Membership

As you know, great things have been happening at your Down Syndrome Association of Wisconsin. We have been transitioning from a volunteer-driven organization with a number of successes for almost 20 years to one that can expand our outreach and capitalize on experience. In order to provide some insight into DSAW’s current abilities, we’ve put together a small synopsis from 2009:

In 2009, DSAW value was delivered in Wisconsin through an estimated 10,000 volunteer and staff hours. We were able to provide value with the help of:

300 Day of Event family and corporate sponsored volunteers;
30 Advisory Board Member volunteers;
20 Chapter volunteers performing multiple roles to support a DSAW chapter;
8 Board Member volunteers;
15 Committee Member volunteers;
2 Staff; and,

*Professional volunteers (donating specialized value in areas such as tax accounting, public relations, website design, project management, grant writing and literature design);

*Office volunteers (answering phones, emails, mailings, thank you letters)

The Board of Directors determined the optimal way to deliver value to the DSAW membership and statewide Down syndrome community going forward was to increase the current paid office staff from two part time individuals to two part time plus one full time staff. With the growth of our organization and the variety of ideas for improving on what we already have, it has become increasingly clear, a full-time Executive Director is needed to assist in providing optimal value to DSAW. Angie Fech and Carrie Timmermon will continue to work for you and add value to your Down Syndrome Association of Wisconsin while working alongside Ron Malloy, DSAW’s new full time Executive Director to provide significant benefit to your Down syndrome community.

Looking forward as DSAW continues to grow and add value across the state we hope to increase the number of professionals interested in donating a specialized talent and the number of volunteers that can donate a consistent number of hours per week working out of DSAW’s office. We will be reaching out to specialized professionals, retired parents, grandparents and adults with Down syndrome to become office volunteers and professional volunteers in 2010.

As DSAW continues to grow, we hope that you will offer feedback on what you, as members, would like from the organization. As always please refer to the website for additional ways to get involved in our events, outreach and other programming.

Thanks,

DSAW Board of Directors