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On November 1, 2019 the following message was sent to all Big Sirs and Branch Treasurers, Area Governors, SIR Inc. State Board, and Past Presidents
Gentlemen
As President of the Sons In Retirement Foundation Inc. (SIRF) it is my duty to report to you the results of our campaign to solicit donations from individual Sirs to show our support for fellow members who suffered losses in the Camp Fire of 2018.
Thanks to the generosity of the members of SIR Inc. we have collected $45,414 and thus far have distributed $300 to each of 71 affected members who applied for grants. We have also paid governmental expenses to create the Foundation plus paying for 3 lunches for members of Branches 52 and 135 who could attend. We will now distribute a final $250 to each of those 71 members.
This leaves a balance of about $3,500 which will be used to maintain the Foundation’s registration and other legal requirements, as well as permitting the Foundation to make a contribution to each of the Branches to help replace some of their lost assets. We are asking Branches 52 and 135 to send a list of their needs to the Foundation so we can decide how to allocate the balance of the collected funds. The Foundation has suggested to SIR Inc. that, when Branches merge or are dissolved, they consider offering Branches 52 and 135 any of their existing useful assets.
We post the financial reports from the Foundation Treasurer on our website at sirinc2.org/sirf each month so everyone can see exactly how their donations have been distributed. We are grateful to SIR Inc. for offering to host our website at no cost to the Foundation.
Some members have questioned the legality of raising these funds. This is not a problem because at an Executive Committee meeting on 11/30/2018 an amendment was made to Rule 13 which explicitly allowed funds to be raised for our members. This Rule change was subsequently approved by the State Board and included in the new Policies and Procedures Manual under Policy 8: Worthy Causes which states in the last paragraph: “Notwithstanding the above provisions, individual SIR members may be notified of a SIR cause to raise funds in order to furnish financial or other assistance to a Branch and its members in distress caused by events such as fire, flood or earthquake. Such notification for example may be in the form of an email from a SIRinc officer, from a branch or state newsletter or during a Branch Luncheon meeting.”
Please address any questions to me.
Sincerely
Derek Southern
President, Sons In Retirement Foundation Inc.