14
Feb

Since 2004, the PFLAG National Scholarship Program has awarded close to $254,000 in scholarships to students who represent some of the best and brightest advocates for equality in the country.

In 2011, PFLAG is proud to name 19 new PFLAG National Scholars. These future leaders represent some of the best and the brightest advocates for equality. Selected from a pool of applicants from across the country, we are pleased to share some of their accomplishments with you.

The 2011 PFLAG National Scholarship Program was made possible by many generous donations. The Palmer B. Carson Trust established the scholarship program with a substantial bequest from Mr. Carson’s estate. In 2004, the Dow Chemical Company Foundation provided nearly $5,000 in scholarship funding and, since 2007, the Gays, Lesbians, and Allies at Dow Employee Network (GLAD) initiated fundraising drives to increase support to the scholarships and have raised almost $20,000 for this project.

Jeanne Manford Memorial Scholarship Winner

Carson B. Palmer Memorial Scholarship Winner

PFLAG National Scholarship Winners

Straight for Equality Scholarship Winner

PFLAG-Gays, Lesbians, and Allies at Dow (GLAD) Scholarship Winners

If you belong to an employee resource group, union, or any other network and feel that your organization would be interested in donating to the PFLAG National scholarship fund, please contact Beth Kohm, Deputy Executive Director, by e-mailing bkohm@pflag.org or calling (202) 467-8180 ext. 211.

Congratulations to all of the 2011 winners!

14
Feb

5 members or guests present.
Agenda:
Introductions
Administration*
Sharing
Discussion of Chapter meetings/programs*
Adjournment @ 8:30 p.m.
*=details below
Administration:
1. Michael presented the detailed cash flow of the PFLAG checking account and answered questions from members. The Knoxville PFLAG chapter has not paid national dues since 2009. Dues are $25 per member per year. National dues are $15 of this amount. The other $10 goes to the Knoxville chapter.
Chapter no longer pays rent to TVUUC as PFLAG is considered a TVUUC “program”.
2. Chapter has lost its tax-exempt status due to not filing required tax returns for the past three years. If Chapter is not tax-exempt, then contributions to chapter are not tax-deductible. Kim H. took the action to get the forms, understand the process, fill in the forms, inform President and Treasurer of the required fees, obtain a check from Treasurer for the fees, and file the forms necessary to reinstate Chapter’s tax-exempt status. Once Chapter is reinstated, Secretary or Treasurer will be required to file an annual information return; Kim will get the details.
3. Larry took the action to get the Chapter’s charter, bylaws, and declaration to Kim for typing. Kim will put these files into MS Word so they can be shared (and updated, when necessary) more easily. Kim will send the softcopy files to the officers when complete.
4. Chapter must determine what to do about collecting dues from members, and when to do so. The bylaws likely contain the rules for this. It was noted that with all the current legislation and news coverage of TN legislation and legislators, this is a good time to run a membership campaign.
Chapter must also determine what to do about payment of national dues for 2010, 2011, and 2012.
Discussion:
1. Larry is renting a van to take interested people to Nashville for the Equality on the Hill Day, March 13. Contact Larry to join the ride.
2. In preparation for the March 13 events, a Lobbying 101 course is being offered in Knoxville as follows (thanks to Ben B. as this is a copy and paste of his post to the TEP Knox County website):
“Hi everyone, Advancing Equality Day 2012 (AED) is coming up soon on March 13th. It’s one of TEP’s biggest events and a chance to make a real difference for Equality by meeting face to face with state lawmakers. We need to have a huge group this year since we’re up against so much bad legislation, especially targeting our young people.
In preparation for the trip there are a number of trainingintroduction sessions in Knoxville that we call “Lobbying 101″. These 60 – 90 minute sessions will give you the information you’ll need to make your case when meeting with lawmakers as well as an overview of the current political situation and the status of legislation that we’re watching. It’s also a great time to meet with people who have gone on previous years and maybe even work out a carpool.
While attendance at a Lobbying 101 is NOT REQUIRED to go to AED, I definitely encourage everyone to attend one, especially if this will be your first time on the Hill. Of course if you can’t make the trip to Nashville but still want to learn more about the process, please feel free to attend. The sessions are free and open to everyone.
Session 1: Sat Feb 11th 10:30am Hosted by Planned Parenthood @ 710 North Cherry Street
Session 2: Thurs Feb 16th 7:00pm Hosted by TEP, @ Church of the Savior 934 N. Weisgarber Rd
Session 3: Thurs Mar 1st 6:30pm Hosted by PFAG Maryville @ Fayerwearther Hall rm 205 on the Maryville College campus”
3. There was discussion of possible programs for upcoming PFLAG Knoxville meetings. Rachel and Michael took the action to engage the UTK GSA lead as a possible speaker for the next PFLAG Knoxville meeting. It was agreed that cultivating an ongoing relationship with the UTK GSA would be a valuable activity.
Larry took the action to email the PFLAG distribution list to ask if anyone is willing to serve as Programs Chair. Rachel may be willing to serve if there are no other interested parties.
Next PFLAG Knoxville meeting: Thursday, March 8, 2012 at TVUUC.

24
Jan

Happy New Year everyone!
I hope we’ve all recovered from the holiday season and are ready to continue our fight for equality.  The TN Legislature is back in session and that means it’s time to get ready for the 2012 Tennessee Equality Day on the hill.  It’ll be Tuesday March 13th this year and I hope that we have an even bigger group this year.

In preparation for that event we’re going to host a Lobbying 101 training session to bring everyone up to speed on how the legislative sessions work and how we can successfully make our case to lawmakers.  I strongly encourage anyone who’s interested in working directly with our elected officials to attend but especially those who are considering coming to the Day on the Hill this year.  There will be 3 sessions that I know of at this point.  Planned Parenthood will be hosting on Saturday Feb 11th, PFLAG Maryville will host one at their regular meeting on March 1st, and TEP Knox will host one as well.

we narrowed it down to 3 days in February:  Mon Feb 20th (Presidents day), Thursday the 23rd, or Saturday the 25th.  Please respond to me with the date that you’d prefer by WEDNESDAY (Jan 25th)  and based on that feedback I’ll send out the decision next weekend.

Thanks for all you do,

09
Jan

Happy New Year to all. Our January 12 meeting will begin at the usual time 7:00pm @ TVUUC (Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church) 2931 Kingston Pike. We will have a brief business meeting, with time for guests.

11
Nov

We’ll be meeting on December 8th @ 7:00pm