GAUGHAN INSTITUTE: First Training Session!
Gaughan Association Management launched Gaughan Institute to a full house this past Saturday! Our team has been working together for the past few months to put together a training format and content that we feel will be extremely relevant and helpful to what volunteer board members deal with on a regular basis.The first session, held at the Springbrook Nature Center in Fridley, featured speakers Gretchen Schellhas of Chestnut Cambronne, Karly Kauf and Anthony Smith of Smith Jadin Johnson and Amanda Glader of Gaughan Association Management. Topics of discussion included items such as board member roles, responsibilities and liabilities; Duty of Care; association records and minutes; enforcement of governing documents; and understanding your financial reports.
We are in the final planning stages of our next session which is scheduled for early March. As soon as we have our speakers confirmed, we will circulate the invitation and begin accepting RSVP’s. Please email us at associations@gaughancompanies.com if you are interested in receiving notifications for upcoming GAUGHAN INSTITUTE events.
Gaughan Represents at Chamber Golf Tournament
We were honored to be a sponsor at the 30th annual MetroNorth Chamber Golf Tournament to help raise money for their mission of strengthening business in the community.
Our team had a blast staffing a hole and playing a round of golf with other chamber members and guests at Majestic Oaks Golf Club! We always enjoy events held by the MetroNorth Chamber of Commerce and are pleased to be a member. We are excited about the growth in our communities and the active role that the MetroNorth Chamber plays in the community.
Association Team Runs for Funds
Despite the chilly temperatures, we were out at the 4.01k Race for Financial Fitness on Friday, April 6 to help raise funds for Special Olympics Minnesota.
As a company, we are always looking for opportunities to give back to the community and were happy to join other sponsors in this run/walk!
Association Team Joins in for Toys for Tots
The Gaughan Association Management team attended the recent Community Associations Institute – MN Chapter holiday party. It was a great event to network with vendors, and we got to support a good cause by supplying donations for Toys for Tots. Happy Holidays!
Gaughan Companies Blessed to Serve the Poor
Our team members volunteered at Sharing and Caring Hands this November and December by preparing and serving lunch meals to the poor. We look forward to these events every year.
We are thrilled to be able to support this organization because the work that Founder Mary Jo Copeland and her team does makes an impact on the less fortunate. She provides a safe and engaging environment in which people can help others who lack basic resources. Over 94% of money raised for the organization goes directly to the poor.
Learn more about Sharing and Caring hands at sharingandcaringhands.org.
A Donation Means More Than Money
We recently donated to Food for the Poor, a non-profit organization that uses donated resources to assist some of the least fortunate and poorest in the world.
Food for the Poor has created a unique system for donations by giving items that continue to provide resources to the local communities for years to come. Some of the items that we donated this year were fruit trees, chicks to provide eggs, goats to provide milk, and piglets for reproduction and future consumption.
We support Food for the Poor because over 95% of our donations goes directly to those who need it! We are very blessed here in this country, and we want to help the least fortunate.
To learn more about or to donate to Food for the Poor, visit them online at http://www.foodforthepoor.org/.
Blessings are Felt Helping Those in Need
At the end of December, we had another team from Gaughan Companies head out to Sharing and Caring Hands to help prepare and serve the lunch meal. (Our first team went in November.) They had a blast, and a few reported that they were blessed to be able to serve others in this way. This season, of course, reminds us to donate our time, talents and means to those that need help. We look forward to the possibility of making these trips an annual tradition.
-Patrick Gaughan
Demolition Begins for Lakes Area Youth Service Bureau’s New Home
On Saturday, December 3, a group of volunteers from Gaughan Companies, the Forest Lake community and area youth gathered together to begin demolition at the site of the Lakes Area Youth Service Bureau’s new space. LAYSB is moving from their current building to the Town Center building in the heart of downtown Forest Lake. The plans for the new space include an education center, group rooms, counseling room, office spaces, reception and staff areas. Gaughan Companies is excited to help LAYSB be able to continue their mission to help the youth in our area.
LAYSB began in 1976 by local law enforcement, teachers and concerned citizens in the Forest Lake, Minnesota community in an effort to help young first time offenders from violating the law again. Since its creation, “the programs have evolved to include Youth Enrichment & leadership, Jobs Plus Programs, Mentoring and Family Support in addition to early intervention for youth, ages 9 to 18 years.” The bureau serves the Forest Lake School District and all of Chisago County.
Building Strong Communities Begins with a Simple Meal
Gaughan Companies has a long-standing relationship with Sharing and Caring Hands, a non-profit organization, and with the founder Mary Jo Copeland. I have been volunteering at Sharing and Caring Hands for over two decades. I now bring my children to volunteer, too.
Located in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Sharing and Caring Hands provides assistance for those in need. It was established in 1985 by Mary Jo Copeland and provides services such as meals, clothing, showers, shelter, transportation help, rent deposits, rent help, medical assistance, dental care, furniture, school expenses, and other miscellaneous needs.
Twelve employees from Gaughan Companies (and a few of my children) volunteered at Sharing and Caring Hands on Monday, November 14 by preparing and serving the lunch meal. Before every lunch meal, Mary Jo Copeland gives a sermonette and a prayer over the meal. On this day, in the midst of thanking us, she said to those in need, “[Gaughan Companies] came here and made this food for you because they love you. I love you. God loves you.” She encouraged everyone to not lose hope and to forgive those who have wronged them.
Arriving at 9 AM, the preparation team rolled up their sleeves and began rolling utensils and napkins for those partaking in meals that day. Once the breakfast crew had moved out of the cooking space to serve the first meal, our preparation team jumped in to cook the lunch meal. On the menu was tater tot hot dish, salad, fruit and cookies.
Our serving team arrived at 11 AM while the hot dish was cooking, and they also began rolling utensils. They enthusiastically filled over two large containers full of utensils. After a tour of the kitchen and a rundown of the serving team’s duties, each volunteer donned aprons and plastic gloves and were ready to give back to the community.
At noon, those there for the meal, nearly 200 people, made an orderly line in front of the serving stations to receive the food and milk. The other volunteers and I were frequently thanked and blessed by those receiving the food. Giving back to the community in a tangible way is an important mission of Gaughan Companies.
Another mission of ours is building and supporting strong communities. This process begins by helping those who don’t have the means to help themselves currently. We at Gaughan Companies hope that the meal we prepared and served was a step in the right direction for at least one of the recipients.
To learn more about Sharing and Caring Hands, visit http://www.sharingandcaringhands.org/.
-Patrick Gaughan
Gaughan Companies Partners with Non-Profit Community Changing Thrift Store
Gaughan Companies recently broke ground on the new Family Pathways North Branch thrift store. It will be located on Tanger Drive between the Nike outlet and the North Branch Cinema Theater.
This building is the first stand-alone building for Family Pathways and will serve as North Branch’s local thrift store as it partners with ten other locations in serving our community.
As president of Forest Lake, Minnesota-based Gaughan Companies, Patrick Gaughan said, “It’s fun to be a part of this kind of deal. It means a lot to the city. It brings jobs to the community. So all transactions, big or small, are important.”
Family Pathways is a fast growing non-profit thrift store in East Central Minnesota and Polk County Wisconsin. Proceeds from the thrift store sales go toward community programs that the organization sponsors.
These include Hunger Relief, The Refuge Network Domestic Abuse Programs and Shelter, Aging Services, and Youth Programs.
The mission of Family Pathways is to work with communities to develop supportive, caring relationships to help people meet their basic needs.
Last year saw the organization bring a new quality of life to hurting families by proving food for nearly 19,000 people, assisting in refuge from domestic violence for nearly 2400 victims, and assisting nearly 7500 senior citizens with the means to start or continue independent living.
Gaughan Companies is pleased to partner with this trusted organization and is excited to announce that the opening of this thrift store is on schedule for early 2017. For more information, please visit Gaughancompanies.com, and Familypathways.org.
