AFL 2009 Annual Meeting

Our Annual Meeting and Board Elections are always looked upon with excitement and anticipation, and this year was no exception.  Along with our regular members we were
hosts to some very special guests.  By special invitation representatives from the Miss Mattawan Scholarship Board were present along with Miss Mattawan Sammantha Pattison, Second runner-up Kiasa Paldan, and Miss Congeniality and the recipient of the first ever Charity Champion Award winner Courtney Compagner.  After a well-prepared dinner supplied by the 2009 Election Nomination Conmmittee the Annual Committee Reports were read and presented to the presiding Secretary for archiving into the Corporate Book of Records.  During the course of the evening door prize drawings were
interspersed in between the proceedings to break up the schedule and keep the atmosphere light.  As each winning number was called that person was allowed to come to our Prize table and pick one gift of their choosing.  To avoid any possible disappointment the Volunteer Committee wisely placed TWO Hershey bars on the prize table - much to the delight of the President!  Once the reports were completed it was time to honor our Volunteers that work tirelessly all year to make AFL such a success.  Each winner goes through a nomination process where they are initially 
nominated by the membership at large with their reason why this volunteer should win.  The reasons are judged on merit and the nominees performance over the past year.  This year was particularly difficult as there were 2 nominees that the Volunteer Committee could not choose between, so they decided it would be a tie and awards were given out the both of them.  Volunteer of the Year Awards went to Deb Miller and Cori Perkins.  As Cori was unable to be present her award was held until her return.  Next was the Volunteer Spirit Award which is given out each year to the one who best personifies the     true AFL volunteer spirit throughout the year.  This years' recipient was David LaLiberte.  David attends almost every event, participates in all special projects, and is one of the main figureheads in our favorite annual project - the Kalamazoo Annual Do-Dah parade.  David is always the first in line for this event...even if it results in dressing him up as Dorothy - complete with Ruby slippers and pigtails.  Now THAT'S AFL spirit!  The next award was presented to The  Sugar Bear as Community Supporter of the Year.  It was through their support and sponsorship that allowed us to have such a great and visible presence at the Paw Paw Annual Wine and Harvest Festival.  A heartfelt thanks go out to this business for all their support.  The Board of Directors for the Miss Mattawan Scholarship Competition were then introduced and Terri Doorlag who is Chairperson was asked to come up and address the volunteers.  She explained how she initially contacted AFL and requested our participation in the Miss Mattawan Big Give Competition and what it was all about.  She asked Miss Mattawan Ms. Sammantha Pattison to outline her participation in the Big Give program, then asked 2nd Runner Up Ms. Kaisa Paldan to do the same.  Courtney Compagner was then called to the podium to relate to the volunteers her experiences with AFL and how she was able to take the $100.00 she was given and turn it into over $3000.00 in cash and donated items and services.  Afterwards she was presented with an AFL Certificate of Appreciation for her outstanding accomplishments  in fundraising.  Truly blessed by her experiences with AFL, she - along with her mother and sister - will be joining us this Spring as full-fledged volunteers with  a desire to foster.  Next on the Agenda were our Annual Election of our Board of Directors and Officers for 2009.  Nominated and elected were Nancy LaLiberte, Deb Miller and Mary Slater.  Officers are Richard Boston, President; Nancy LaLiberte, Vice President; Deb Miller, Secretary; and Mary Slater, Treasurer.  Linda Campbell was appointed Assistant to the Treasurer by the Board.  Truly this was a night to remember.