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LHSGBOPC General Meeting Minutes, February 13, 2025

February 2025

Treasurer’s Report 2-28-25

Board members in attendance:

Directors: Allen Frank and Bill Lennox

Tracy Luisser (VP Volunteers), Becky Sullivan (Treasurer), and Michelle Miller (Secretary)

 

Board members in absent:

Jacqui Forsch(President) and Steph Cramer (VP Student Accounts), 

 

Approval of Minutes from 01-08-2025: 

Tracy called the meeting to order and asked for approval on last month’s minutes. Motion to approve was made by Becky Sullivan. Second by Annalisa Kelly-Cavotta. Overall approval by the full organization. (Motion passed).

 

Report from VP of Volunteers (Tracy):

• If you have checks for RHCP, Melissa and Bridget will collect them. We will continue to take orders until March 3rd or until we are sold out.

 

Report from VP of Student Accounts (Tracy presented for Steph):

• January Fundraising Report
  • Thursday, February 20th from 5-6pm is the pick up for hoagies and soup.
  • Krispy Kreme orders are due February 19th. Pick up will be March 3rd.
  • Dine to Donate will be Wednesday at The Bayou.
  • Spring Bingo will be March 30th.
  • Wawa coupons are discontinued after December 31st.
  • We have Weis, Giant, and Shoprite gift cards.
• Springo (Art)
  • Spring Bingo is on March 30th in the Cafe.
  • Still accepting donations. We currently have 8 purses total.
  • The flyer will be posted online.
  • Email if you would like to help.
  • Some parents have reached out about helping with the basket raffles.
  • We will put them together 2 weeks before.

QUESTION: Will the proceeds go to general funds or individual funds?
Last Bingo went to the general fund and was used towards the Florida trip. This will get clarified.

• Upcoming fundraisers:

Fundraiser	Contact	Cost	Quota	Orders due	Pick up
Dine to Donate: The Bayou – February 19th, 4-close
Island Expressions	Bridget Hujsa	$4-6.50	Varies per item	February 5th	TBD
Krispy Kreme	Bridget Carvajal			February 19th	Monday, Mar. 3rd LHS Sci Lot 5-6pm
Springo Bingo	Art Oakes			March 30th	TBD
Pocono Cheesecakes	Michael Calagna				Saturday, April 12 LHS Sci Lot 11-11:30am
Mr. Sticky’s Sticky Buns	Luke Roan				Wednesday, April 16 LHS Sci Lot 4:30-5:30pm

Report from VP of Treasurer (Becky):

• February’s financials (Monthly report 1/1 – 1/31):
  • Starting balance:$91,028.59
  • Ending balance: $86,964.66
  • Income: $2,965.50
  • Expenses: $7,029.43
  • Not a lot of activity in January other than the trip itself.
  • We brought in some fairshare, Dine to Donate, Trip, and Gift cards (mostly giant).
  • Still collecting some outstanding trip payments, so there is some money that should come back to general funds.
  • Bad debt is now just a credit from a check that was rewritten from last year. We collect on bad debt right away so we aren’t carrying bad debt.
• Approval of Treasurer’s Report

Motion to approve was made by Sue Testa. Second by Annalisa Kelly-Cavotta. Overall approval by the full organization. (Motion passed)

 

Report from Directors:

• Mr. Frank: 
  • This is the calm before the storm.
  • March 6: Red Hot Chilli Pipers
    • A lot of times there may be kids added to the stage the day before. 
    • Get tickets. It’s a great show.
  • March 15: March in Parade of Shamrocks (1:15 step off)
  • March 15: County Band
    • Final rehearsal and concert
  • March 22-23: LAC (athletic department) hosting indoor flag competition (Eastern Regional)
    • The athletic department wants to support us. A member said that “when you do better, we do better.”
    • We will be doing the concession stand. They are taking care of all of the purchasing and setup. We just need to supply manpower.
    • Last year the concession stand brought in $12,000.
    • There will be 4 – 3 hour shifts on Saturday (8:30am – 9pm) and 3 – 3 hour shifts on Sunday. We need 7-10 students per shift and 3-5 adults per shift.
    • There will be beaks throughout the competition which is when the concession gets flooded.
    • We have 50-60 athletes in the band, so this is a great gift to help offset London costs.
    • Our goal for London fundraising is to bring in as much as we can. If we can lower costs we will. We want to make this trip affordable for everybody. 
    • Thinking about London, these large scale fundraisers are where we’re going along with grant writing and our smaller fundraisers of donuts, candy, gift cards, etc.
    • Signups coming.
    • Students will get community service hours. Profit will go to general funds. There will also be opportunities on Friday to do setup for service hours.
  • March 30: Springo (purse bingo)
  • Concert Week: (Week of March 31st)
    • Monday (March 31st): 1st Company/Pipes and Drums
    • Tuesday (April 1): off
    • Wednesday (April 2)/Thursday (April 3): 6-9pm
    • Friday (April 4)/Saturday (April 5): Concert
    • Saturday (April 5): 1pm meeting
      London Information Meeting with representatives from London Band Week.
    • Trying to get answers before (like pricing/payments)
  • London: 
    • Meeting with directors next week to try to get information out before the meeting in April.
      • Trying to get more information about:
        • Pricing 
        • Hidden costs
        • Getting gear to London
      • Ballpark figure for the trip is $4,000 range
      • Get passports now if you think you may be going.
      • The festival is June 23-28
        • We will travel there around June 20 or 21 and back around June 29. – We do not have exact travel dates yet.

QUESTION: Do we go through Gateway?
No. This is a non-Gateway trip. We go through Dan ? London Band Week. They can also organize the tag along trip.

 

• Directors are getting middle school numbers. The trend is an increase in enrollment. A huge thank you to everyone that is working in the elementary schools and middle schools to build the program.
  • Band will increase by 25-30 members next year.
  • Orchestra will also increase again.
  • Program looks healthy at 200+ members.
• Possible upcoming Piper Gig
  Pipers may be performing on March 16 at the Phantoms Game. Still polling the students to find out interest.
• Heavy week:
  Dr. Bailey’s official last day and the passing of a student (not in the program).
  Resources are here. – We’re here. If students are hurting, we’re here. Your students are our priority.

• Mr. Lennox
  • Alumni Form
    • Rolls out next week. The board is trying to collect information on alumni.
    • The problem with putting it out on our social media is that 78% of our followers are under 24 years old – so not really in the situation to donate.
    • Please share on personal social media.
    • George Whacker will also be interviewing and asking for alumni to share fun stories.
  • Instruments: Cello/Bass
    • With the increase in students next year, we are hurting for instruments. 
    • We are working with elementary and middle schools to make sure all students have an instrument.
    • If you have any instruments that are collecting dust, please donate. You can talk to the central office to find out about a tax write off.

New Business:

• If you would like to be part of the nominating committee or run for office, email Tracy. Elections will be in April. Nominations will need to be in 2 weeks before (in March).

A motion to close the meeting was made by Sue Testa. Second by Becky Sullivan. Overall approval by the full organization.

LHSGBOPC General Meeting Minutes, January 8, 2025

Treasurer’s Report 2025-01-31

Fundraising Report January 2025

General Meeting 01-08-2025

 

Board members in attendance:

Directors: Allen Frank and Bill Lennox

Jacqui Forsch(President), Steph Cramer (VP Student Accounts), Tracy Luisser (VP Volunteers), Becky Sullivan (Treasurer), and Michelle Miller (Secretary)

 

Board members in absent:

NONE

 

Approval of Minutes from 12-04-2024: 

Jacqui called the meeting to order and asked for approval on last month’s minutes. Motion to approve was made by Annalisa Kelly-Cavotta. Second by Karin Fair. Overall approval by the full organization. (Motion passed).

 

Report from VP of Volunteers (Tracy):

• NONE

 

Report from VP of Student Accounts (Steph):

• December Fundraising Report
  • Double Good Popcorn is new and completely online. Seller downloads an app (buyers do not have to download the app). Students get 50% of sales. The popcorn is popped fresh and has direct shipping.
• Upcoming fundraisers:

Fundraiser	Contact	Cost	Quota	Orders due	Pick up
Dine to Donate: The Brick – January 15th, 3-10pm
Park Lane Jewelry	Kelly Strybuc	Cost varies per item (check website)	50% of order	January 29th	Direct ship
Winter Matey’s Pizza	Diane Cassell	$7.25/GF $9.25	$2	January 10th	Saturday, Feb. 1st LHS Sci Lot 10-10:30
Double Good Popcorn	Steph Cramer	Cost varies per item (check website)	50% of order	January 12th	Direct ship
Krispy Kreme	Bridget Carvajal			February 19th	Monday, Mar. 3rd LHS Sci Lot 5-6pm
Island Expressions	Bridget Hujsa			February 5th	TBD
Mr. Sticky’s Sticky Buns	Luke Roan			March	TBD
Springo Bingo	Art Oakes			March 30th	TBD

Report from VP of Treasurer (Becky):

• November’s financials (Monthly report 12/1 – 12/31):
  • Starting balance:$95,079.35
  • Ending balance: $91,028.59
  • Income: $26,673.65
  • Expenses: $30,724.41
  • Under fundraisers there is a category “Commingled Fundraisers”. This is when multiple fundraisers are written into one check. These will be put in the correct spots.
    Please write 1 check for each fundraiser.
  • Expenses for Florida Trip 2025:
    $10,350 was withdrawn for the food gift cards. There was a $700 bank fee, but the bank ended up waiving their portion ($350) of the fee. The other $350 went to the card company.
    The $10,000 for the gift cards was fundraised funds. Instead of a check at the end, these funds will be given to students as a Visa gift card to use on the trip for the trip.
  • “Bad Debt” – we do have some bad debt. This is from fundraisers. We are working through collecting it. Once it deposits, this category will 0 out and disappear.
  • Checks – If checks are sitting in the bank uncashed, please email. The different chairs deliver the checks. If they are uncashed please email and we can work backwards.
  • Audit will be after the trip.
• Approval of Treasurer’s Report

Motion to approve was made by Sue Testa. Second by Annalisa Kelly-Cavotta. Overall approval by the full organization. (Motion passed)

 

Report from Directors:

• Mr. Lennox
  • NONE
• Mr. Frank: 
  • 4 students will be attending District Orchestra at Parkland High School.
    There is currently a power outage. Keep a lookout for emails.
  • Back from the New Year. Students were off for 16 days. Monday packed uniforms in boxes. We will be back to our routine after the trip (Jan. 27).
  • Week of Jan. 27 orchestra and band will really get their 2nd semester started.
  • Concerts early April
    Spring Concert  is early April (19-20)

Jazz band started – M/T

Early morning sectionals
An official schedule will be put out.

We want to make sure we are giving all students what they need to prepare and grow and put on a quality program.

• Red Hot Chilli Pipers (RHCP) will be here before we know it.
  Students that participate are all pipers, drummers, and highland dancers. Brass may be invited that week.
  We would love to pack the theater this year.
  Tickets are live at LHSGBOPC for $30
• REMINDERS: 
  • Luggage Drop Off
    Tomorrow is the luggage drop off. If there is an issue please reach out.The truck is leaving Friday morning. It will be in the gym lobby. Tables will be set up so students can be checked in. Each student will have a color coded luggage tag.
  • All uniforms for the band are packed. Black shoes might be packed in suitcases if in orchestra/choir. 
  • Temperatures are mid 50’s -60’s ? It’s a sweatshirt kind of trip.
  • Orchestra should wear the trip shirt and black pants on Friday.
  • The Blue shirt should be worn under the uniform.

QUESTION: Will there be a place for orchestra/choir to change after the workshop?
Yes.The truck will be backstage, so they can drop their black shoes/bags on the truck.

• For Disney, they will get dressed backstage at Disney.
• The Universal Workshop will be at 12:30 on Friday. Kids will go backstage around noon. It will go until around 3pm.
• Paperwork will be sent out with an itinerary. 
• Students that take medication that will be given by Nurse Rita bring tomorrow at Luggage drop off.
• Orchestra instruments come to the luggage drop off. Band instruments will be loaded on Friday.
• Truck should be getting back on Tuesday. Watch the BandApp for when it is back.

New Business:

• Gertrude Hawk Coordinator:

• • We will need a new Gertrude Hawk Coordinator for next year.
• Springo Bingo
  • If you want to buy purses for Springo, Coach is having a huge sale.

A motion to close the meeting was made by Sue Testa. Second by Becky Sullivan. Overall approval by the full organization.

Treasurer’s Report 11-2024

General Meeting 11-07-2024

Treasurer’s Report 11-2024

Board members in attendance:

Directors: Allen Frank and Bill Lennox

Jacqui Forsch(President), Steph Cramer (VP Student Accounts), Tracy Luisser (VP Volunteers), Becky Sullivan (Treasurer), and Michelle Miller (Secretary)

 

Board members in absent:

NONE

 

Approval of Minutes from 10-15-2024: 

Jacqui called the meeting to order and asked for approval on last month’s minutes. Motion to approve was made by Clair Berry. Second by Rita Haberstumpf. Overall approval by the full organization. (Motion passed).

 

Report from President (Jacqui):

• Volunteers
  A big thank you for all the help in October. We all appreciate it!
• Florida Trip
  Florida information is coming. There is a meeting on December 17th.
  Florida clothing order within the next week. It will be a quick turn around so keep a lookout for it.
• Fairshare

Fairshare is now overdue.

 

QUESTION: Does Fairshare have to be paid before going on the trip?
So now that we have the final trip list, we’re going to compare the two and see where we are in terms of who is outstanding and then we’re going to go from there.

 

Report from VP of Volunteers (Tracy):

• NONE

 

Report from VP of Student Accounts (Steph):

• October Fundraising Report
  • Pat’s is our next Dine to Donate on November 20th. 20% of the total food bill will be donated to the band. They are doing it all day for us. All Dine to Donates will go towards our Florida trip.
  • Continuing Fundraisers (Giant Cards/Wawa coupons) are bringing in a lot of money to our student accounts.
  • Salsa – 17 participants. There was an issue with the supply. They will not be ready for this Saturday. The new pick up date will be on Saturday, November 16th from 10-10:30am in the Science Lot (with Matey’s pick up). 
  • Matey’s Pizza – Apologies for not getting up online sooner.
  • Lottery Calendars were a success. After quota and prizes paid out $3575 will go towards the Florida trip.
• Upcoming fundraisers:

Fundraiser	Contact	Cost	Quota	Orders due	Pick up
Bayou Boys Perogies	Bridget Carvajal	$10.00 (cheese) $12.00 (other)	$3.00	November 8th	November 23rd 11am – Science lot
Pocono Cheesecakes	Michael Calagna	$14.50 per cheesecake	$5.00	November 14th	November 23rd 11am – Science lot
Dine to Donate: Pat’s Pizza on October 20th
Winter Flowers	Amanda Gori	Cost varies per item (check website)	$2.00 per item	November 10th	November 23rd 12pm – Science lot
Pampered Chef	Rachelle Gordon	Cost varies per item (check website)	25% of product total	November 24th	Directly mailed
Island Expressions	Bridget Hujsa	Cost varies per item (check website)	$5 /gift card $2.25 / hoagie $1.50 / soup $1 / sandwich	November 24th	December 12th 5pm – LHS Cafe
Double Good Popcorn	Steph Cramer			January 6th	Direct ship

QUESTION: Can fundraisers be bundles more often or  can they be announced earlier?
Dates are driven by the companies. We try to get the information out a month ahead, but can try to give more like a two month window but please know that selling window dates and pickup dates may change.

• If you have people to help your student with a direct donation, we are working on guidelines:
  • Send the check made out to LHSGBOPC with the student’s name in the memo line.
  • There will be a time delay until it gets to the bank and clears before you can see it in your Cuttime Account .
  • After it clears, then the student account will get credited.
• Pampered Chef:
  To ensure your child gets the 25% for their quota, have anyone who orders write your child’s full name right after their last name, in the last name field, when checking out. 

Example – if their last name is Smith and your child’s name is Jane Doe, in the last name field they would type:

Smith – Jane Doe

• If you have ideas for fundraisers email Steph.

QUESTION: Why are Bayou Boys gift cards listed as going to General Funds instead of quota?
We will check on that and send information out through BandApp.

Report from VP of Treasurer (Becky):

• October’s financials (Monthly report 9/1 – 9/30):
  • Starting balance:$88,415.28
  • Ending balance: $89,771.07
  • Income: $18,004.14
  • Expenses: $16,648.35
  • Matey’s and Krispy Kreme deposits were larger and took longer to deposit so they are not reported on the treasurer’s report. You can see the checks paid but not checks in (proceeds).
  • Fairshare
    Quota has not been moved over into its own account yet. Treasurer’s report shows checks paid for fairshare and does not reflect fairshare paid through fundraising. 
• Approval of Treasurer’s Report

Motion to approve was made by Sue Testa. Second by Annalisa Kelly-Cavotta. Overall approval by the full organization. (Motion passed)

 

Report from Directors:

• Mr. Frank: 
  • Marching Season:
    • Marching season is done. We are still marching but football season is done.
  • Thank you:
    • Thank you to everyone that pitched in behind the scenes by giving their time, help, and financial support. So many new people are stepping up. Sincerely thank you!
  • Absences:
    • Absences are on an upward trend for both rehearsals and performances.
    • Missing 10% of the band on Friday (playoffs).
    • Throughout the 10 games there were 64 absences.
    • Throughout the 3 parades there were 34 absences.
    • We get illnesses and schedule conflicts with sports, but to take the program further and to take them to other places we need to meet our standards here at home to go do great things overseas/other states. 
    • We didn’t have a single game with the entire band.
  • Winter Concert/Orchestra: 15-16 rehearsals left. 
    • Dates are out: 

Friday Night (Dec. 13th at 7pm) and Sunday afternoon (Dec. 15th at 2pm)

• Florida Updates:
  • Document that went out over the weekend has changed as of this afternoon.
  • Information is still changing.
  • Rooming is done and groups are assigned to flights.
  • Gateway must know by November 15th. 
  • Tag Along have until November 14th to add or drop air. 
  • Medical forms are going to be handed out tonight. All student travelers need to have them filled out. These should be in by the December 17th meeting.
  • If medication is not on the list, you will need a doctor’s note. 
  • If you are not in person at tonight’s meeting, they will be coming home with students.
  • The standing order is the only  thing that can be given. A doctor order will be needed for anything beyond the standing order.
  • All information is in the packet.
  • Rita (nurse) will decide who administers the medication (if it is her or the student). 
  • We’ll go over all trip details during the trip meeting on December 17th.
• BandApp
  • BandApp is used for passing information.
  • If it’s an official question or information (like an absence) use email.
  • BandApp is not for district information.
  • BandApp chat sometimes gets lost on the BandApp side.
  • Please email if pertaining to your child or something for official school purposes.
• Monday is Veteran’s Day. Happy Veteran’s Day to our vets! Sunday is also the Marine Corp. birthday. 

• Mr. Lennox
  • 1st Company concert is on Sunday, November 24th.
  • If you are buying any instruments online, please check with the directors. Please do not buy instruments or reeds especially on places like Amazon without checking to see what your student needs first. The directors want to make sure you and your child are taken care of and that it is not a scam.

New Business:

• SPRINGO:

• • Art Oakes is coordinating our spring bingo.
  • Purse Bingo for spring bingo on March 30th.
  • Donations:
    • 25-26 purses ranging from $50 – $125 each.
    • The more donations we get, the more money we will make from the event.
    • If parents are willing to donate a purse or go in together to donate a purse it will off.
  • Volunteers:
    • Organizing, gathering donations, helping student volunteers
    • Basket raffles
  • Will send out an email and will have a virtual meeting.

QUESTION: Can you donate money towards a purse instead of a purse?
Yes.

QUESTION: What purses?
Designer purses. There will be a list of specific purses and you can sponsor a purse.

QUESTION: Can we reach out to the stores?
They don’t donate but they may give a discount.

A motion to close the meeting was made by Sue Testa. Second by Marilyn Kelly. Overall approval by the full organization.

General Meeting 10-15-2024

Treasurer’s Report October 2024

Board members in attendance:

Directors: Bill Lennox

Jacqui Forsch(President), Steph Cramer (VP Student Accounts), Tracy Luisser (VP Volunteers), Becky Sullivan (Treasurer), and Michelle Miller (Secretary)

 

Board members in absent:

Directors: Allen Frank 

 

Approval of Minutes from 09-16-2024: 

Jacqui called the meeting to order and asked for approval on last month’s minutes. Motion to approve was made by Eleanor Mayer. Second by Annalisa Kelly-Cavotta. Overall approval by the full organization. (Motion passed)

 

Report from President (Jacqui):

• Pipes & Drums Order
  Sports Center USA is going to have an order open for Pipes & Drums until November 22nd. Kids already have the information, but the link for it will be posted on BandApp.  
• Volunteers
  Thank you to all the people that we’re volunteering at the games and donating. We’ve had a really good response from parents for hotdogs, pretzels, water, and the chips. We had people showing up at the bandstand, people showing up to help with the third quarter snack, and the roadies. It’s been amazing! We can’t do what we do with the kids without your help. So we really appreciate it. We want you to all know we appreciate it more than you know. You guys have been amazing. We just wanted to extend a big Thank you to everybody for all that you do. 
• Opportunities to volunteer/donate for Liberty-Freedom
  We’re buying pizza. We have tons of chips leftover between bingo and some of the games. We got a donation of water from Wegmans. We still need some tablecloths and some volunteers for the luncheon, help to hang senior banners, etc. Look for a signup genius to go out with our specific needs for Liberty-Freedom. 
• Bandstand for Liberty-Freedom

We are going to open our bandstand for Liberty-Freedom. We’re the home team and we have lots and lots of inventory to sell, even though we’ve been killing it at bandstand throughout the season. We are going to be looking for people to help us. Because we all want to see our children, it will close at least 10 minutes before pregame.

 

• Fundraising Campaign Letters

Our fundraising campaign letters were printed out. We’re going after sponsorships to reduce or eliminate fair share or reduce the cost of our trips. Volunteers have stuffed envelopes. We’ve identified about 100 businesses that we’re starting to mail them out to. We also printed out copies for any parents that have a business that you know or that you work at or you have friends that may want a sponsorship.

 

• Halloween Parade

Some of us will be walking behind the band at the Halloween parade giving out postcards with the same QR code to try to get donations and to promote our sponsorships. We’re trying to get the word out. So anything that parents can do to help us spread the word, we appreciate.

 

QUESTION: Where does the money that comes in from sponsorships go?
The donor can designate what they want the money to go to. They can say I want it to go towards a trip, general fund, or instruments. They can’t give it to a specific student. 

 

QUESTION: Can we have postcards?

The letters are more comprehensive than the postcard and are available now. The postcards will be arriving at Julie’s  house this week. Candy will be attached to them for when they are handed out at the parade. 

 

QUESTION: Which parade are parents walking behind the band?

The Bethlehem Halloween parade. Right now we don’t need more volunteers, but if we do, we will reach out on the BandApp. 

 

• Clothing Order

We are working on a clothing order forFlorida. We don’t have a logo yet. We expect to have it ready in November after Liberty-Freedom. This will be online only. There will be a variety of items with a variety of quality levels. We will offer our Florida logo as well as our standard logo. We would like to open it up to the community and let them purchase items as well. Look for more information in November.

 

QUESTION: Will kids going on the trip get shirts?

Each performing trip member will get one. It will not be the Nike DriFit they currently wear under their uniform.

 

• Campaign – Days of Gratitude

We’re putting together a campaign on social media called Days of Gratitude. In November we are going to pick 5 or 10 days ending on Giving Tuesday. We’re going to have videos made and George, who is one of our community partners, is going to help piece them together and add a link to say how/where to donate.  If you know any alumni that might want to participate or a community member that is a huge supporter of the Liberty Band, please let us know. The process will be simple: Record a video, not even 30 seconds long, and then we would piece it together and post it on social media and use it to ask for donations from the community. Tell your student to start thinking about why they love Liberty Band and why they’re grateful for it, so that they can say great things in case they get asked to make a video.

 

• Springo

Spring Bingo (Springo) is scheduled for March 30th. It’s purse bingo. Art Oakes volunteered to head it up. Please let us know if anybody is interested in being on the committee with him. We are going to start soliciting basket stuff and getting everything started. So if you’re interested come see one of the board members. 

 

Report from VP of Volunteers (Tracy):

• Liberty – Freedom Game

We will be sending out a signup genius for help that we’re going to need for the Liberty-Freedom game.

 

• Mattie’s Pick Up

If you ordered anything from Mattie’s, pick up is on Saturday. It comes frozen, but we have no place to store them. Be aware that the Bethlehem Marathon is on Saturday and plan for it when you leave. 

 

Report from VP of Student Accounts (Steph):

• September Fundraising Report

Lottery calendars:
59 students participated in lottery calendars and brought in a combined $4410 into their student accounts. The General Funds contribution will depend on the number of winners.
Dine to Donate:

This has brought in $267. Notice that the Dine to Donate proceeds go towards countering trip costs.

• Upcoming fundraisers:

Fundraiser	Contact	Cost	Quota	Orders due	Pick up
Krispy Kreme	Bridget Carvajal	$12.00 per box	$5.00 per box	October 15th	October 22nd 5-6pm – LHS cafe.
Dine to Donate: Plaza Azteca on October 16th
Casa de Jorge Salsa	Linda O’Brien & Tracy Luisser	$8.00 per jar	$3.50 per jar	October 20th	November 9th 10am – Science lot
Matey’s Pizza	Diane Cassell			November 3rd	November 16th 10am – Science lot
Bayou Boys Perogies	Bridget Carvajal	$10.00 (cheese) $12.00 (other)	$3.00	November 8th	November 23rd 11am – Science lot
Pocono Cheesecakes	Michael Calagna	$14.50 per cheesecake	$5.00	November 14th	November 23rd 11am – Science lot
Pampered Chef	Needs chair – let Steph know if you are interested.

QUESTION: Are the perogies fresh or frozen?
They come frozen.

 

• Picking up fundraisers
  • Stay in your car and form a nice orderly circle around that science parking lot. We’re going to try to set up at the far end so that you will actually drive past us, come back through and be at the start of the line to keep everybody in their car. It will keep it going faster and run more smoothly. 
  • You have to bring payment to pick up any fundraiser. If you’re sending someone in your place to pick up the fundraiser, you have to send them with the correct payment. 
  • Checks have to be made out to LHSGBOPC. It can’t be some other BASD combination. We can’t cash those. It also has to have the correct amount on it. It can’t be a partial payment. 
  • We can only accept checks from parents within the organization. It has to do with the history of being hard to get funds paid from people outside of the organization if there is insufficient funds.
  • If those buying the fundraisers from you are not comfortable writing a check or paying cash to you for the fundraisers, an option is for you to pay for the fundraiser at pickup and then have them pay you when you deliver it to them.
  • Please don’t show up early, unless you are willing to help because it clogs up the system. 
• Cut Time: 
  • Cut Time allows you to see the money that goes in and out of your student’s account. It will auto pay fairshare and money due first.
  • If you don’t have access to Cut Time, contact Steph. 
• Fairshare
  • Fairshare is due today (10/15).
  • Fairshare is $150 fair for being in band or band and orchestra or $75 for only orchestra. 
  • If you are struggling financially please let Steph know. 
  • Please help others (especially freshman parents) know about the obligation of fairshare.
  • 74 students still owe something.
    57 students have not made a single payment towards fairshare.
  • If you have a credit and want to use it as a trip payment, email Steph. She will need it in writing.
  • If you have family members or friends who want to contribute money directly to the student, have them make a check out to LHSGBOPC, write in whatever amount they’re generously donating and then in the memo line put your student’s name and that it’s to go to their student account or quota. 

QUESTION: The last payment says approximately $330. Do we know what the final check amount will be?
We will know after Liberty-Freedom.

 

QUESTION: Is there a BandApp for Florida?
It will be posted in BandApp.

 

QUESTION: Is it possible to move the fundraiser pick up to the large parking lot in front of the school?
Each time we have to have a fundraiser pick up, we need to fill out an application to reserve the area. The Science lot is usually available and we don’t have to fight other people for use of it.

 

QUESTION: If the Florida trip has been paid off already, will we receive a refund?
We don’t do it immediately after the trip. We wait until the end of the year. You can continue to fundraise from January to May, and can get some of the money you paid in back.  If you fundraise the whole thing, you don’t get fundraising money back.

Report from VP of Treasurer (Becky):

• Taxes

Taxes are officially done. Our accountant was happy with our records. He said he had everything he needed and it was in an organized fashion.

 

• 1st Quarterly Parent Audit (Yeh Wen)

Thank you to Yeh Wen and the audit team. They completed the first quarterly audit last week on Thursday to have everything done in time for the meeting.

 

Audit Report (Yeh Wen):

Thank you to Grace Calasanz, Karin Fair, Rachelle Gordon, and Analisa Kelly-Cavotta who served on our audit committee. It took 3 hours on Thursday to complete. Thank you to Becky for her meticulous records. The audit committee was able to track down everything. There were only some minor documentation issues that were reported. 

 

Starting Balance (July 1st):   $86,739.26

Credits (July, August, September) +$59,530.73

Debits (July, August, September) -$57,854.71

Balance on hand (last day of quarter, 2024-09-30)   $88,415.28

The audit committee has examined the books of LHSGB&OPC for the quarter specified and find them to be substantially correct.

• October’s financials (Monthly report 9/1 – 9/30):
  • Our income and expenses compared to where we were last year because our budgeted numbers were pretty much what we had last year.
  • Starting balance:$87,074.55
  • Ending balance: $88,415.28
  • Income: $34,629.62
  • Expenses: $33,288.89
  • Fundraiser totals are given with a breakdown to show you what’s quota and what’s general funds from those fundraisers for the month.
    
    QUESTION: Why is the income for candy negative?
    There was a big check that went out to purchase candy. 
• Approval of Treasurer’s Report

Motion to approve was made by Sue Testa. Second by Michael Calagna. Overall approval by the full organization. (Motion passed)

 

Report from Directors:

• Mr. Frank: not present 

• Mr. Lennox
  • Weekly bulletin: Check the weekly bulletin for information. If you still have questions, email both of the directors.
  • Florida: If you have a Florida question, send the directors an email. They  will definitely get back to you after the Liberty-Freedom game.
  • Liberty – Freedom Game: Please make sure your kids are arriving on time for morning rehearsals and the game. There is a lot that is accomplished during the 7:00-7:25 rehearsals.
  • Hellertown: Report time is 1:00pm. The location will be confirmed closer to the parade.
  • Spirit Week Schedule:
    • Tuesday: There is combined rehearsal with the middle schools at Liberty during the day. No night time rehearsal.
    • Thursday: The bonfire will be honoring seniors. Seniors will be receiving a Google form asking for parent information and  what they plan to do. You need to make sure your senior fills out this form and it will not be in the weekly.
    •  Saturday: Liberty vs. Freedom game. Report time is 9:15am. 
    • Sunday: The last part of the marching season is the Bethlehem Halloween Parade. We do not have a report location yet, but the report time is around 1:15.
  • Week 11 (playoffs): Plan for a week 11. The announcement will not be made until Sunday of the Bethlehem Halloween Parade.
    
    QUESTION: What parks are they going to on Sunday (Florida trip)?
    All Florida information will be coming out after the Liberty-Freedom game.

New Business:

• QUESTION: Where can tailgating spots be purchased for the Liberty – Freedom game?
  Check the BASD website. 
• QUESTION: Can digital ticket packs be used for the Bethlehem Catholic game?
  No. They are an outside organization renting the space. They are doing cash only.

A motion to close the meeting was made by Sue Testa. Second by Becky Sullivan. Overall approval by the full organization.

General Meeting 9-16-2024

September Fundraising Report 2024

Treasurer’s Report September 2024-9-30

Treasurer’s Report YTD 2024-7-1 through 9-30

Board members in attendance:

Directors: Allen Frank and Bill Lennox

Jacqui Forsch(President), Steph Cramer (VP Student Accounts), Tracy Luisser (VP Volunteers), Becky Sullivan (Treasurer), and Michelle Miller (Secretary)

 

Board members in absent:

None

 

Approval of Minutes from 08-13-2024: 

Jacqui called the meeting to order and asked for approval on last month’s minutes. Motion to approve was made by Annalisa Kelly-Cavotta. Second by Michael Calagna. Overall approval by the full organization. (Motion passed)

 

Report from President (Jacqui):

• Bingo
  Bingo was September 8th. There was a really good turn out. Thank you to everybody for coming out and for supporting the event and thank you to everybody that came out to work the event. Preliminary numbers are about $4300. Official numbers will be at the next meeting.
• Springo (Purse Bingo)
  Looking to host another bingo in the spring, this time doing a purse bingo. Other schools have made a large profit when doing these. No dates set yet.
  
  Question: Will bingo profits be individual student quota or general funds?
  It’s going into a pot for people that are traveling on the trip. Our goal is to raise enough money so that at the end of the year, we’re able to give back a refund to the people that went on the trip. The pot of money will be split with choir, band, and orchestra (music department students that attend the trip). We’ll always announce where the profits will be going for each fundraiser. So far we have the car wash proceeds from June, the Dine and Donates, and Bingo that are going towards the trip.
• Campaign Kickoff
  We’re going to have a fundraising campaign with sponsorships. Julie Bailey is going to talk more about the kick off later. We’re looking for a person who can help us coordinate the sponsorships to make sure they’re getting the benefits of their sponsorship level. 

 

Report from VP of Volunteers (Tracy):

• Volunteering :
  We need volunteers for some of the home games coming up:
  • Bandstand
  • Handing out third quarter snacks
• For the Liberty Freedom game (October 26th):
  • Set up. 
  • Hanging senior banners in the stadium
  • Help at the luncheon
  • Looking for help to allow senior parents to watch and enjoy their child’s final game.
• Signups will go out.

 

Report from VP of Student Accounts (Steph):

• Fundraising financial page: 
  • August 2024 fundraisers
    • Ongoing fundraisers: (Weiss, Giant, ShopRite and Wawa coupons)
      • You can use the grocery gift cards for your groceries each week to add money into your student’s account by buying groceries you are buying anyway.
      • Giant gift cards can be used online when using Giant Direct.
      • A small sliver (approximately 20%) of the profits of each individual fundraiser goes back into general funds.
      • Gertrude Hawk candy bars give a large portion to the student quota.
    • Individual Fundraisers:
      • Mattie’s Pizza had $894.00 go into 24 student accounts that participated.
      • Mum’s had $1700 go into the 47 student accounts that participated.
    • Group Fundraisers:
      • Dine to donate is always on the third Wednesday of each month. 
        • September is Clubhouse Grill 
        • August Dine to Donate profit was $422.
      • Bingo: The unofficial number is $3,961.
• Upcoming fundraisers:
  • Lottery Calendars 
    • Calendars are due September 27th.
    • Winners will start on October 1st.
    • Winners will be sent a check through the mail to the person that you designated on that calendar. 
    • $5 per calendar goes to your student’s account.
    • If you have any unsold calendars, please ask around to see if anyone else wants to sell those last few calendars.
  • Apple Dumplings
    Contact: Jacqui Fortsch
    Cost: $7.50 each/ $7.75 (gluten free)
    Quota: $1.75 each
    Orders due: September 22nd
    Pick up: October 9th at 5-6pm in Liberty High School cafeteria
  • Strudel, Halupkis, and Kolaches
    Contact: Tracy Luisser
    Cost: $12-$16 (Strudels)
    6 for $12.50 (Halupkis)
    $14 (Kolaches)
    Quota: $3.50 each
    Orders due: September 22nd
    Pick up: October 19th at 10-10:30am in the Science Lot
  • Krispy Kreme
    Contact: Bridget Carvajal
    Cost: $12 per box
    Quota: $5.00 per box
    Orders due: October 15th
    Pick up: October 22nd at 5-6pm in Liberty High School cafeteria
  • Pocono Cheesecakes needs a chairperson.
    Michael Calagna volunteered to chair.
  • Bayou Boys Perogies
    Bridget Carvajal volunteered to chair.
• Picking up fundraisers
  • Bring payment because you can’t take it if you don’t have the payment. Payment is check or money order. There’s no online payment for the fundraisers. Please do not bring cash to a parking lot. If you have to take cash, contact Steph ahead of time.
  • If you can’t be there on the day of pick up, you have to find a responsible adult to come pick up that order for you. Whoever you are sending to pick up your order, please make sure they are clear as to what time, where and they have the payment (check or money order). If they show up without a payment, they will have to be turned away. 
  • Please do not arrive early for the pickup. 
  • If you have a significant order, you will most likely get a phone call from Steph or Tracy to come help volunteer to organize and help with the pickup day. 
  • When you come to the science parking lot, please stay in your car for pick up and form a nice orderly circle around the parking lot. The cars that are in the front will get loaded first. Then they can go and everybody can just keep shuffling forward.
  • Question:  Can checks be sent in at the time of the order?
    No. Physically hand it to us when you pick them up. 
  • Mums: We had twice as many mums this year as we’ve ever – 799 plants with only three parent volunteers and five students.
  • Winter and spring flower sales also require a ton of people to help out. Steph is estimating at least 15. Students can get community service hours. If we get 15 students to be there and then a handful of parents to help just keep it organized, it will go very smoothly.
• Cut Time: 
  • We keep track of all of the financial stuff for your students. Once you get your cut times account set up, you can see if you owe anything or if you have a balance. 
  • There are a large number of people who still owe the $150 fair share payment for being in band or band and orchestra or still owe $75 for only orchestra. If you are struggling financially please let Steph know. 
  • If you have credit available in your child’s account, you can use it for the next trip payment no matter how small. For the October payment, please let Steph know by Friday, September 20th so she can get the payment in the mail early next week and it could get credited to your account. 
  • Question: For seniors, can we zero out the account or do we need money in there for anything else for the rest of the year? Do we have any upcoming expenses for the rest of the year after the Florida trip in January?
    At the end of the year they do a reconciliation of all the accounts and notify parents about refunds available. If, for example, you write a check for $100 for your student’s account and everything else has been fundraised. At the end you have a balance of $300. We can only legally return the $100 back to you that you paid originally. We cannot legally return fundraiser money. Even after the trip, from January until May, you can continue to fundraise, and as long as it doesn’t exceed what you wrote a check for you can get that money back at the end of the year as a refund.
  • Question: Will there be a senior trip?
    No, it’s a trip year.

Report from VP of Treasurer (Becky):

• September’s financials (Monthly report 8/1 – 8/31):
  • Starting balance:$93,000
  • Ending balance: $87,000
  • Income: $10,528.51
  • Expenses: $16,893.30
  • Fundraiser totals are given with a breakdown to show you what’s quota and what’s general funds from those fundraisers for the month.
• Additional accounts:
  • An additional account will be opened to keep your quota money separate from the general fund. Quota will go in, trip payments will come out. So it’ll keep everything cleaner 
  • An additional account will also be opened for our GiveButter fundraising efforts so our charitable donations from organizations would not flow immediately into the general fund. It will be applied to where it was designated to be used. This will help keep clean record keeping describing what the donation is.
• Question: 
  • Report didn’t match.
    There are two different reports. One is a monthly report (8/1 – 8/31) the other is year to date. In the future, the monthly will be printed and the year to date will be posted online so both can be viewed.
  • How did we make income in the instrument accessory column?
    Henderson had to switch the brand of reeds that we purchased and sent us a refund.

Report Grenadier Giving Campaign (Julie):

• Sponsorships:
  • We’re doing sponsorships. If you know somebody who would like to donate (or you think would donate), send Julie their name.
  • $75,000 is the total goal for this school year.
  • Julie showed the different sponsorship levels ($20,000 down to $100)
  • The whole package is listed on our website in the section where you make donate. There’s now a sponsorship form there too. 
  • If you are donating, check with your employer. Your employer might do matching gifts. Some will even give a donation for you volunteering your time.
  • Marilyn Kelly volunteered to chair sponsorships.
• Thank you cards
  • We will continue to send Thank you cards/letters to our donors. The dollar amount has not been determined, but at a specific dollar amount, the student senate will write the thank you card to make it more personal.
• Donations to specific students
  • If you want to make a donation, you can’t make your gift for a specific student because that’s no longer considered a gift if the payment goes to their account. We just want to stay within the rules for the IRS.
• We got $1000 through a connection by two people talking. It was not somebody asking for a donation. There’s a lot of opportunities for us.
• We are thinking about entering the LHSGBOPC in the Bethlehem parade to walk behind the band to hand out QR codes (and candy).
• Julie’s e-mail: grenadiergiving@lhsgbopc.org
  She can give me more information if you have more questions.

Report from Directors:

• Mr. Frank
  • Upcoming Events:
    • Mr. Frank started by going to upcoming events/away football games including the Celtic Classic parade. 
    • We have not been 4-0 since 2007. No dates yet, but plan to maybe have activities after Liberty vs.Freedom (playoffs).
    • We’re already looking ahead to Liberty Freedom.
    • Events added to the schedule:
      • Hellertown parade on October 20th
      • Question: Will the kids get bussed to Hellertown?
        Every other year, the kids met us there. We are not scheduling 5 buses the way we do to travel to football games because it is still considered local. But, we do want to offer at least one bus for those that need it. 
    • Liberty Freedom Week:
      • Rehearsal with the middle schools will be during the day. So that eliminates an evening rehearsal (October 22nd). 
      • Bonfire is at 6:30 pm on Thursday, October 24th. Senior parents please mark your calendars. This is where we do senior recognition to recognize seniors in band, cheerleading and football. 
      • Liberty vs. Freedom is on Saturday
      • Parade on Sunday
    • Orchestra: We have a field trip planned for the orchestra on October 7th to go see the PA Symphony rehearsal at Northeast Middle School. 
  • Band App
    • Before you ask a question in the group chat, remind yourself that there are 400 other people associated with the group and some questions don’t pertain to everybody and can be asked either to a friend or emailed to the directors separately. 
    • What has happened is a lot of kids have turned off the notifications because they don’t want to follow parent conversations. So the directors have created a brand new group for band students (orchestra will stay the same). Parents don’t have to do anything. You will see that your group has been renamed to LHSGB 24-25 PARENTS. We have given the kids their own bandapp group.
    • Every post that the directors make to the parents will also be posted to the kids. There are things that are just posted to the kids that don’t necessarily pertain to the parents. 
  • Social media posts:
    • Please consider your character and use tact when you’re on socials publicly talking about the program. If you see things, please help us respond by commenting in defense or just let us know so we can. Mr. Frank has no problem talking to somebody to help find a solution to their complaint. 
  • Pep Band is a volunteer group that is for anybody that wants to show up. Students should look for signups on the directors doors.

• Mr. Lennox
  • Nothing

New Business:

• Tag along trip:
  Just a reminder for parents if you want to join the Tagalog trip, make sure you register on MyGateway by September 1st. 

A motion to close the meeting was made by Jen Roan. Second by Marilyn Kelly. Overall approval by the full organization.

 

Login · Cut Time

General Meeting 8-13-2024

 

Board members in attendance:

Directors: Allen Frank and Bill Lennox

Jacqui Forsch(President), Steph Cramer (VP Student Accounts), Tracy Luisser (VP Volunteers), Becky Sullivan (Treasurer), and Michelle Miller (Secretary)

 

Board members in absent:

None

 

Approval of Minutes from 05-16-2024: 

Jacqui called the meeting to order and asked for approval on last month’s minutes. Motion to approve was made by Sue Testa. Second by Yi-Wen Lai . Overall approval by the full organization. (Motion passed)

 

Jacqui introduced each of the board members, at large members, and one of our community partners (George was not present).

 

Audit: May 2024

Jacqui gave an update about the internal audit that was performed following the May meeting. The audit team consisted of Becky Sullivan, Yi-Wen Lai, Michelle Miller, and Bridget Carvajal. 

 

Since the last meeting, our previous treasurer resigned. The audit was performed to get the books back in order and in line to keep our non-profit status. The audit showed that there were incomplete records, missing receipts, and mislabeled deposits. Becky and the team have spent time this summer to contact vendors and get our books back in order.

 

Conclusions of the audit:

1. Record keeping was poor
2. Unable to determine if the issue was disorganization or something else was going on

 

The focus we are choosing is to move forward. We don’t want this to happen again. We want the organization to keep its non-profit status because it is important with all of the fundraising we do. It would be bad for the organization and the kids.

 

Moving forward:

1. New treasurer: Becky is our new treasurer. She led the audit. She has obtained as many records as we can obtain, categorizing the revenues and expenses that are coming in, and digitizing them so they are not lost for when the next treasurer comes in. There was a big push to get everything organized and ready to hand off to the auditor at the end of our tax year.
2. Audit committee: Creation of an audit committee. Yi-Wen Lai is heading the committee. We are looking for volunteers to help. Every quarter the committee will meet and review the books and make sure everything matches up.
3. New written procedures: New procedures for things like how to handle cash boxes at events, how to label deposits and separate them, how to purchase requisition things.  We wanted to get structure around these procedures. These are not finalized yet. We are looking to have them finalized for the next meeting so we can hand them off to Sue Testa to have them referenced in the bylaws so future boards will have to follow the procedures. It will outline the treasurer position and the expectations for that role.
4. Monthly reconciliations: There will be monthly reconciliations between the treasurer and the vice president of student accounts. This gives a second set of eyes every month and will also make it easier for the audit committee since it is happening monthly internally with the board. At the three month audit, everything should be good and it should be just a check.

 

QUESTIONS:

• Checks weren’t being deposited for a long period of time or points weren’t added into student accounts until emails were sent. Will all this be monitored more closely now?
  It will be monitored more closely. We are not perfect but we are good if you call us on it. If checks are not deposited please email us. There were checks that were not cashed and we found they were lost. We had them deduct the stop payment fee and rewrite the check so we could recover some of the money.
  Becky stated that the electronic process is making it go much quicker and checks are getting deposited much faster. Our goal is 2 weeks to be deposited and should be faster most of the time.

 

Overall, just know that we’re a board that is just trying to make things a little more transparent, and make sure everybody knows and can feel confident that their money is being handled well. 

 

Report from VP of Volunteers (Tracy):

• Volunteering :
  There are sign ups for volunteering. We need help especially for the upcoming home and away games. Clearances must be on file with Mr. Lennox, so if you have copies of them you can scan them and email them to him.You must have clearances to be with the kids.
• Bingo:
  Bingo is coming up on September 8th. Please come out and help. If you have anything you would be willing to donate for a bigger prize (like a timeshare), please email and let us know.
• Bandstand:
  We’ll be sending out a signup genius for every home game. We need help with Bandstand. Bandstand is our merchandise area (shirts, sweatshirts, lanyards, bracelets, ornaments, etc). Bandstand will also be at Preview Night on Friday night.
• 3rd Quarter Snacks:
  We would like to set up a Hospitality (concessions) Committee. We need someone to be in charge of making sure that there’s enough snacks and water for the kids, as well as volunteers to help hand out 3rd Quarter snacks. It was decided, we would like to provide each student with a hot dog or pretzel, chips, and water during the third quarter free of charge.There’s not going to be any candy or snacks sold. There will be a sign up genius that will be sent out for donations (similar to last year), but students will not be charged at the game.
• Other volunteers needed: 

We also need bus chaperones for away games and roadies. Roadies help by opening gates for the kids when they’re coming off the field, handing out water, and helping with section bags.

QUESTIONS:

• Can parents have a letter to help get supplies for our band?

We are looking for a Hospitality (concessions) Committee Coordinator to help oversee concessions and donations for our events/games. Some businesses will only donate once, so we need help coordinating our efforts between our different events (bingo, football games, springo, etc.)

• Will majorettes also get a hot dog?
  Yes.
• Can I have more information about Bingo?
  Tickets will be online presale first. $20 in advance or $25 at the door. Tickets/packets will be distributed at Bingo.
• Will Bingo be an individual fundraiser?
  No. We have identified certain events, like Bingo and our last car wash, where the proceeds go to a bucket and at the end of the year that bucket is going to help offset the trip.

Report from VP of Student Accounts (Steph):

• Steph explained that she is the Vice President of Student Accounts. This means that any fundraising that is done, she will be the contact person. Also, she is the contact person if there are questions directly related to any of the money that’s in your student’s account.
• Cut Time: 

Cut Time is used district wide. It’s an online website where you can log in and see every amount that your student has fundraised, what has been deposited into their account through fundraising, what date that went in, any amounts that are owed if they ordered an extra T-shirt, and their fair share.

For freshmen, it is not the same account used in middle school. They will be connected, just not yet. Email Steph if you need her to help you get into your account.
Bill will link sibling accounts. Please email if not linked by the end of September.

• Fair share: 

Fair share is money that we all fairly pay in order to help support the music program (band and orchestra). Fair share is $150 for band or band/orchestra and $75 for just orchestra. If you have multiple children in the program, it is $150 for the first child and $75 for any additional children you have in the band.

• Quota:
  Quota is any profit that your student makes from individual fundraising. It can be used to pay fair share, trips, T-shirts, or any other cost. Any money raised can roll over from one year to the next until they graduate. Once they graduate, any money fundraised cannot be returned. If you have concerns or questions please let Steph know.
• Fundraising:
  Fundraising is a big way that we try to support our students. All fundraising information can be found on the website: https://lhsgbopc.org/fundraising/ Typically we have three or four running every month.Students can earn a quota that goes directly into their Cut Time accounts. Some fundraisers earn money for the music program’s general fund. This helps offset the cost for both the band and orchestra. Examples of these are the car wash, dine and donates, and bingo. 
• Upcoming Individual Fundraisers:
  • Fall mums

Contact: Amanda Gori

Cost: $8.50 per plant Quota: $2.00 per plant

Orders due: September 1st

Pick up: September 7th at 11:00am in the Science Lot

• Matey’s Pizza

Contact: Diane Cassel
Cost: $7.50 per pizza Quota: $2.00 per pizza

Orders due: September 1st

Pick up: September 14th at 10:00am in the Science Lot

• Lottery Calendar

Cost $10 per calendar Quota $5.00 per calendar

Orders due: September 27th
Winners will be drawn and sent prizes throughout the month of October

• Ongoing Fundraisers: Wawa Shorties, Weiss, and Shoprite

Contact: Jen Roan

• Gertrude Hawk Candy Bars (quota is $21 per box)
  Contact: Nicole Lockhart

• Dine to Donate: 3rd Wednesday of each month
  • August 21st: P.J. Whelihan’s ? 15% of the total bill will be donated to the music program.
• Fall Bingo is September 8th
• Fundraising financial page: https://lhsgbopc.org/treasurers-report-documents-from-august-13-2024-meeting/ 

This will be a report that shows how many people participated in the fundraisers, the total accrual of quota profit that was made, and what went to the general fund. This will give a clear idea of which fundraisers are really helping us.

• Fundraisers are online. You will enter your total sales on the forms on the website.
• If you have ideas for fundraisers or would like to chair a fundraiser, email Steph.
  band-vp@lhsgbops.org

Report from VP of Treasurer (Becky):

• Becky put together a packet of four separate documents.
  • The first document is a very high level overview of what was able to be categorized from last year. 
    • There’s an unknown category because it was the money that she had no idea where it went or where it came from. Because of this, there is an unknown in the subcategories of each of these budget headings. 
    • We brought in $126,000 last year. We spent $179,000. So, we had a budget deficit of $53,000 last year. We were projected to have a budget deficit of $11,000 according to what was budgeted last year. 
    • The budget numbers were taken directly from last year’s but there wasn’t much budgeted for income or expenses. 
    • If anybody needs more details or feels that they really want to examine it better, Becky has more detailed financial records and can gladly share.
  • The next document is the upcoming year’s budget.
    • Last year’s fundraisers stick out because there’s unknown fundraiser income of $6600. That came in from fundraisers last year where you can see there’s some blanks. The fundraiser budget for this year came directly from last year’s fundraising records. It looks like some of the fundraisers lost money, but that is not the case because that unapplied money belongs somewhere in there. Becky didn’t want to pad a fundraiser. Right now there’s no way to decide which fundraisers were successful based on last year’s records or to know what to pursue this year. But by the end of this year, every fundraiser will have its income and its expenses and we’ll be able to see how much we’ve made. So going forward next year, we can decide which fundraisers bring the biggest impact.
    • This budget is kind of a hybrid based on last year’s numbers and then some changes that were made when we met as a board back in May. This year’s budget is without any additional fundraising that Julie is working on chairing for us. We are budgeted to bring in $120,665 and we’re budgeted to spend $143,370.00. This leaves us with the deficit this year of $22,000. 
  • QUESTION: 
    • Does the $86,000 in the account include both general funds and student account funds?
      Yes. The student account money is in there because the Gateway Music Festival checks are also coming out of the account. There is a budget category for the Florida 2025 trip in one of the event categories. Nothing is budgeted in there because we don’t know what we’re going to be taking from the student accounts. It will depend on what they fundraised. We only have one bank account so at the end of the day that’s something that needs to be worked through. Whether or not we open another account where student funds sit and then the checks that are made on the students’ behalf come from that individual account. But for right now that account doesn’t exist, so we can categorize everything but still have to report the money being in the account.
    • Are student accounts accounted for separately in some way to make sure we don’t feed into them when we pay out of the general fund?
      There’s no way to reflect it on the financial statement, so every month we are going to provide you with an addendum so you will see how much came in in the month that doesn’t actually belong to the band. It’s not going to show on the treasurer’s report because it’s all in the same account but it will show on the addendum.
    • What happened to the $50,000 deficit from last year?
      The $50,000 deficit just ate into what was sitting in the account. So it’s a budget deficit but it didn’t overdraw the account. There was money in the account to cover it and they were just chewing away on what had built up over time. 
  • If you have a check that you wrote to the band last year and it is still sitting in your account uncashed, please rewrite that check minus your stop-payment fee and bring it to Becky, give it to another board member, send it to the PO Box, or have your kid drop it in the money mailbox that we’re going to put in the band room. We have a system in place so this won’t happen again.
  • Motion to approve the 24-25 budget was made by Sue Testa. Second by Marilyn Kelly-Cavotta . Overall approval by the full organization. (Motion passed)
  • The last page is July’s expenses and credits.
  • For every month, Becky keeps a folder for digital receipts. When she reconciles the bank statement, every receipt that is associated with the bank statement has been uploaded in addition to having the hard copy. There’s no way to lose anything. We can’t reconcile if there’s not a receipt present. Then it goes to Steph (Student Accounts) to do the secondary reconciliation. If she says there’s still a receipt missing or it doesn’t add up, we have to track that down. There is backup documentation for every expense we have. If on the off chance we get audited, we can defend our expenses and we don’t risk losing our nonprofit status.

 

Report from Directors:

• Mr. Lennox
  • Cut Time:

Cut Time is going to be updated. If you have a freshman you may see they get uploaded but nothing goes through, yet. Give us a little bit of time. We have some freshmen that transferred in from other districts that don’t have emails yet. So if your student is from another district, we just don’t have a school email through BASD for them yet. 

Mr. Lennox is also in the process of updating some of the other Cut Time features (uniforms, instruments, trips, etc.).

• Buying and upgrading instruments: 

Do not buy instruments from Amazon or Temu. Mr. Lennox can’t repair these instruments, and neither will the repair shop. Yes, they’re cheap but they don’t sell replacement parts for them. Please just email the directors and ask for recommendations.

Students have to update and upgrade certain parts of their instruments. A lot of our expenses go to upgrading and updating what we have. We’ll borrow instruments from the middle school and the mouthpiece is just not great.There’s nothing worse than playing on a really old mouthpiece.

• Cleaning instruments:

If your instrument hasn’t been cleaned, Mr. Lennox can look at it and tell you where to go if you’re unsure. He really recommends Nazareth Music. We don’t have a lot of spare instruments, so please let the directors know ahead of time. Instruments need to get cleaned pretty regularly. Please don’t spray it with bleach, Pine-Sol or any of those things. Don’t take it upon yourself to take it apart and clean it. Take it to somebody who knows what’s going on because you wouldn’t stick your phone in the sink and scrub it. It’s the same kind of ordeal. 

• Calendar:

If you want the calendar on your phone, the schedule that we had out is on our website. To get it on your phone all the time, you can go to https://lhsgbopc.org/ and click calendars. At the very bottom you can hit “subscribe to calendar”.

• Mr. Frank
  • As we get into each new thing of the year, there’s going to be information that comes out right before so it doesn’t overload anyone. 
  • Communication:
    Email is best. Email both directors because that really helps for them to be on the same page.You can message through BandApp for quick things, but email is better especially if it is a lengthy topic. 
  • Co-Curricular Program:
    Our program here is a Co-curricular program. The commitment made to the program is a graded class. As we get into the rehearsals, that’s all part of the grade. The directors understand absences. Family always comes first. Health comes first. But it doesn’t work when we have a lot of holes or when we have people missing. Mr. Frank knows things happen but asks that as part of the commitment, families really consider the absences of their child, and that work and things like that should not take priority. It will impact the grade. There’s a performance calendar on BandApp. Consider what your child misses and why because grades will be impacted. As soon as the summer rehearsals are over, rehearsals go from 7:00 AM to 9:00 AM. As far as marching band goes, there’s nothing after school except for the actual performances. Know that the commitment that you have made along with your child is what makes this program what it is and why we are known literally across the world.
  • Preview Night
    Mr. Frank discussed the upcoming Preview Night. This is a preview of what we’ve been working on and a Fall Sports kick off. If your child is an athlete they will also walk with their team. Our new Food Service will provide dinner for the band and athletes. This is a non-uniform performance and will last about an hour.
  • Football Games:
    Our first game is a travel game to Pennridge. Your students will get more information. You are never responsible for getting your child to a game unless they are an athlete coming from something else. If you ever want to take your child home from a football game, we ask for a note from you in advance (an email is fine) and then at the game we need to see that your child is physically taken by you.
    At football games when your child is in the bleachers, they are working. We ask that you don’t come up and hand out concessions during the first and second quarter. Those things need to stay out of the bleachers. Throughout the entire game we play a lot. We ask that you allow your child to be part of the band during the entire football game. They usually do get a break during the third quarter. That is their time to go relax and be social remembering that they’re still representing the band. They must stay in uniform, stay out of the way of the football fans who are trying to watch the game, and be courteous to the rest of the stadium. They are to be professional when in the stadium. Third quarter break is the opportunity if you want to catch up with your student, but please during the game allow them to be part of the band and to get the job done. 
  • Next week’s schedule is Monday 8-3pm. Tuesday-Thursday is 6-8:30pm. Thursday is the rehearsal before our first game. We will be marching with bear skins.
  • LHS Music Department
    By being here, you are now part of the Liberty High School Music Department. Things are done in different ways than it was done in the middle schools. This is where we come together and we share the talents of those schools both from a student perspective but also the parents. The systems that are done in different places, we try to work together to find the best system to support these kids. The parent board that we have right now, their goal is to leave this in a better state than what they received. The goal is always when they leave they want to hand off something better. Our job is to just be the custodians of a program and to hand it off when we leave. The board worked tirelessly all summer to clean up and create the best system to support you as families, to support your kids, and to support this program. Mr. Frank thanked the board for their work this summer. 
  • BandApp:
    In years past, Remind was used. Remind set limits and was going to charge, so we changed to BandApp. It’s a great tool for us to send things out. Years ago, we turned off the comments because the comments started becoming a little excessive. There is a chat feature on the band app and it is helpful from time to time. There was a lot of discussion this summer about shoes and schedules. A lot of those questions or comments are helpful to the large masses. What we’re going to ask is when we get to a point where it becomes more of a conversation between two people, there’s a private chat option. What happens is when multiple messages start going out, people get tired of the notifications and they turn the notifications off. Then information is not seen. Mr. Frank wants to leave the chat feature on because there are times where good questions do come out. Before you ask a question in chat:
    • Go back to previous posts and make sure the information was not already posted and check the weekly bulletin. 
    • We are a huge family. Somebody else might have an answer. So, before messaging everybody or sending us an e-mail, check with a friend. They might have the answer. 
    • Mr. Frank tries to set the limits on timing of posts. Sometimes he will need to send something out at 6:30 am to let students know, but typically there are no posts after 9:00 pm out of respect for your time. He just wants to be respectful that we’re not sending things so your phones are going off late at night.
    • We’re trying to use it for pertinent information just to make sure everybody stays in the loop.
  • Goals:
    • We always have goals.
      • Our first goal is music education – giving your kids the best education we possibly can.
      • We’re going to Florida this year.
      • A big focus is on London 2026.  We’re starting that process now because we have to be ready to put students on an international stage.
      • All of that great stuff is for the program, but our number one goal right now is taking care of your kids. Taking care of their mental health, taking care of them as people, and making sure that they are coming into a positive environment every day. Not every rehearsal’s going to be fun, but even through those tough, tough rehearsals, we still want to make sure that everybody experiences this. If you have any concerns or if your child has any needs, please let us know. Your child, their safety, their time here, is more important than any concert or any football game that could ever happen. 

New Business:

• Lottery Calendars:
  If you want to participate, we ask that you don’t take more than two to start. If you want more you can contact one of us and get more. They all have individual numbers and a matching cover sheet so they can’t just be copied at home. 
• Volunteering:
  It takes a village. We’d love to have your help. If you aren’t sure what you want to do or you have more questions, please reach out to one of us. We will be happy to direct you to whoever can help you with that.
• Community Partner: Julie Bailey
  Julie Bailey is one of our community partners. We also have George Wacker, who’s not here tonight. Julie comes to us with a lot of experience in fundraising. We are investing in GiveButter, which is a fundraising platform. In addition to everything that we’re trying to do for fundraising we’re going after sponsorships, specifically for businesses. We have a very ambitious goal of raising $75,000 in sponsorships. Julie is working with the band directors right now to create a package. If you own a business or work at a business that loves to do sponsorship, please email Julie at grenadiergiving@lhsgbopc.org. With the band turning 100 in 2026, there’s going to be a big push and part of it is reconnecting with who the alumni are and creating that alumni roster. There will be tiers/levels of sponsorship from $20,000 down to $1. We are working on compiling a packet. GiveButter also will allow the donor to choose the designation of their donation (greatest need, Florida trip, instruments, London trip).
  Mr. Harris, the Director of the Athletic Department, is 100% on board and behind us. He is trying to help us to find ways to find $50,000.
• Florida Tag Along Trip:
  Sue Testa is our liaison for the Tag Along trip. A link has been sent out. As of today, there are 23 people signed up. The deadline is September 30th. There are two options: the full trip option (which includes airfare) and the land only (which you are responsible for your own airfare and transportation in Orlando to the first site where we would meet up). Transportation to the airport is not included for the Tag Along, but it is included for the students. Please reach out if you have any questions.
• Florida Trip
  There will be a Florida Trip meeting. A question that is already coming in is when is my child’s flight. First we have to do the room sign ups before Gateway will assign the groups. We travel on four different planes. They are all early flights that are leaving out of Philly and Newark. So there will be different meeting times here (at the school) based on the flight group that your child is in, but all groups will be in Florida by around 11:30 am.
  Uniforms, instruments, and luggage goes on a truck and will go down a couple of days early. The only thing your child will fly with is a carry on bag. 
• Football passes will roll out tomorrow. The stadium is cashless this year for entry. Mr. Frank will have a stack of the plastic family passes to sell.

A motion to close the meeting was made by Sue Testa. Second by Christine D’Annibale. Overall approval by the full organization.