myers by President, Shamie Kelly.
Announcements
• Anniversaries: Don Sorensen – Liver (8/16/1998), John Perry – Heart (8/18/2000), Frank Tutay – 2nd Kidney (8/21/2005), Phyllis Pavlak – Kidney (8/3/2003)
• Visitors: None

Member Updates: Carlene Brennan (Shamie’s mom) had a medical procedure done today which is why she is not in attendance and Shamie reports that she is doing well. Phil, a 2x kidney recipient, is dealing with cancer of the throat and tongue. Members are encouraged to reach out via email or phone his wife Aileen for updates. He is in a lot of pain but in good spirits. Joann and Zack are unable to attend todays meeting due to Zack undergoing a heart valve replacement in his efforts to get approved for the waitlist. There is a card going around for them, all members please sign it. Mike Terry’s daughter is having hear surgery today as well, she has been affected by a genetic heart disease that Mike also went through. Rick Keatley has also been having some medical issues related to his kidney function resulting in his absence from the meetings. Paige Fadeley has been hospitalized and undergoing some tests to diagnose what has been affecting her. She was just recently transferred to Tampa from Lee for further treatment. Please send healing thoughts and prayers to all members in need.

Reports

Melissa Tuff (Secretary) was absent last month and Kathy St. Clair took minutes, but they have not been posted to the website. Treasurer David Weinstein and his wife Janet are absent this month as they are attending the Transplant Games in Salt Lake City, but he emailed a copy of the Treasurers Report for last month over and it reads as follows: Previous balance $10,579.62 with contributions of $10.00 in membership dues, $17.50 from the monthly 50/50 drawing, $75.00 from the Pitch for Life event, and $366.00 from the Drag Queen Bingo event at the Moose Lodge resulting in $468.50 in deposits. $67.39 was paid to Shamie Kelly for the meetings food and $276.99 was paid out for the bowling social leaving an ending balance of $10,703.74 The Fletcher Fund Board met on 6/1/18 discussing Night 4 Life and Drag Queen Bingo. The Drag Queen Bingo event brought in just over $700 for the group! Half of the proceeds went into the groups account and the other half was given to the Fletcher Fund. As of 6/1/18 the total assets for the Fletcher Fund were $241,382.93 and 2 grants were paid out as of May 2018.

Old Business

Last month the group arranged a social event which was agreed upon to be bowling in Fort Myers. This event had to be reserved and paid for in advance based on the number of RSVP’s we had. Over 15 members requested a spot be reserved for them and 11 showed up, several of whom were late and did not get to utilize the full amount of prepaid time allotted to the lanes. This was one of the biggest reasons why there has been so much hesitancy for the group to pay for social events as not everyone makes the support group events a priority and when we are required to pre-pay to host a social event and people don’t show, we still have to pay and therefore we lose the money we have all worked so hard to raise. Going forward we will be looking at other, less expensive options for group socials such as Lakes Park as Donna Williamson suggests. Janet & David Weinstein would still like to host a social event in the form of a pool party and barbecue at their home in Cape Coral. Details on this will be discussed at a future meeting when they have returned from Salt Lake City. Due to Riverchase Dermatology’s busy schedule they have not been able to provide us with a speaker and will not be likely to send someone in until next year. At our next meeting we will have a speaker from the Social Security office who will discuss the disability benefits for dialysis and transplant patients. Members of the group have also expressed a need for the by-laws to be posted to the website and the secretary Melissa Tuff will forward the current by-laws to our website manager Bob Lucas to be posted. Since we are beginning to see some funds coming in from our Amazon Smile account this will now be added to the monthly Treasurers Report so members can track how their online shopping benefits the group.

New Business

This year’s Night for Life will take place on April 22nd 2019, the day after Easter. We are starting to plan much earlier this year and we should have some donation forms made up by next month so that we can begin soliciting donations and sponsorships. The play that the Broadway Palm is showing during the event is called “Second Chances” so Shamie will be following up with Broadway Palm staff to see if they would be able to do a scene from it during our event as they have done on occasion in the past. Entertainment has not been pinned down just yet but Donna Williamson made the motion that if 41 South was available again that we recruit them to perform, Paul Lewis seconded the motion, none were opposed therefore the motion carried. Melissa Tuff has been in contact with them via Facebook and they are in fact available for that day. Currently there is a $300 fee for their sound engineer (which they are going to try and negotiate down) and they have requested to be provided with some type of snacks or meal. If this is agreeable to the group, please confirm with them as soon as the decision is made so that no one else books them first. Section A will be reserved solely for VIP tickets this year and we will have Square and/or PayPal set up for the group to receive payments and expedite checkout. Tickets will also be sold online this year as we have gotten feedback that attendees would like to see this as an option. Next month (September) we will begin breaking into groups to begin planning and organization of the event. Paul Lewis would like to organize another comedy club fundraiser since we have had such success with them in the past. He proposed two options; in option 1 we (the group) would pay $600 up front and then we sell as many tickets as possible with 100% of the proceeds coming to us as the entire club would be reserved for out event. Option 2 is how we have done it in the past in which we share the club with other non-profits for the evening and $10 from each $15 ticket sold using the assigned code is given back to our group. Paul will check to find out if we can hold raffles or 50/50 drawing during the event as a way to bring in some extra funds. Donna Williamson made the motion that we move forward in the planning of this event in the same manner we have used in the past, sharing the club with other non-profits as to limit the amount of funds being put up from the groups bank account. Leanne seconded the motion, none opposed so the motion carried. Paul will contact the comedy club owner and find a Thursday in late October or early November to hold the event. Paul anticipates having a date penned down by the next meeting.

Adjournment

Meeting was adjourned at 1:52 p.m. by President, Shamie Kelly.. The next general meeting will be at 11:30 a.m. on September 6, 2018, at The Sanctuary located at 8960 Colonial Center Drive in Ft. Myers.
Minutes submitted by: Melissa Tuff, Secretary

Organ Transplant Recipients of SWFL Inc.

Opening

The monthly meeting of the Organ Transplant Recipients of SWFL Inc. was called to order at 11:38 a.m. on May 3, 2018 at The Sanctuary located at 8960 Colonial Center Drive in Ft. Myers by Shamie Kelly, President.

Announcements

• Anniversaries: Chelsea Bley-Kidney (5/96), John Craig-Heart (5/1/1993), Joseph C. Haug, Jr.-Heart (5/2/1997), Michael Janvier-Kidney (5/27/2002), Greg Okon-Heart (5/14/2007), Wayne Ormsby-Kidney (5/30/2003), Norma Waughn-Liver (5/1/2002)
• Visitors: Peter Meehan- 2^nd or 3^rd visit, currently in stage 4 liver failure seeking out second opinions, advice of other patients, and exploring transplant hospitals. Lois Carnes- new member, attended Jason’s Deli fundraiser at which time she decided to join our group. Received two lung transplants, one in 2003 and one in 2007 and she has just learned that her kidneys have been compromised by the immunosuppressants so she is looking for a referral to a good nephrologist in the area for continued monitoring of her condition.
• Member Updates/Celebrations: Today is our treasurer David Weinstein’s birthday! Janet and David have brought a cake to share with us to celebrate his special day. He will also be having eye surgery next week and this is the last eye surgery that he will be able to have so please keep him in your thoughts during this time. President Shamie Kelly will now be taking an “active member” role within the Junior League which is a change from her much more involved role in the past. Jenniene Moran’s son will be traveling to Argentina soon and he has made first class flight arrangements for her to travel out to his home where she will care for her grandchildren while he is away.

Reports

The Secretary’s report was approved and submitted for posting to the website. Treasurers report shows a previous balance of $3161.95 with contributions of $5.00 in membership dues, $55.00 from the monthly 50/50 drawing, and $7835.32 which is 50% of the Night for Life XI proceeds mutually agreed would be given to the group this year for promotional materials resulting in $7895.32 in deposits. $65.43 was paid to Shamie Kelly for food leaving an ending balance of $ 10991.84

Old Business

• Night for Life XI-

David Weinstein suggests members of the group start planting the seed now with our regular contributors and sponsors that our next Night for Life event date will be announced soon so that they will have it in the forefront of their minds when asked again soon to participate. Shamie Kelly agrees and hopes to begin planning by the end of this month. As a reminder the 50% agreement of proceeds from the event coming back to the group was for this year only, a new agreement will need to be decided as to what percentage will come back to the group going forward. Shamie plans to talk to the Lee County Medical Society to gain their support for the event. To ensure the events success, more group member participation is required. Shamie Kelly and Melissa Tuff will work on updating the groups use of technology, more specifically the creation and implementation of a Square, PayPal, or both to allow for the purchase of event tickets online as well as the ability to accept donations electronically via the website and Facebook pages.

• Jason’s Deli-

Our most recent fundraiser held at Jason’s Deli netted our group $4, we will begin planning our next fundraiser at the June meeting. Location to be decided upon at that time.

New Business

• Fundraising Opportunities-

Although our last fundraiser did not net a significant amount, we were able to make some promising connections. The marketing manager for Texas Roadhouse happened to stop in for dinner and took Melissa Tuff’s business card to discuss potential fundraising opportunities in the future with them at their Fort Myers location. Melissa will follow up as she has not heard from him yet. Melissa will also do some research into other comedy clubs besides the Laugh-In Comedy Café where we have held our previous fundraisers so that we will have more variety of location.

• June Speaker-

We anticipate having a speaker next month from Riverchase Dermatology

• Upcoming Events for Possible Group Participation-

We are in the United Way’s directory. Paul Lewis will work with his contacts to see about setting up a information table at FGCU to educate students on the importance of organ donation. September 29^th is the Walk like MADD Dash at Jet Blue Park, Shamie will find out about how we can get registered to have an information table at the event as we have participated in the past. Shamie would also like to organize a “Give Life Day” at Bell Tower to be completely hosted by our group. Shamie is also meeting with Chris at Quick Copy to create our promotional materials and she hopes to have some proofs for the group to review at the June meeting. Melissa Tuff suggests a possible weekday or weekend 5k fun run/walk in downtown Fort Myers to raise awareness for organ donation and the support group. Paul Lewis will also try to gather information on who we need to contact to organize such an event.

• Membership-

Members are encouraged to bring family and friends to become members of the support group. Also be sure to take group flyers to leave in the medical offices of any physicians that may be treating them so that other patients may see them and become interested in joining the group. The discussion has come about again to hold a quarterly evening or weekend meeting for those who would like to be members but cannot attend due to work or other scheduling conflicts. Next month we will discuss this further and try to plan for our first meeting of this type to be held in August.

• Night for Life XII-

This year’s forms will have a space to indicate whether sponsors plan on using their seats and if so, how many will be in attendance. A follow-up will be done to verify this number at least one week prior to the event as to prevent any confusion or empty tables.

Adjournment

Meeting was adjourned at 1:50 p.m. by Shamie Kelly, President. The next general meeting will be at 11:30 a.m. on June 7, 2018, at The Sanctuary located at 8960 Colonial Center Drive in Ft. Myers.

Minutes submitted by:     Melissa Tuff, Secretary