A Final Message From The President 2018

By Rubén Alemán

It has been a privilege serving our members.  As you all know, from the very beginning our board faced a challenging year.  Our board was never in full capacity with all board members in place, yet we managed to keep our promises to maintain the dignity and integrity of SACI.

A MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT 

I’d like to begin by wishing all of you a prosperous and healthy New Year and, as you receive this message, it is my hope that you are all doing well.  As for my wife, Daisy, and I, we are doing as well as can be expected.

Last Sunday, January 14, 2018, at the General Assembly meeting, we held our Board Member election for 2018. Your newly elected board has not changed much. Re-elected were, myself, Ruben Aleman, as President, Nancy Rozon as our Vice President, Luis Carrillo as our Treasurer, and Ray Guadalupe will continue as our director of Public Relations.

Elected for the position of Vocal Director is Mr. Carlos Mejía, who previously held the position of Substitute Director. Our new Substitute Director is Mr. Charles Quiles.  Al Feliciano, who has been our Recording Secretary for the last six years, opted out this year and, at the time of our meeting, the position remained vacant. First, on behalf of our organization, I would like to thank Al for the great job he did during his tenure.

Unfortunately, at the meeting, there were no volunteers for the position, which leaves it up to the board to select an interim member for the position. The good news is we have a volunteer for the position: Ms. Giselle Borrás. The bad news is that she presently does not qualify for the position as she is a brand new member. After reviewing her qualifications during our monthly Board Meeting held on January 23, 2018, we asked if she would consider taking on the role on an interim basis for the next six months. After that time, with your approval, we would elect her to the position on a permanent basis for the remainder of 2018.

I hope to see many of you this Friday, the 26^th of January, for our “Winterland Black and White Event.” Please dress properly. No tank tops, dungarees, or tennis shoes are allowed. That rule applies to ALL members and their guests, so please inform any guests that you have invited to adhere to the dress code. We don’t want to have to reject any one at the door. Let’s have a great year!

This year our main goal was to make certain all SACI members had a copy of our bylaws, one they could be proud of.  Our bylaws committee, directed by Charles Quiles and his wife, Maria did a fantastic job in basically mirroring our Spanish bylaws which are the foundation of any non- for-profit organization.  Some changes that needed to be made were made and ratified.

Another goal we achieved was to reach every single member of SACI by making certain that our flyers were sent out in both English and Spanish, so those of us who did not read English could know about our current events first hand, and not have to depend on another member’s recollection.

The change in venue was a contributing factor in our losses.  Some of our members felt the rental cost for the event was too high and understandably so. Many of our regulars (those who attend every event) could not be there due to sickness in the family.  Another factor was this year our members went on two really nice cruises, and were not able to attend the events.  Due to conflicting schedules the November cruise hurt our November event to the tone of over $600.00.  Although, in spite of it all our funds at the end of the year are still in good standing.

I promised our members that I and the board would not change our donation prices, if at all possible. We did not, in spite of the fact we were losing funds at every event. Creatively, we held a raffle with the cooperation and efforts of our board and many of our members, we sold enough raffle tickets to add over $1,200 dollars after expenses to the funds.

We are members of a non-for-profit organization, and the only reason we are considered that is because of what we do for the Latin community.  Some of our members question the amount we give in scholarships, why so much?  I say why not?  We do not ask for direct donations the 50/50 drawings at each event is an opportunity for our members to take home 10 times what they donate which is a win—win for our scholarship funds and our members. Also, we hold garage sales which is another win—win and no one is compelled to donate.  So again, I say why not?

One of the main reasons we lost money in 2018 was membership participation—had we increased our membership participation by 25 members per event, our funds would have grown by about $1,200.00.  In my personal assessment an increase in membership dues is not warranted at this time.

In closing, if we are to continue doing business with the Polish American Club, either our participation must go up per event or our donation prices.  I and the board want to thank all of you for your participation and support throughout these last 2 years.

Respectfully Yours,

Ruben M. Aleman

SACI President of 2018

ON A PERSONAL NOTE:

I hope you’re all in the best of health, as for my wife and I, we are doing as well as can be expected, considering my wife’s illness. The good news is that she is responding well to treatment, as many of you have seen from our last two events—she looks great.  From my eyes, she looked beautiful and vibrant doing the things she loves best.  She danced the night away, even though I was not as attentive, as I should have been, but we did have our moments.

I wish everyone a happy, healthy, and prosperous New Year. Cheers to you SACI.