WNYIL's 41st Annual Meeting

Guest:  Dan Colpoys

Topic:  WNYIL's 41st Annual Meeting

Duration:  5:42

Published:  May 13, 2021

Host:  Welcome to Independent Perspective, a public affairs presentation of Western New York Independent Living (WNYIL). Our guest today is Daniel Colpoys, Chief Community Engagement Officer of WNYIL and your host is yours truly Ernie Churchwell. Welcome to the program Dan.

Guest:  Hello there Ernie, thanks for having me on today.

Host:  It's our pleasure. You are here because you have the overall scoop on one of the agency's big activities of the year. That's the Annual Membership meeting. In the past, it was a dinner and now it's virtual because of all the various health concerns in fact just about everything in the last year has been virtual hasn't it?

Guest:  Yes, you’re right Ernie, historically we would be meeting at a banquet hall or facility of some sort to have this event but in today's era we're having our annual meeting virtually, and that doesn't mean it will be any less interesting or fun for people in attendance.

Host:  Indeed. And speaking of some of the fun things there are all kinds of planned activities on the way, some awards, some entertainment, and whatnot and could you fill us in?

Guest:  I can, so our Annual Meeting is basically a celebration of WNYIL’s past year. So, we recognize several people who have been instrumental in our success. We have four main awards that we recognize each year. Our Employee of the Year, our Volunteer of the Year, the Elaine G. Wells Community Support Award, which is given to the person who either personally or professionally supports, promotes, and embraces the independent living philosophy throughout the community. And then we have our Corporate Support Award, which is given to the company that supports WNYIL, and also promotes and embraces the independent living philosophy throughout the community. So, WNYIL, our mission is to keep people in their homes, as opposed to in a home. So, we provide those supports so folks can stay in their homes and live as independently in the community as possible as opposed to living in a nursing home or a group home or some other kind of institutionalized setting. So those four awards are part of the meeting. We also have a year in review video, so we highlight all of WNYIL’s activities for the past year. That's always a fun part of the event. We always have a guest speaker. This year we're fortunate enough to have Christina Mills, speak at our Annual Meeting. Miss Mills is the Executive Director of the California Foundation for Independent Living Centers. So, we have someone from outside of the area, who's involved in the independent living movement so that's exciting. And we also have raffles and different employee recognitions as well, and this year's event is taking place on Tuesday, June 8 from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. And as we already mentioned it will be held virtually so if folks want to participate and attend our Annual Meeting, they can, they don't necessarily have to be a consumer or staff member or someone who is affiliated with the agency already, anyone from the public is welcome to attend and see what our agency is all about and learn more about us. And to RSVP, you need to contact Jillian Moss at jmoss@wnyil.org. Or you can call Jillian at 716-836-0822 extension 146 And we're asking people to RSVP by May 28, and when they do RSVP, they'll be given a Zoom link, so the meeting will take place on the Zoom platform. We'll give them the link when they RSVP, they'll also receive a raffle number to be entered into the raffles that we'll be having that night as well.

Host:  Dan, thanks so much for being on the program.

Guest:  Thank you Ernie.

Host:  You've been listening to Independent Perspective, a public affairs presentation of WNYIL. Our guest today has been Dan Colpoys, Chief Community Engagement Officer of WNYIL, and your host is yours truly Ernie Churchwell.