Newsletter: October 1998

Enclosed with this Update is an announcement about our Fall Membership Meeting. We have arranged for a Torrance attorney and Arc member, William (Ken) LeBrun, to speak to our members about estate planning. I am sure this is a topic of vital interest to many of you, so please take advantage of this opportunity to get specialized information on this subject. Mr. LeBrun is known to some of our members already as he has served on the Board of Directors and has provided estate guidance to several of our families. The meeting will be in the Torrance Library meeting room, which is to the left as you enter the building. Refreshments will be served.

Before the program, there will be a short business meeting to hear the report of the 1998 Nominating Committee as to nominations for the 1999 Board of Directors. Nominations from the floor will also be welcomed and accepted. Also to be nominated from the floor will be three individuals for the 1999 Nominating Committee. Please remember that ALL nominees must be members in good standing (dues are current) and the three individuals for the Nominating Committee may not be Board members. All nominees for Board of Directors must provide written consent to have their name on the ballot.

Our heartfelt sympathy to Lyn O’Neill Burton and family in the recent loss of Lyn’s mother to cancer. Lyn has served on the Board for nearly three years, and her son attends Southwest Industries.

We are cautiously pleased with the outcome of the State budget this year. Rate increases are promised for ADC-Gardena, Southwest House and Southwest Industries. The bigger checks have not yet arrived from Regional Center/Department of Rehabilitation, but we are hopeful that they will be in our hands soon. This boost to our treasury will help us catch up with deferred expenditures such as equipment, supplies, and staff support.

After undergoing a three-week re-organization, the Value Village store at 14816 Crenshaw (in Gardena) reopened in late August. The former manager Jessica Tyler was rehired to manage the store and processing department, while Administration is handling dispatch and solicitation. If you need a pick-up, you may still call 515-6532, and it will be remotely forwarded to Administration; hit 221 for Value Village concerns.