Volunteer Opportunity: Road to Recovery

Road to Recovery is a program where volunteers drive cancer patients to and from their life saving treatments. Missing even one treatment has a great impact on the survival of a cancer patient. The great thing about this opportunity is that a person can volunteer as little or as much as they want. If a request for a ride comes in the volunteer can turn it down if they have other plans and then we would move on to the next person on our list.

Many Retirees are snow birds or have other things for which they volunteer; that’s why Road to Recovery wants to increase their pool of volunteers in the Fort Wayne area.

FACTS ABOUT ROAD TO RECOVERY

Would you drive a mile to save a life??

Road To Recovery

Cancer patients cite transportation to and from medical treatment as a critical need, second only to direct financial assistance. The American Cancer Society Road To Recovery program matches these patients with specially trained volunteer drivers who donate their time and the use of their personal vehicles. Patients in need of a ride do not need a physician’s referral, but advance notice is required by contacting the American Cancer Society. The generosity of the drivers helps ensure that cancer patients get the lifesaving treatment they need.


Why is the Road To Recovery program important?

When cancer patients don’t have transportation it can leave them with few options for completing their treatment schedules. Many of these patients need daily or weekly treatment over a period of months and simply have no way to get there. Although family and friends may be able to help, there may be many times when they’re not available. The Road To Recovery program provides transportation options for patients facing this situation.


How does Road To Recovery program work?

The American Cancer Society uses a simple screening process to help ensure the right volunteers are recruited for the program. Volunteer drivers must have a current valid driver’s license, a good driving record, access to a safe and reliable vehicle, and proof of adequate automobile insurance. The Society maintains also specific standards for driver responsibility. Understanding these standards will help both the patient and the driver be comfortable with the program. To schedule a ride to treatment, cancer patients must reach out to the Society, which will handle transportation pickups.


For More Information

For more information about the American Cancer Society Road To Recovery program or any Society program, or to find out how you can volunteer to be a Road To Recovery driver, contact your local American Cancer Society office at 260-471-3911 opt. 3 and ask for Melissa Baker, call 1-800-227-2345, or visit us at cancer.org.

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President's Letter, May 2014

Dear Allen County Retired Educators:

I promise you that our spring will get warm and it will be a wonderful day for our final meeting of the 2013-2014 year on Wednesday, June 4, 11:00 AM promptly, at Catablu Grill, Covington Plaza, 6372 W. Jefferson Blvd.

RESERVATIONS: Please make your reservation with Mary Jo Purvis at least one week before the meeting. 493-4263 or mpurvis1@frontier.com. The cost is $12.00 payable at the meeting. Please arrive a little early to check in.

THE MENU: (All include one beverage):

• Teacher's Pet Cheeseburger with lettuce, tomato, onion, and hand cut fries;
• Apple for the Teacher 1/2 apple salad and 1/2 grilled chicken Panini;
• Apple Salad with romaine, spiced candied walnuts, gorgonzola, red grapes and maple cherry vinaigrette;
• Chop Chop Salad with romaine, vegetables, provolone cheese and balsamic vinaigrette;
• Spring Break Southern Fried Chicken Sandwich, white cheddar, slaw, tomato, tavern sauce, and hand cut fries;
• Ivy League Brown Rice Bowl with edamame, steamed rice, baby bok choy, shitake mushrooms, miso mustard glaze.

State your choice to your meal server, and request any special dietary needs to be filled within our budget.

FREE LUNCH for 2013 retired teachers who have not joined AREA yet this year. MEMBERS who bring any other retired teacher, retired administrator, or non-member will get a TWO-FOR-ONE-DEAL.

PROGRAM: Nancy Tolson, IRTA Executive Director, will be our speaker. She will inform us of all that our organization is doing or diligently attempting to do for us.

EYEGLASSES: Please bring old eyeglasses for donation to the Lions' Club project.

NOTE: AREA is entitled to 22 delegates to the IRTA Representative Assembly in Indianapolis on Wednesday, June 18, 2014, at Primo Banquet Hall South. The $25.00 cost for breakfast and lunch will be paid by AREA. Delegates must be members of IRTA and I must have your name by May 29. So far, it's just Pam George, Barb Kanning and myself. That's far from 22! Call or email me!

Hoping to see you June 4 at Catablu!

Carol

Help Needed and a Reminder

HELP NEEDED

AREA received a call from a student at Indiana Tech who needs math help in a class titled, Foundation of Business Statistics.

If you can help, or know someone who can, please contact Edna Smith at 797-1922.

She said that she knows others at school that could use help with English Thesis. Give her a call if you can help with that as well.


REMINDER

THE IRTA REPRESENTATIVE ASSEMBLY will be held on June 18, 2014, at Primo South in Indianapolis. Please consider attending. AREA is entitled to 22 delegates. Each delegate must be a member of IRTA.

IRTA pays for all meals and for fuel for one vehicle; AREA pays for fuel for additional cars.

Registration deadline is May 29. Please call or email Carol Buttell at 260-489-5413, cbuttell@frontier.com.

President's Letter, March 2014

Dear Allen County Retired Educators:

Snow! Snow! I'm sure that you are ready to get out of the house! Our next meeting will be Thursday, April 10, 2014, at Ziano's Restaurant at 10520 Maysville Road (I-469 and Maysville Rd). We will meet at 11:00 AM, promptly.

RESERVATIONS: Please make your reservations with Mary Jo Purvis at least one week before the meeting. The cost is $12.00, which can be paid at the meeting.

THE MENU:
Breadsticks
House or Caesar Salad
Choice of one of the following

• Fettuccini Alfredo (Chicken or Shrimp upon request)
• Lasagna
• Spaghetti and Meatballs
• Shrimp Marinara

Drinks

• Coke products
• Sweet/Unsweetened/Raspberry tea
• Coffee

Please state your choice when making your reservation. Gluten free is available on request. Anyone who has special dietary needs should speak with your meal server to substitute within our budget.

FREE lunch to 2013 Retired Educators who have not attended any prior AREA meetings. TWO-FOR-ONE deal for members who bring a non-member retired administrator or teacher. Be sure to contact Mary Jo Purvis with reservations.

PROGRAM: Dr. Jeanne Zehr, Director of Community Impact for United Way of Allen County, has had various educational leadership roles in the U.S. as well as several other countries. She will speak to us about Volunteering.

Pam Sellers, vice-president of the IRTA Foundation Board, and our immediate past Area 2 Director, will speak briefly about the Foundation and its goals.

EYEGLASSES: Ed DeLong will be collecting old eyeglasses, as at all meetings!

THE IRTA REPRESENTATIVE ASSEMBLY will be held on June 18, 2014, at Primo South in Indianapolis. Please consider attending. We have not received our delegate number, but it is always more than members who attend. IRTA pays for all meals and for fuel for one vehicle; AREA pays for fuel for additional cars. Contact Carol!

IRTA MEMBERSHIP - Have you joined? Contact Pam George or Carol Buttell!

WE HOPE TO SEE YOU APRIL 10 at 11:00!

Nancy Tolson's Legislative Bulletin #8

LEGISLATIVE BULLETIN #8

This will probably be the last bulletin for the current legislative session. Our “13th check” bill, HB 1074, has passed through the legislature and has the same language as last year. After it was sent back to the House because last year’s language was amended into it from the Senate, Representative Burton filed a concurrence motion, which means that he would not try to amend it again but would accept the bill in the form that came from the Senate.

FYI:
Retired teachers will receive an additional amount in the September Check if they had

Less than 10 years of creditable service but are on disability: $150
10 years’ creditable service, but less than 20: $275
20 years’ creditable service, but less than 30: $375
30 plus years’ creditable service: $450

The bill still must be signed by the Governor, but Steve assures me that it is certain that he will sign it.

Yesterday afternoon (Thursday) I attended the conference committee for HB 1075, the bill that deals with the Annuity Savings Account. There have been numerous forms of this since the session began, and the conference committee report is five pages, but I’ll put the information about the ASA in bullet points that I feel are pertinent.

• INPRS may not enter into an agreement with a third party provider for managing the annuities before October 1, 2017.

• INPRS board must establish on October 1 and April 1, each year, beginning on October 1, 2014, the interest rate used to determine the annuity amount purchasable by a member of TRF.

• The interest rate for a member who elects to purchase the annuity is equal to the interest rate on a 10-year Treasury note on the immediately preceding September 1 or March 1, respectively, plus 1.5%.

• The interest rate established may not be less than 2% or more than 10%.

• Whenever the board enters into an agreement with a third party provider, the interest rate used to determine the annuity amount is equal to the rate for similar annuities being purchased in the private market as recommended by the third party provider.

• There are other points that are made, but these are the important ones for those teachers who are now trying to decide whether to retire this year.

The four members of this conference committee were Chairman Burton, Representative Niezgodski, Senator Tallian, and Senator Walker. They have all worked together and have worked very hard to try to make this as fair as possible. It has certainly been a learning experience for me to sit in on these meetings and to hear the various points of view, but it has also been heartwarming to see bipartisan cooperation and concern. They all deserve our thanks.

I did testify briefly to thank the committee for all the hard work and cooperation that I had seen since this began last summer at PMOC. (Pension Management Oversight Commission.)

I will add that the whole question of the ASA and pensions in general will be discussed at length in the PMOC meetings this summer. I will be at each PMOC meeting, and I imagine that Steve and Ray Jones will attend also.

Ray and I will continue to attend each INPRS board meeting to follow what the board does in regard to teacher pensions.

I will be working with Jeff Hutson from INPRS on an article for the June newsletter that will try to put this all into perspective and to educate our active members about the bill and its ramifications.

Meanwhile, as active teachers ask us about what the bill says and how it will affect their retirement, I feel that we need to tell them that it is really important that they talk to a financial advisor, preferably one who is an expert on retirement issues. We can’t advise them any further than that, but we can let them know that INPRS will be making these changes to the interest rates that people can earn if they annuitize their savings accounts after this fall.

The phone number for them to talk to INPRS is 1-888-286-3544. When it is answered automatically, they need to press #2 to get to a person.

Our Legislative Committee will be meeting on April 9. We will begin the planning for next session at that time. As your executive director, I still have COLA uppermost on my agenda.

Thank you for all the help that so many of you have given this session! We will need you and many more like you in the coming year.

Nancy

Indiana Retired Teachers Foundation Scholarships

The Indiana Retired Teachers Foundation is offering eight scholarships in 2014. One scholarship will be awarded for each area of the state. In August, 2013, the scholarship amount granted for each area was $2,000. The scholarships are available for education majors at an Indiana college or university entering their junior or senior year. Students must be an Indiana resident.

As well, the student must be a son/daughter, grandson/granddaughter, or a legal dependent of an active or retired member of the Indiana State Teachers Retirement Fund. Membership in the Indiana Retired Teachers Association is not a prerequisite for consideration.

The guidelines and application can be found on Indiana Retired Teachers Association website: http://www.retiredteachers.org. The application can be downloaded from the front page.

APPLICATIONS MUST BE RECEIVED BY JANUARY 31, 2014.

August 17 AREA Meeting

WHEN: AUGUST 17, 2013 11:00 A.M.

WHERE: PINE VALLEY COUNTRY CLUB


Please come to help us honor the Area 2 Scholarship Winner since she is from Fort Wayne! We haven't had a Scholarship Winner in some time!

We also will be paying our respects to the AREA educators who have passed away during the past year with our Necrology Service.

Area 2 Director Carol Larson will be updating us on IRTA and changes being made.

Carol Buttell will give a brief report on good new ideas gained at the July chapter presidents' workshop.
Come see "old" friends and meet some new ones! Bring a new guest!

You'll have some tasty menu choices!

We're looking forward to seeing you!

If you haven’t made your reservation, call Mary Jo Purvis @ 493-4263 or e-mail her: mpurvis1@frontier.com