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Newsletter for
March 2006
Volume 3 - Issue 3 - Page 2 |
Advocacy/Training
Amanda Urban
The advocacy groups are going strong. The Venture Crew has been
extremely active. They retired about 150 flags for a community
service project and there is now a box down at First Step to
collect worn and tattered flags so they can be retired in a
respectful manner. The Crew is also collecting food items to
help replenish the stock of food at the local food bank. There
are collection containers at CHS, EEC and the Plant. The
donations will be taken to the food bank this month. As a part
of the Boy Scouts we are able to use the pool at BCCC at
specific times free of charge. The crew swam for the first time
on February 13th and will also have swim nights in March and
April. All enjoyed their participation in the worship service of
1st United Methodist Church on February 5th as a part of the
annual Scout Sunday observance.
The Venture Crew re-charter process has been completed and we
have increased our number to 15. February 18th the crew
raised funds for activities by serving food at an auction and
had a blast. We will serve at another auction on March 18th. In
addition to having fun we practiced life skills as well. We hope
to raise enough to donate to the Humane Society to help buy
their new truck. A BIG thank you to Schremmer Auction for
allowing us the opportunity to serve the community and raise
funds for future activities.
Medical Services
Sharon Henderson, RN
Medical Services promotes wellness of body, mind and spirit with
education and positive supports. Medical Services staff
includes: Sharon Henderson, RN; Candra Deschner, Support Staff;
and Diane Ramos, Restorative Aide.
We have been pleasantly surprised at the small amount of flu and
colds contracted by our clientele. The numbers and severity has
been significantly lower than in past winter seasons.
Everyone seems to have completed the Medicare D process with
hardly a hitch. A huge thank-you to Kevin and his staff at
Medical Park Pharmacy for the help they provided.
Residential Supports
Shelly Shelton
Changes are going to be happening for folks in our residential
program. Amy McCulley has accepted the position of Community
Activities Specialist. She will be working for day services and
residential services. Amy, the Residential Manager and myself
will be working closely together to see that folks are informed
and have the opportunity to participate in more activities and
community events. Amy will be researching happenings and events
that might be of interest to our folks. She will be talking to
individuals and seeing what they are interested in and some
things that they would like to do or participate in and have not
had the opportunity to do so. Amy will be setting up the
arrangements and working with staff and Triage to make sure that
they happen. Amy is excited about accepting this position and
giving folks an opportunity to experience even more in life.
One of our individuals is going to be actively involved in
Partners in Policymaking. He will be traveling to Topeka and
participating in work groups with other people with disabilities
of all kinds, family members and advocates for disability
supports. They will learn a variety of things that will assist
them in actively advocating for themselves and others with
disabilities in Kansas. This group meets one weekend a month in
Topeka and ends with a graduation in November.
Our folks living in Otis have been keeping busy by attending the
local high school sporting events. Working with Connie, the
manager, and their families most have been able to attend the
basketball games. Shopping trips to Great Bend and eat outs are
al-ways a fun thing to do.
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Safety News
Harold Jones
During a recent Coordinators Meeting Decky suggested some content
for the upcoming newsletter. By popular demand, then, I’ve prepared
a brief discourse on what we look for in selecting new contracts for
folks at the Plant.
A lot of preparation and legwork goes into getting a new contract
off the ground. Evaluations by the Plant Managers help make sure we
either have, or can develop, the skill sets necessary to product
quality work. Time studies are performed to make sure everyone is
compensated fairly and in compliance with Department of Labor
standards. Lastly, we try to make sure the type of work involved is
something our folks will enjoy doing over the long haul.
Enjoyment is an important part of anyone’s job. One of our goals is
to offer several different types of work over the course of a given
month, allowing everyone the opportunity to move around and gain
experience in several areas during that time. We can’t all do things
we enjoy all of the time, of course, but by running several
different jobs each month we can spread things around as much as
possible.
So what do we look for in a contract? Here’s a short list.
Carve-able jobs
We look for jobs that can be carved (broken down) into multiple
steps, and the more steps a job has the better it is for us. Each
individual step is a different task that usually employs one or more
people. Example: a job inserting material into a mailing envelope
breaks down into the following 4 steps.
#1 Attach return address
label – 1 person
#2 Attach address label –
1 person
#3 Insert material – 1
person
#4 Seal envelope – 1
person
That’s four people involved in that single job. The more steps a job
has, the more people we can employ. More people employed equals more
wages paid out to our clients and that is the measure of success
that we use.
Long-term contracts
While we try never to turn work away, there are some jobs I’ve been
approached about that just don’t make sense. If it would take longer
to evaluate, time study and train for a new contract than the actual
job would last, it wouldn’t make sense for us to take that one on.
Another instance of work we’ve been unable to accept are some
short-term contracts that would pull too many people away from our
long-term customers. As with any business, keeping our regular,
loyal customers satisfied remains one of our highest priorities.
Repeat business
Sunflower’s customers continue to demonstrate a tremendous amount of
loyalty to our program and to our clients. We make it easy for them
to remain loyal by providing quality products and service at
competitive prices. All of the above translates to work that we see
over and over again, and that’s a testament to both our customers
and to our company.
In a nutshell, those are the qualities we look for in work coming
into the plant. If you know of some contract opportunities that
qualify please be sure and let me know.
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