Hi, I thought I would give you a quick review of the information we received at the Area Meeting.

    ADD: They want units to work on increasing membership.   Also if you have members that pay by the year, to encourage them to renew with ADD (Automatic Dues Deduction).  It saves the GREA money on paper and stamps when they have to send out reminders each year.

 James Twiggs said you can use  Anywho.com  to find phone # or use tax digest when you are looking for new members invite to your Unit meetings.  It was also suggested to fill out the information on the cards so all the prospective member would need to do is sign it and put their SS#. 

Most important is to put your Unit’s name, not the initials.   Example:  Screven, Chatham, etc for the Unit’s name. 

   President’s Project:  President Teasley wants the units to collect 10,000 drink can tabs for the Shriners.   She said to make sure they are aluminum and if you are not sure run a magnet over them, if they stick, throw them away.  Or if your unit prefers, they could donate $100 instead of collecting drink tabs. 

 Museum Brick:   They are hoping that all units will buy a brick to represent their unit in the main courtyard at the museum.  This brick would also count as your donation to the museum this year. 

 Criteria for GREA Awards, etc. :   James (Jim) Haymans is our President-Elect and in charge of Criteria awards, certificates and recognition.  He reviewed some of the requirements that a unit needs to earn these. 

 Units need at least two newsletters per year.

Volunteer hours can be anything done with the community, church, school, etc.  (Taking care of your grandchildren doesn’t count, too bad.)

Encourage Units to give out scholarship to someone in their community.

 He wants to encourage Units to do a scrapbook to share with members, community, and the GREA Convention, but GREA wants one page for the State Scrapbook.  This would be a synopsis of the important highlights of the year for your unit.  There is a large envelope and a clear plastic sleeve to use for your scrapbook page.  The directions are in the envelope or sleeve.  

He also went over the other requirements that are in your BLUE GREA Planning Guide.

  T-Shirts:   Past President, Rita Marable, is in charge of ordering T-shirts.  If you want one you need to contact her and she wants the money ahead of time if possible.  She is doing one last order by the end of the month.  Let her know if anyone in your unit wants a T-shirt.  Rom1146@pstel.net

  GREA Executive Director:  Bill Sloan wanted to stress that when you sell your Spotlight Ads to look over the information and make sure you can read it.  He would love for you to use the fill in the blank on the website to type it in so they will have the correct information.

 Again write out your Unit’s name, not the initials.   I find that if you ask for a business card, this will usually give you the information you need.  But for “In memory of,” make sure the information is spelled correctly and legible.