City of Highland Park Sister Cities Foundation met Feb. 21.
Here are the minutes provided by the foundation:
Directors Present: Carol Wolfe, Rick Wolfe, Abby Block, Larry Block, Wendy Lipsman, Phil Bettiker, Trudy Bettiker, Cheryl Levi, Matt Pestine, Jamie Pestine, Lori Wyatt, Zdenka Samson, Holly Kerr, Luis Gonzalez, Nancy Richman, Sandy Richman, Julie Gordon, Joe Adler
Directors Absent: Rhoda Pierce, Carole Schmarak, Burt Schmarak, Gail Guggenheim, Marcia Rosenbaum
Student Liaisons Absent: Eliana Daugherty, Sara Steinmeyer, Tatum Rosenblatt
Guests: Rich Basofin, Erika Larson, Silvia Rota
Council Liaison: Andrés Tapia
I. President, Carol Wolfe, called the meeting to order at 7:03 PM.
II. On motion by Phil, and seconded by Larry, the January 2022 minutes were approved.
III. Treasurer, Nancy Richman, provided the Treasurer’s Report
IV. Community Outreach
• Carol reported that members of the Executive Board and members of the PR/Social Media committee met with Andrés to discuss the role our Foundation might play in a series of events/programs the City is considering. Once the City Council votes on the proposal, our Foundation has asked to be a part of the initial planning process to see how we can participate.
• Andrés commented that this is an opportunity for us to highlight our
Foundation and our Sister Cities.
V. Collaboration with the HP and Highwood Libraries
• Carol reported that she, Luis and Richard B. have attended meetings with the Highland Park and Highwood libraries and Working Together to collaborate on programs to highlight our Mexican community and Highland Park’s sister city relationship with Puerto Vallarta.
• Luis reported that events have been scheduled for The Day of the Child on April 30, Mother’s Day, Hispanic Heritage Month, and the Day of the Dead.
• Carol reminded the group that we partnered with Working Together for a Day of the Child Event at the library a couple of years ago. The event
included art projects, music and dance.
• Richard B. commented that we might also bring in other groups in our community that work with our Mexican community.
• The next meeting of this group is Thursday, February 24.
VI. Yerucham
• Matt reported that 5 Chromebooks are on a ship on their way to Yerucham.
• Carol reported that Hanna Pashtan, the Hebrew teacher at Highland Park High School, reached out to Toby Tabak Freidman who teaches English at an Orthodox school for girls in Yerucham. We are waiting to hear from the teacher in Yerucham.
• Culinary Queens Virtual Cooking Class
- Wendy, Nancy, Abby, Julie and Carol met with Debbie Golman, a woman in Yerucham who is very active in a variety of social programs to promote and support the people in Yerucham. Debbie had suggested a Virtual Cooking Class with some members of the Culinary Queens, a group of women with diverse background who provide home cooked meals in their homes to tourists in the area. This project helps lift the women out of poverty.
- All money raised at this virtual event will go to support this organization.
- Leah Grinberg, who participated in one of our Gourmet Galas is a member of this group.
- At the meeting, Debbie suggested Sunday, May 1 as the date for the
Virtual Cooking Class.
- Wendy informed the Board that at the meeting with Debbie, we set a timeline which included the date by which we need to have determined the dishes that will be prepared (Feb. 27) and date by which the invitations will be sent out (March 1). Wendy emphasized the importance of having enough time to promote the event and reach out to Jewish organizations.
- A couple of weeks ago, Debbie informed us that she had two women who have agreed to participate, and she has procured the help of a photographer to film the event for the Zoom presentation.
- At this point, Carol has sent several emails to Debbie requesting information regarding the menu and has not received a response.
- Both Nancy and Abby commented that Debbie seemed very enthusiastic about the event when we met.
- At this point, if we do not hear from Debbie by the end of the month, we may have to reschedule.
VII. Puerto Vallarta
• Rick provided an update on Puerto Vallarta.
- Mayor Rotering wrote a letter to the new Mayor of Puerto Vallarta congratulating him on his election. She expressed the value of our sister cities programs to both communities and her desire to work with him to support our mission. Matt and Jamie took the letter to PV, and Paula, the PV Sister Cities President, will deliver it this week.
- Carol wrote a letter to the Director of Tourism and explained our program and the role we play to support tourism to Puerto Vallarta. Paula delivered the letter, and it was graciously accepted. He is looking forward to working with sister cities.
- Rick reported that the City of PV is ready to move forward on the Water Reclamation Zoom conference we proposed. He thanked Rhoda, a member of the North Shore Water Reclamation District Board of Trustees, for her efforts on this project. Rhoda’s efforts to create this connection between Dave Miller, the Executive Director of the North Shore Water Reclamation District, and his counterparts in PV have been essential.
- Rick noted that experts from Israel are involved in evaluating the Infrastructure, the supply of drinking water and drainage in Puerto Vallarta as a result of damage from Hurricane Nora. - On another note, Rick shared that Carlos and Carina Murguia, past presidents of the PV Sister Cities Committee who have visited Highland Park on several occasions, are among the people taking the English class on Zoom, co-sponsored by our Foundation and taught by Aurora Santos, a teacher at the Highwood Library who has been involved with our Foundation since she was a student at Highland Park High School.
• Luis reported on the Adult Literacy Program we are sponsoring for people in rural communities in Puerto Vallarta. In addition to providing Chromebooks for the program, we donated printers and other classroom supplies. We connected teachers at the Highwood Library who are teaching GED classes to members of our Mexican community with the teachers in Puerto Vallarta who are teaching the GED equivalent classes. The teachers meet weekly on Zoom to collaborate and share materials and strategies.
• Luis also shared that people in PV are participating in Zoom classes the Highwood Library is hosting on topics such as health and wellness.
• Phil reported that Corazon de Niña is in the process of building a school. Two businessmen from Montana bought land across the street from Corazon, and construction is expected to begin soon. Currently, the children in the home go to school at Corazon. Phil told the Board that the students at Corazon continually test among the highest in the state tests given at the end of the year.
• Phil also reported that the Jaws of Life equipment we donated to PV continue to be used frequently to save lives. He said the equipment is used with much more frequency than it is used here.
VIII. Modena
• Lori reported that she spoke to Pierpaolo, the President of the Modena Sister Cities organization in Modena. The COVID situation is still a problem in Italy.
However, he is moving forward to schedule a meeting with Lara Gilmore, the wife of Massimo Bottura, to discuss creating a Virtual Program with our Foundation and Il Tortellante, the organization Massimo and Laura support for young people with special needs.
• Lori also reported that Casa de Isaac and Moishe have not returned her numerous calls regarding a dine in/order out fundraising event. Due the apparent lack of interest, Lori will reach out to a local Italian restaurant to create a fundraiser for either Il Tortellante or Actea.
IX. Social Media Campaign
• Julie reported that after two months of our Social Media Campaign, we have had an impressive increase in followers. We’ve seen an excellent response to our Facebook page. Our posts have reached 3800-plus accounts in the past month (a 321% increase), and we have had 762 post engagements (reactions, clicks, comments, and shares) in the past month, a 418% increase. All this attention has resulted in an uptick in page followers and page likes. In particular, the posts we did on the article in Highland Park Neighbors and the mural both reached over 1600 accounts. Across the board, the posts have been averaging between 300-600 accounts.
• Julie informed the Board that our Instagram account, which was launched in December, is up to 53 followers. She requested that If members of the Board are not following us yet, please do and encourage your friends, kids, and grandkids to do so. In order to expand our footprint, we are following 171 accounts, including several other Sister Cities and global outreach organizations around the US and many local businesses.
• Overall people are responding to the rebranding, consistency, and aesthetic of the campaign. She asked that members please remember to like and share our posts. With several events and fundraisers coming up this will be essential.
• Julie thanked the members of the Board who have sent her their photos and bios. Currently 13 members (really a few more, but some are couples) have responded to her request. She is still waiting on photos from a number of people. She will send an update via email of who she has bios for. Three have been published so far and it's been a great way for the public to see the people behind the Foundation.
• In addition to continuing to grow our presence on FB and IG, we will be working on further enhancing and revamping our website in the coming months.
• Members of the Board thanked Julie and Alex for their efforts and expressed satisfaction regarding the progress of the campaign.
X. Mural
• Carol informed the Board that Wendy, Rick and Javier have been interviewed for a short video about the mural being created by Nicholas Glenn, Director of Communications for District 112.
• Nicholas scanned some pages of the scrapbook Wendy created about the making of the mural to be used in the video.
• Carol asked Nicholas to scan all of the pages so that we can create a photo book to be displayed in the Library at Northwood.
• Dr. Martinez, principal at Northwood, has scheduled a Zoom meeting for Northwood students to interview Javier.
• The members of the Board will be invited to take a picture in front of the mural at a dedication ceremony. Date TBD.
XI. Hradec Drama Exchange
• Zdenka reported that the teachers in Hradec and Christine Frega at Edgewood are moving forward in hopes to create a drama exchange. • Lori will reach out to Christine to offer assistance in setting up the platform for the exchange.
XII. Sister Cities International Young Artist Showcase
• Carol shared information about this program with our student liaisons. She has not heard anything from them.
XIII. Other
• Carol reported that the Rockford Sister Cities organization is hosting a soccer tournament June 17-19.
• The Board suggested that Carol share this information with AYSO Soccer in Highland Park and with the HPHS soccer coaches.
XIV. Adjournment
• On motion by Rick and seconded by Matt, the meeting adjourned at 8:15. The next Meeting will be held on March 21, 2022, hopefully at the Library.
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