Wrap-up report of the Bright Kids Book Drive

Dear Bright Kids Book Drive donors, participants,and volunteers,

With your donation and dedication, the Bright Kids Book Drive turned out to be a great success. Through the one day book drive event on Dec 8, and the book drive week from Dec 8 until Dec 15, we collected ten full boxes of books. Dr. Picard and Purposeful Penny members shipped those books to a person who will manage the book online sale business via half.com.

Again, we appreciate your donation and dedication. Your participation and support made a difference at this event.

Best regards,
Bright Kids Book Drive Committee at Purposeful Penny 

Purposeful Penny group member meeting (Friday, Nov 5th, 5-6 pm, WPU 542)

Dear Purposeful Penny members, donors, and friends,

Purposeful Penny will hold a monthly general member meeting on Friday, November 5th, 5 - 6 pm. at William Pitt Union Room 542. Please join us for the group meeting and fuel our shared hope with your input. We
will discuss the following agenda.

1) Wrapping up of the annual election
    Office positions for new year’s activities
 2) Determination of beneficiary group
 3) Main plan of activities and program
     Inter-cultural Dinner Fundraiser
     Honors College Joint Event in December or January
     Used book sale fundraiser
 4) Issuing first year summary news letter
     Sending Thank-you letters with receipts

Best regards,
The Purposeful Penny Executive Board

Election Announcement and Call for Nominations for the Elections for Executive Board

Dear Purposeful Penny members, donors and friends:

It is time for Purposeful Penny to hold its first annual election for its executive officer positions. Purposeful Penny has been operating as a student charity group for over a year and a half (and as a university certified group for about a year) now. It is an exciting time now, as we move forward with expanding our student group and helping it grow into a premier student-led institution at the University of Pittsburgh. Most of you must have already received our previous e-mail asking you to register with our student organization page that is managed through the Student Organization Resource Centre (SORC).  It is imperative that you register with this page via the link provided in the last e-mail so that you are able to vote in the elections.  If you haven't already done so, please register as a member ASAP.

Following are some important points for your consideration regarding the annual election:

(1) The executive officer positions that are open and for which the annual election is being held are: President, Vice President, Business Manager and Secretary.

(2) As the existing office bearers are eligible for another term in office, all existing office bearers have agreed to put forth their nominations for their respective positions. Existing office bearers who have nominated themselves for a second term in office are:

Jonathan BokGyo Jeong for President; 

M. Khurram Butt for Vice President; 

Aya Okada for Business Manager; 

and Alla Khadka for Secretary.

(3) All general members who have held an active membership for at least six months preceding the annual election (at least since April 2010) are eligible to nominate themselves or another active general member for any of the open positions.  

(4) In case of self-nominations, at least one active general member (who is not nominated themselves for any of the positions) needs to second this nomination for it to be eligible.

(5) Last date to send in nominations is Friday October 15th, 2010. 

(6) Nominations may be sent via e-mail to purposefulpenny@gmail.com or to any of current office bearers. A reply email will be sent to acknowledge receipt and confirm eligibility of the nomination within 3 calendar days.  

(7) Each nomination should be accompanied with a paragraph describing the candidate's interest in the position and what they aim to achieve in their tenure, if they are elected.

(8) Elections will be held via the Student Organization Resource Centre (SORC) managed student organization websites.  

Only those active general members who have a valid Pitt email id are eligible for registration via the SORC websites and for voting in the elections. Again, if you have not already registered with the Purposeful Penny page of SORC, please follow the instructions provided in our last e-mail to you and register ASAP.

The election will be held from 9:00 am on Monday, October 25th 2010 to 6:00 pm on Friday, October 29th 2010.  All valid votes received during this period via the SORC managed Purposeful Penny election poll site will be deemed eligible.

Apart from the open executive officer positions, we are also looking for people who are interested in assistantships for some or all of these executive officer positions.  These assistantships are an excellent opportunity for you to get acquainted with what the job entails and understand its demands.  Such assistantships will prove to be an excellent stepping-stone for you to nominate yourself for the next annual elections in 2011!

If you have any questions about the elections or would like to get in touch with the existing office bearers to talk about nominations or assistantships, you may contact them at the following emails:

Jonathan BokGyo Jeong - President: boj3@pitt.edu
M. Khurram Butt - Vice President: mkb42@pitt.edu
Aya Okada - Business Manager: ayo2@pitt.edu
Alla Khadka - Secretary: asg38@pitt.edu

We look forward to your active participation in the election process.  We cannot make this student charity initiative into a successful, sustainable organization without your contribution!

Best regards,

The Purposeful Penny Executive Board.

It's time to see what Purposeful Penny achieved and discuss our future!!!

Purposeful Penny has a great announcement today. Purposeful Penny finalized our first year fundraiser with the total amount of $1,791.60. It's way more than we aimed in the beginning. We, together with all members and donors, would like to celebrate our achievement through collaborative efforts. Donation amounting $1,700 will be made for  Bright Kids Uganda on Thursday September 16th, 4:00 pm. The amount left ($91.60) will be used for next year's donation.

As you know, we will have our general member meeting tomorrow for wrapping up our first year project. It will be held on Saturday, September 11th, 11 AM, at William Pitt Union Room 527. Please be a part of the celebration of our first year project with other members together.

Below is the agenda for tomorrow's meeting: i) report and summary of first year project, ii) discussion of election of first week of October, and iii) discussion of details of next week's donation event.


Hope to see many of members at the meeting.

Purposeful Penny Executive Officers
(B. Jonathan Jeong, Khurram Butt, Aya Okada, and Alla Khadka)

Coin counting meeting (GSPIA Student Lounge, Sep 6th, 2010, 11:00 AM)

Purposeful Penny will have its last coin counting meeting before we make our first donation this month. Purposeful Penny will have a coin counting meeting at GSPIA student lounge on the third floor of the Posvar Hall
on Monday September 6th at 11:00 am.

Please join the meeting for the collaborative "labor" work before we wrap up our first year project. Purposeful Penny ask you to bring your collection of coins to the meeting. This will be the last call for coins before our donation event is made.

Best regards,
Purposeful Penny Executive Committee
(B. Jonathan Jeong, M. Khurram Butt, Aya Okada, and Alla Khadka)

General Member Meeting (Saturday, September 11, 11 am- 12 pm, WPU Rm. 527)

Purposeful Penny will hold its monthly general member meeting at William Pitt Union (Room 527) on Saturday September 11th, at 11:00 AM until 12:00 PM. Please join the meeting and share your ideas with members. Your presence will make a difference.

We will discuss the following agenda.

1) Briefing about Purposeful Penny's one year project (funding and member status)
2) Discussion about Purposeful Penny funding donation event of late September
3) Notice of the election of the Purposeful Penny officers in the first week of October
4) Introduction of the Purposeful Penny's Pitt webpage

Please hand over all coins you collected to one of the Purposeful Penny executive officers or place it in the GSPIA student lounge by Wednesday September 8th in order that all money should be donated for our beneficiary organization, Bright Kids Uganda.

 
Purposeful Penny executive committee
(B. Jonathan Jeong, M. Khurram Butt, Aya Okada, and Alla Khadka)

Purposeful Penny in the GSPIA Orientation (Ground Floor of Posvar Hall, August 27 11:45 am -1:30 pm)

Dear Purposeful Penny members,

Purposeful Penny will participate in the "Market Place" as a part of the orientation program of GSPIA. This event is intended to help student organizations in GSPIA promote their group to the incoming students and recruit new dedicated members. The Market Place for GSPIA Orientation will be held on the ground floor of the Posvar Hall on Friday 27th from 11:45 until 1:30 pm). Although this event mainly targets GSPIA new incoming students, the target audience is not limited to the GSPIA students. It is open to all Pitt students beyond GSPIA.

We will distribute our organization brochure and coin collectors. We will recruit new members by asking them to sign in the membership registration form. It would be of a great help if you could
be part of this crucial event for the second term of Purposeful Penny. I strongly encourage Purposeful Penny members to come by the market place and help the recruitment and promotion process for the Purposeful Penny.

This event will be a launching event for the Purposeful Penny to start new semester's plans. Hope to see many of you there.

Best wishes,
Jonathan
President of the Purposeful Penny

PP General Member Meeting on July 2, 4 - 5 pm

Dear Purposeful Penny members,

How is your summer going? Hope all of you are having a refreshing time.

Purposeful Penny will hold another summer general member meeting on Friday, July 2, 4 - 5 pm. at William Pitt Union Rm 527. At this meeting, we will check the progress of summer projects and plans of PP. Following is the agenda to discuss.

1. News letter for one year project summary
2. Promoting Purposeful Penny to incoming students (including Student Activities Fair participation on August 27)
3. Decision of the use and allocation of PP's funding to Bright Kids Uganda

Hope to see many of you there. Please bring coins you and your friends collected.

Best regards,
Jonathan
President of Purposeful Penny

PP General Member Meeting on May 27th 6-7 pm

Dear Purposeful Penny members,

How is your summer going? I congratulate those who graduated in this spring for their glorious achievement here in Pittsburgh. I send my best wishes for their future endeavors. I know a lot of members are out of town. I hope everybody is having a nice summer, regardless of wherever you are.

By the way, we will continue our group's efforts of philanthropy. We will have general member meeting on May 27th at 6 pm - 7 pm at William Pitt Union Rm.540. We will share the updates of the fundraising of Purposeful Penny. We will also discuss summer plans of our group.

Please bring your coins for the meeting. Thank you.

Best regards,
Jonathan

Promotion of Purposeful Penny Initiative during Dr. Finkel's World Development and Poverty Class

With a grateful offer of Dr. Muge Finkel, Jonathan, the President of Purposeful Penny, made a brief presentation introducing and promoting the initiative in her class, World Development Poverty. Most of the students are majoring in international development, which means they share common ground with our group, Purposeful Penny.

After the presentation, Jonathan distributed the brochures and coin collectors to the students. Dr. Finkel and the students donated their money right at the place. Hope to gain more purposeful penny members as well as collect more coins through this presentation.

Purposeful Penny appreciate Dr. Finkel's strong support for our initiative.

Jonathan
President of Purposeful Penny

Brief report of the fundraising event on April 1st

Dear Purposeful Penny members,

Most of all, I appreciate all your support for and commitment to today's fundraising event. We did an excellent job today. The video address of Dr. Brooke White and the presentation of Dr. Picard and Dr. Pauline Greenlick were inspiring enough to motivate us to keep our initiative.

Through today's event, Purposeful Penny gained 23 additional members and collected additional $ 326.37 by making the accumulated total amount of money of $867.75. We will post a finalized financial report with more details on our blog soon.

Donors and new members of Purposeful Penny,
I appreciate all new members and donors who joined our initiative today. I hope that you learned much about our group Purposeful Penny and the Bright Kids Uganda. Without your interest and help, today's event might have not been that much successful. You may visit our blog and website for more information about Purposeful Penny and Bright Kids Uganda.

Best regards,
Jonathan
President of Purposeful Penny

Event Evaluation Meeting and PP General Meeting

Dear Purposeful Penny members,

On April 1st, after the fundraising and awareness raising event, we will have a wrapping up meeting for the event, which include counting coins, evaluation of the event and discussion of general agenda for the month.

Time: Thursday, April 1st 6:00 pm - 7:00 pm
Location: GSPIA Student Lounge

Please join the event evaluation & PP general member meeting after the event. Please do not forget bring your coins either during the event or evaluation meeting.

I look forward to seeing you all at the event and the member meeting.

Yours,
Jonathan

PP General Member Meeting

This month's PP general member meeting will be held on Thursday, March 25th.

Location: WPU Room 538
Time: Thursday, March 25 at 8:00 pm.

The main agenda is as follows.

1) Checking up and preparation for the fundraising event
2) Making coin collectors for distributing on the event day

* Members are required to bring their coffee cups they collected so far, and scissors and glue sticks for making cups at the member meeting.

** We will take a group picture to be used for brochure which will be distributed in a week
and afterward. So please join this upcoming general member meeting on March 25th.

The date of fundraising event shifted to April 1st

The date of fundraising event shifted to April 1st in order to bring the President of Bright Kids-Uganda into the meeting through online connection and a guest speaker from Bright Kids Foundation to address a speech for the GSPIA community.

The event day schedule will be on Thursday, April 1st, 10:00 am until 4:00 pm. in the hallway in front of the entrance of Dean's office.

The main session will be 12:00 - 1:30 pm in the room 3600.

1) Introduction of Purposeful Penny (Jonathan)
2) Introduction of Bright Kids Uganda, president of Bright Kids
Uganda, and guest speaker (Dr. Picard)
3) Address of the President of Bright Kids Uganda
4) Pauline Greenlick, Bright Kids Foundation, "A Window of Hope
through a Child's Drawings- A Uganda Perspective."

ID division will provide lunch for PP's fundraising event.

Coin collector located at GSPIA student lounge

On March 1st, 2010, Purposeful Penny located our coin collector at GSPIA student lounge. The coin collector was made during the last general member meeting. I appreciate Alla, Aya, Alona, and Taka for joining in the production of coin collectors and distributors.

We, Purposeful Penny, appreciate student cabinet for allowing us to place our coin collector at student lounge. Especially, we are grateful to Jonathan Livingston and Ian for helping us locate our coin collector at the lounge.

PP General Meeting Agenda (Feb 22, 2010, 1:00 pm - 2:00 pm)

Dear PP members,

We will have our PP general member meeting at WPU R538 on Feb 22, 2010 at 1:00 pm until 2:00 pm. Please join and contribute to the PP's cause. Following is the detailed agenda for the meeting.

Best regards,
Jonathan
President of Purposeful Penny

====================================================================
* Event: Purposeful Penny General Meeting
* Date: Monday, Feb. 22, 2010 1:00 pm – 2:00 p.m.
* Location: William Pitt Union Room 538


[Agenda]

1) Discussion for the fundraising event on March 25, 2010:
- Fundraising Planning Committee
- Assignment and checking of tasks

2) Feedback of online web page: www.pitt.edu/~sorc/ppenny
- Request for the feedback of web page
- Asking for joining facebook of PP

3) Bank Account

4) Production of coin collectors

5) Multi-lingual mission statements
- Completed: English, Korean, Japanese, Russian and French
- Ongoing: Chinese, Urdu, Arabic, Spanish

6) Membership registration agreement form
- Linking with fundraising process/ coin collecting process

7) Collaboration with other student groups


[Preparation of PP members for the general meeting]

1) Multi-lingual mission statements not completed
- Chinese, Urdu, Arabic, Spanish, (all other languages are welcome)

2) Bringing coffee cups for making coin collectors

PP delivered two buckets of relief items

On Friday, February 12, Alla, Ivan, Jungwon, Jina, and Jonathan, representing Purposeful Penny, have been to a Costco shopping 4 Haiti. We bought soap, washcloths, hand towels, toothpaste and toothbrushes. We filled in two buckets with relief items for Haiti and delivered them to the William Pitt Union.

I appreciate PP members who joined today's shopping trip 4 Haiti and people who could not make the trip but supported with their full warm heart. Especially, Alla, without her support and commitment, today's trip itself might not have been fulfilled.

I hope relief items will be delivered well to people who are suffering in Haiti.

Shop @ Costco 4 Haiti

Dear Purposeful Penny Members,

Here is an avenue we can help Haiti with a coordinated efforts with
SORC at the University of Pittsburgh, Brother's Brother Foundation and
CostCo Store. Because of the limits of resources and concentration on
our mission, Purposeful Penny have not been able to involve and engage
in the Haiti relief effort. However, using this kind of coordinated
initiative can relieve those concerns and remove those limitations. Me
and other office bearer members discussed joining this relief
initiative and agreed that this is not a mission drift of Purposeful
Penny and it will contribute to increasing PP's solidarity in our
humanitarian efforts.

PP is planning to fill out one (or more, depending on the number of
people join) bucket together by the name of Purposeful Penny for
helping Haiti relief. This will enhance the solidarity of our group
for the endeavors for humanitarian initiative. Please let me know if
you are willing and available to join this relief shopping trip. Don't forget to register online in advance. Now there are not many seats left. Please register online and reply to me if you are interested in joining this trip.

Best regards,
Jonathan
President of Purposeful Penny

P.S.Following is the description of the event by the Brother's Brother Foundation and Pitt SORC office.

=========================================
PITT STUDENTS!

Help the victims of the Haiti earthquake through PITT'S BUCKET BRIGADE FOR HAITI by participating in an exclusive Shop @ Costco 4 Haiti event on Friday, February 12!

A Costco membership is NOT required!

What: Shop @ Costco 4 Haiti

When: 3-6:30 p.m., Friday, February 12, 2010

Where: Costco Warehouse, 501 W Waterfront Dr, West Homestead PA 15120

Who: PITT Students

Why: PITT’S BUCKET BRIGADE FOR HAITI

* Buses run every hour beginning at 3pm. Buses depart from the William Pitt Union at 3PM, 4PM, and 5PM. Buses depart from Costco at 3:30PM, 4:30PM, and 6:30PM. Board buses in the William Pitt Union Driveway.
* Must have valid PITT ID to participate. No purchase restrictions. (You don't need a Costco membership and yes you can buy personal items too!)

Payment Options: Cash, Check, Debit (Visa Debit and MasterCard Debit), and American Express – NO Visa or MasterCard - Credit Cards.

For more information about Shop @ Costco 4 Haiti email stulife@pitt.edu or call 412-648-1074.

---------------------------------------------------------------

Additional Information about the campaign:

The University of Pittsburgh is working with the locally headquartered Brother's Brother Foundation to collect items for the people devastated by the January 12, 2010, earthquake. The Brother's Brother Foundation promotes international health and education through efficient and effective distrbution of donated medical, educational, agricultural, and other supplies.



For the next few weeks, 1000 five-gallon buckets will be placed throughout Oakland campus office buildings, the William Pitt (student) Union, and residence halls for the collection of hygiene items: Please consider donating.



Items needed:

Baby or wet wipes

Nonliquid soap

Washcloths

Hand towels

Toothpaste

Toothbrushes

Combs

Brushes

Shampoos or any materials that may leak will not be accepted.



Anyone who would like to make a monetary donation to the Brother's Brother Foundation may do so at www.brothersbrother.org/donateform.htm

For more information about Pitt's Bucket Brigade for Haiti campaign, contact Steve Zupcic at 412-624-7709 or stz@pitt.edu.

Fabulous PP's Logo

Dear PP members,

This is the finalized logo of Purposeful Penny. Kevin contributed to making this logo. He asked his friend, Hokwon Jung, who is a professional web illustrator in Korea, to create a logo for Purposeful Penny. We will use the colored logo for promoting our group initiative and making our coin collectors. The color used in the logo means love and donation. I appreciate Kevin and Hokwon for their big commitment and contribution.

Best regards,
Jonathan

Draft of webpage contents & site map

Dear PP members,

Here is the draft of PP's webpage contents and site map. Please look into it and send your feedback to Jonathan and Alla. We are working with Denis, the webmaster and the director of PP's technical supporting team. Denis, a doctoral student in the information science department at Pitt, has a professional knowledge about webmaster and administration. His joining our initiative is one of the biggest privileges for Purposeful Penny group. We appreciate Denis' input and willingness to work with us for our cause.

Thank you,
Alla, Denis and Jonathan

[Web Contents & Site Map]=================================

I. About Us
- Mission
- Vision
- Core Values
- Constitution
- People
- Faculty Advisor
- Executive Board Members
- General Members

II.What We Do
- Past Activities Summary Report
- Finance and donation report
- Action Plan 2009-2010


III.Get Involved
- Become a member
- How to donate


IV.Recent News
- Agenda and Meeting Notes
- Blog


V.Let’s Learn
- Education for underprivileged children in the world


VI.Contact Us
- Email: sorc+ppenny@pitt.edu
- Web: www.pitt.edu/~sorc/ppenny

PP fundraising event plan

Dear PP members,

Here is the plan for the fundraising event. At the PP general member meeting on January 29, the outlines of fundraising event was discussed. Below is the outcome of last meeting's discussion. Please send your feedback to Jonathan and Aya,the executive committee chair for the fundraising event, your feedback about the event outline. Thank you.

Best regards,
Jonathan (jon.jeong@gmail.com)
President of Purposeful Penny
Aya (ayaokada102@gmail.com)
Treasurer and Chair of PP Fundraising Event Executive Committee


[Purposeful Penny Fundraising Event Plan]====================================
1)Purpose
- Increase in fundraising
- Promotion of our charity initiative beyond our personal networks, GSPIA and campus

2)Target group:
- Concentrated target group: GSPIA Community (Mostly students)
- Extended target group: Pitt students

3)Location
- Daytime session: GSPIA Student Lounge
- Evening session: Schenley Plaza

4)Date (One day event)
- Thursday March 25, 2010 (After the spring break)

5)Presumed contents
- Introduction of Purposeful Penny Initiative (Mission, vision, core value, action plan)
- Introduction of PP’s first year target group, Bright Kids Uganda
- Multi-cultural exchange events: i) Tea & Snack will be provided ii) Evening session will be composed of various performances.
- Guest invitation: Dr. Picard, African Synergystic Think Tank members
- Display and screening: i) Pictures of PP’s activities and efforts will be displayed ii) Pictures/movies of Bright Kids Uganda will be displayed and screened.

6)Preparation for the event
- Previous promotion and public relations using Pitt news, GSPIA e-mail blast, GSPIA news letter, fliers and personal networks
- Preparation and distribution of coin collectors at least one month ahead of the event day
- Two separate sessions: i) Indoor fundraising during daytime ii) Outdoor fundraising with multi-cultural event and performance
- Event day setting requirements: Tables, Micro phone, projector and screen, multi-cultural event (international food, performance) and leaflets

================================================================================

Purposeful Penny General Member Meeting

Event: Purposeful Penny General Member Meeting
Date: Jan. 29, 2010 7:30 p.m. - 9:30
Location: William Pitt Union 5th Floor Lounge

1)Agenda
* Agenda was set at the Purposeful Penny Office Bearer Meeting on January 23(Alla, Aya, Jonathan and Khurram)

o Preparation for the meeting with Dr. Picard
- Bank Account
- Creation of online webpage: www.pitt.edu/~sorc/ppenny
- E-mail account: sorc+ppenny@pitt.edu
o Updates for the last year’s decision
o Discussion of organization logo and symbols
o Production of coin collectors (i.e. bottles, cans, or boxes)
o Making business cards for PP’s office bearers
o Multi-lingual mission statements (English, Chinese, Korean, Japanese, Russian, Urdu, Arabic, Spanish, and French)
o Membership registration agreement form
- Components: i) Ethics codes including multicultural understanding and respectful attitudes toward other members ii) accounting and financial accountability

o Discussion for the fundraising event for spring 2010

2) Preparation of PP members for the PP general meeting on Friday January 29, 2010
o Bring their collected coins
o Multi-lingual mission statements (English, Chinese, Korean, Japanese, Russian, Urdu, Arabic, Spanish, and French)
o Bring their ideas for fund raising event