The Rotary Club of Kirkland held a club-wide committees meeting on May 22, 2023, at Brezza Condominium.
Vice President Pete Anderson called the meeting to order at 6:00 p.m.
Attending were Pete Anderson, Scott Becker, Gary Cohn, David DeBois, Jocelyn Ellison, Rashmi Garimella, Isabelle Kalisa, Jim Meniketti, Rick Ostrander, Joanne Primavera, Alice Volpe, and Rick Walter.
Guests:
This was a “rummage sale all teams” meeting for rummage sale preparation. Our guests for the evening were the president and president-elect of the Rotary Club of Kirkland Downtown, Phil Smiley and Michael Oskouian.
Committee Reports:
Marketing and Technology Team, update by Dave
- Posters are a work in progress, and hopefully will be ready to go in a week’s time.
- The tea liked the suggestion from Rashmi about slipping Rotary Rummage Sale flyers in Kirkland Wine walk bags.
- We need many volunteers to give away handouts.
- Kirkland is going to dedicate the painted pride flag crosswalk at Marina Park, and we received approval to set up a table Friday, June 2, 5:00 p.m. Jocelyn will provide details with Gary once it is ready and Gary will publish details with everyone via ClubRunner.
- Alice will be working on setting up an email to send out to people and we will use our own (personal) distribution list to do that.
- Someone needs to contact the neighborhood associations and condominium associations to give away stuff for the rummage sale. The sale can benefit from people downsizing.
- We need to place notices in the newspaper, radio stations, and television stations: Who exactly is going this is to be determined.
- Gary is seeking answers for separating the list of items we want and the list of items we don’t; the website is still not complete with respect to this list; and he suggested that we have determined not to accept any boat which is larger than 16 feet and/or an outboard motor larger than 15 h.p. Gary also noted that the rummage sale website info@kirklandrotaryrummagesale.org email is not working as expected, and he is working on resolving the issues. As of today, the new website is not fully functional,
- Rashmi is to contact kirkland.gov for advertising.
- When the website is fully functional we will not be holding back social media marketing ads.
Food Team, update by Rick
- We have five days of snacks and food for the volunteers, which is Rick’s priority. Monday – Friday each day should have different food items. The food team is considering different options each day like Costco, Jersey Mike's, etc. There will be around 60 volunteers including Rotary members on the day of the event.
- For the 1st of July, which is a Saturday, the food team is still considering several options but nothing is finalized yet. Most viable options they are considering are food trucks.
- Suggestions were offered about putting a Rotary rummage sale signs on food trucks.
- Parking space is the biggest constraint, and a worry is people spending more time around food trucks than the sale tables, and blocking traffic, so we want people to keep moving and not bunch up around food trucks in order to clear up the traffic problem that could be created.
- Some suggested that hotdog carts look like a more feasible option.
- Other options being considered are opening the door at 8:00 a.m. and feeding the volunteers from 7 - 7:45 a.m.
- Bake and sale is a good idea but not sure if it works for Rummage sale.
- Using specialty food trucks was a suggestion offered by Phil Smiley.
- They are still deciding on the food situation, and Rick reiterated that feeding the staff is the #1 goal.
- What does Bainbridge do for food? They utilize the school kitchen which remains fully functional for the sale.
Finance team, update by Jim
- Rummage sale finance and pricing job tasks are estimated to require 38 volunteers.
- Cashier tasks should be done by Rotary members or volunteers known to a Rotary member. Volunteers for cashier can also act as merchandisers during the setup week.
- If we accept checks on sales day they could presumably be handled the same as cash, Banner Bank would then process the checks at the same time they process the cash deposits. It’s not clear if checks should be accepted, and they sometimes are “bad checks”.
- All Rotary members should assume the role of manager during the week of setup and on sales day while working with volunteers.
- Credit-Card Cashiers: Trained Rotary members and other volunteers are needed to process credit card transactions in the checkout line; they would also accept cash/check payments. These volunteers could wear orange baseball caps for easy identification. They would need to use their own cell phones or (mobile comm) tablet with a credit card processing app and tied to a card reader/dongle. They will be trained by Heartland Processing in the days before the event. Six would be assigned to work inside, one outside, and one would fill in for any other cashier needing a break. Eight volunteers are needed for this.
- Cash-Only Cashiers: Some volunteers would process cash or check payments only. These volunteers wear blue baseball caps for easy identification. Minimal is training required, and four volunteers are needed.
- Suggested Cashiers: Jim Meniketti, Pete Anderson, Scott Becker, Amy Mutal, John Storbeck, Kristen Olson, Janet Pruitt, Hero House volunteers (2), Bob Auslander, Margie Glenn, Gary Cohn, Rick Ostrander, John Pruitt, …
- Checkout Helpers: Volunteers to (1) assist cashiers by adding up total cost of a buyer’s items at the checkout line, (2) assist loading shopping carts at the checkout line, and (3) escort customers to their vehicles for offloading and return with the cart to the checkout area. Twelve volunteers are needed, hopefully high school and college students.
- Cash Runners: Rotary members will routinely collect cash from the cashiers and bring it to the Cash Tent. These volunteers wear green baseball caps for easy identification. They will also act as Cash Tent volunteers, and four volunteers total are needed for both tasks.
- Cash Tent Volunteers: Rotary member who sit at a table inside a tent in the corner of the checkout area and place cash (only) from Cash Runners and immediately place it in a drop box – no counting (said drop box to be anchored to a 4x8 sheet of plywood lying on the floor behind the table). Cash Tent volunteers and the Cash Runners can be the same rotating group of volunteers.
- Security Guards (TBD): One or two paid guards to sit with Cash Tent volunteers in the Cash Tent and accompany Rotary members to their cars if they leave the site with cash to deposit at Banner Bank.
- Merchandisers: Volunteers to review online and other sources (Craig’s List, Amazon, eBay, their own good sense, etc.) and price each incoming item or set for a quick sale. All prices to be in whole dollars -- preferably $5 multiples for more expensive items. They also roam around and reduce prices after an hour or two as needed throughout the sale so we don’t have to give or throw items away. Make discount signs in advance for quick deployment during sale. See Bainbridge Rotary “How to Price Items”. Ten volunteers are needed for this.
- Suggested Merchandisers: Jim Meniketti, Pete Anderson, Dave DeBois, Scott Becker, Amy Mutal, John Storbeck, Kristen Olson, Janet Pruitt, Isabella Kalisa, Bob Auslander, Margie Glenn, Gary Cohn, Joanne Primavera, Pat Swenson, …
- What the Checkout Line Will Look Like: At one end of the gym will be a flagged checkout queue that feeds buyers, one at a time, to 10 checkout tables lined up behind the checkout que.
- Some of the Things We’ll Need:
- Baseball caps – 10 orange, 6 blue, and 4 green
- Badges
- Cashier aprons
- Starting cash – no coins
- Donation receipts
- Marker pens
- Paper bags
- Totes and shopping carts
- Chairs (for Cash Tent volunteers and at least one per checkout table)
- Chargers for phones, tablets, and credit card readers.
Adjournment:
The meeting was adjourned at 7:30 p.m.
Respectfully Submitted,
Rashmi Garimella
Recording Secretary