The Laurelton Neighborhood Association began about 3.5 years ago. The town sent postcards to all residents and we enjoyed strong resulting interest. An initial volunteer board group of nine individuals came together. Unfortunately, we’ve lost six board members, including four to moving out of our neighborhood, and we’ve been unable to recruit new board members. Subsequently, we’ve increasingly struggled with participation from outside the board.
We’re now down to three board members, which is our minimum to avoid dissolution. While we plan to proceed in 2020 with a reduced programming schedule, should any of us have to leave due to other commitments or relocation we’ll be forced to dissolve per our constitution.
During our time, we’ve had some considerable successes. Thanks to a former board member’s generous donation we were able to obtain 501(c)(3) status. Our status as a neighborhood association has allowed us to apply for Irondequoit’s Neighborhood Enhancement Program (NEP) grants and we’ve received one in each year of our existence: for street banners, street sign toppers and the message board by Netsins. Our first picnic and first Carols and Cocoa saw considerable attendance. And, our efforts helped bring Greenlight to much of the neighborhood and we’ve seen considerable attendance for meetings on that topic, the trolley, and community safety among others.
But, unfortunately, we’ve seen a fall-off recently, which no doubt is in part due to our reduced board size. We can certainly use the hands, but having a larger captive audience (our board) to help spread the word is also critical. We had almost no turnout for Carols and Cocoa last year, and will have to put it on hiatus this year after an unsuccessful plea for volunteers. We just had a general meeting with a great speaker that only a couple people attended. Our second picnic saw a dramatic decline in attendance, and due to a lack of volunteers and concerns over logistics given our small board we also had to put that event on hiatus.
What this is all leading up to is the long-term viability of this and any neighborhood association is dependent on volunteers including board members. While we’re hardly the only neighborhood association struggling (most are), we believe there is a path forward, but we need help. Our plan for 2020 includes two general meetings, the garage sale (pending volunteer interest), and an ice cream social/can drive. And, in light of this, we will likely only need 2-3 board meetings beyond what is mentioned above. (And, we certainly understand if you can’t make everything.) But the point being this isn’t a commitment that requires hours per week, in fact it will average out to less than one activity per month.
While we just had a general meeting with the election, most seats remain vacant (events, treasurer, VP and secretary). So we’d love for you to join the board. And if you can’t join the board, please consider getting involved with an event. We hope the Laurelton Neighborhood Association can continue long beyond 2020, but we need your help in order to ensure that happens.