Welcome to the VEBF June newsletter!

I am encouraged to report that 57% of the people who volunteered to receive our previous newsletter actually opened it for review. This information is supplied to us by Constant Contact, the company that manages our e-mail list. While we would enjoy knowing that a higher percentage of our recipients opened the newsletter, I have been informed that this is a very good reaction. Constant Contact also reported that 1.7% of you clicked through to our website, so, thank you for that! I hope the pictures and stories we portray of the POA hourly workers on the website and this newsletter provide you with a greater appreciation for the people behind the scenes who make our Village such a great place to live.

In our previous newsletter, I mentioned we would be reaching out to you with eight newsletters per year. Since then, we have been in communication with our Advisory Resource Council (ARC). One of the recommendations we received from the participants was to increase our outreach efforts with more social media and advertising throughout the year. Taking this advice to heart, we will increase the publication of our newsletter to ten times per year, since this is one of the most economical options available to us.

We already have a Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/VEBFund) and a website (https://vebf.org/). We also advertise during our fall fundraising season in the Hot Springs Village Voice, HSV Life Magazine, and on KVRE.

The members of the ARC also suggested we try to differentiate ourselves from the POA by using the phrase “independent non-profit organization in support of POA hourly workers” Good advice! Also suggested was the idea we should show more pictures and tell more stories about the employees we support, and how they use the appreciation gifts we give them every December. Readers of this newsletter already know we have been featuring various POA departments and employees, so rest assured we will continue helping you become familiar with more of our front-line workers and their stories.

Finally, in an effort to help you learn more about our board members, we will feature a profile of one board member in each newsletter. We are the people who make the decisions about how to manage your donations, so, it is time to get to know us better! We are an interesting bunch with diverse backgrounds, all dedicated to the support of our POA hourly workers and their families.

John Chapman - President, VEBF 

VISIT US AT THE POA JUNE “MEET & GREET”

Mark your calendars for Tuesday, June 13, 4-6 PM at the Coronado Community Center. The Hot Springs Village POA will be hosting another resident “Meet & Greet” to welcome newcomers, featuring representatives from every POA department and many of the organizations here in the Village, including the VEBF. Clampit’s Food Truck will be on location to provide light meals if you’d like to take an evening off from preparing dinner at home, and the cash bar will be up and running as well. This event is an outgrowth of the newcomer forums that were held at the Woodlands Auditorium, but which is now open to any resident who wants to interact with any of the POA departments or local clubs and organizations that participate.  

Meet Glenn Noles, Lead Equipment Operator Foreman 

Glenn Noles has been serving on the Street Maintenance Dept since March of 2019. 

In the past year, he was promoted to our Lead Equipment Operator Foreman position. Under his new role, he has taken on added responsibilities such as department safety meetings and executing large projects that saves the POA money every week. 

Each culvert that Glenn and his crew replaces, is completed in-house at a fraction of the cost versus contracted or professional rehabilitations. Glenn continues to showcase his dedication and passion for his job for the POA every day, as he comes in many times on weekends and nights, whenever he is needed. Whether he is clearing a tree off the street on a Saturday night, plowing snow off the roads at 2:00 am, or working late to open a road after a flashflood, he always has a good attitude and fully enjoys serving the community.

Glenn began working for the POA in 2003 in golf maintenance. In 2017, Glen was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma and the VEBF was quick to provide financial provisions during his treatment. Glen would like to thank the Village Employee Benefit Fund committee for their generosity to all the POA employees. 

Meet Jerry Capozzi, Isabella Golf Maintenance Spray Technician 

Jerry joined the Isabella Golf Crew in September 2016 as a greenskeeper. In 2019 he became Isabella’s Licensed Spray Technician.

Jerry takes great pride in his work. If Jerry does it, you know it will be done right. He is a model employee, extremely dependable with an outstanding work ethic. He routinely begins each day early when the course is scheduled to be sprayed and is ready to get the job done in a safe and timely manner. Jerry is always willing to come in when needed for extra weekend duty or to stay after hours to complete the job.

Jerry retired from United Airlines in Chicago after 36 years of service. He has a 26-year-old daughter that lives in Chicago, that he is very proud of.

During his spare time, he likes to travel, do yard work, and just started to play golf. 

NAME: DC Reed         

SPOUSE’S NAME: Glenda

WE MOVED HERE FROM: Bedford, Texas

MY HOBBIES OR INTERESTS ARE: Golf; all Miss State sports teams; creating and developing sales programs.

WHAT WAS YOUR PROFESSIONAL OCCUPATION BEFORE YOU RETIRED? Senior Sales Account Manager for a technology company.

WHAT PERSONAL OR PROFESSIONAL ACCOMPLISHMENT(S) ARE YOU MOST PROUD OF? Personal accomplishments would include making an Albatross on Isabella - Nina #5 on my 65^th birthday.  

Also, a personal goal is to always try to make the company or organization better than when I joined it. I believe VEBF is a much better and stronger organization than when I joined it 5 years ago, not only from my efforts, but also the efforts of the very special group of current board members.

Professional accomplishments would include being a leading sales manager for the last ten years of my career, therefore giving Glenda and I the ability to travel and visit places we normally would not have had the opportunity to visit.  

MY BIGGEST SOURCE OF INSPIRATION CAME FROM: Different business mentors over the years, which allowed me to develop my selling and marketing skills.

PEOPLE WOULD BE MOST SURPRISED TO LEARN ABOUT ME THAT: I really do not like to get up and make speeches in front of large crowds.

WHAT APPEALS TO YOU ABOUT THE VEBF, AND SERVING AS A BOARD MEMBER? The great opportunity to give back to our community and the 400 or so dedicated employees who work every day to make Hot Springs Village a wonderful place to live and enjoy. VEBF is a unique organization, which was created for the sole purpose of giving Hot Springs Village property owners the ability to say “Thank You” to the employees for their efforts all year long. 

WHAT WOULD YOU SAY TO A VILLAGE RESIDENT WHO THINKS A CONTRIBUTION TO THE VEBF IS NOT NECESSARY? Contributing to the VEBF is purely a personal choice, but since being involved with VEBF, I have learned how much our contributions mean to the employees. I do believe that, in a perfect world, every homeowner and property owner should give something to VEBF. The amount does not matter, just to recognize the effort our employees provide for us.

For the past two years, while only around 14% of the Village’s 9,000 homeowners contributed to VEBF, we were able to provide our employees with the largest “Thank You” gift ever given. I also challenge all property owners to think about getting personally involved with VEBF and helping us make it better.

When you’re a front-line worker, “Thank You” means a lot. 

The people who work hard every day to make sure everything in Hot Springs Village – from the East Gate to the West Gate – is well-cared for and maintained, are the hard-working hourly employees of the POA. They are the line staff, workers who groom your golf courses, collect your trash, maintain your roads and buildings, pump water into your homes, operate your wonderful facilities, patrol your streets, extinguish your fires, and yes, process your sewage.  

Let’s show our appreciation for a job well done! Your donation will ensure that our POA employees are supported with emergency funds and continuing education all year long plus holiday monies at the end of each year.

You can mail your donation check to Village Employees Benefit Fund, P.O. Box 8503, Hot Springs Village, AR 71910 or donate via secure credit card, CLICK HERE. 

Help us help those who serve our community!

Donations are appreciated all year long.

Hot Springs Village Employees Benefit Fund was established on September 22, 1999, to receive and disburse appreciation funds contributed by the property owners of Hot Springs Village, Arkansas.

These funds are for the benefit and support of all qualified POA employees (excluding Top Management) as defined in the by-laws.

Our intent is to demonstrate the recognition, appreciation, and respect that our property owners and others have for all those who work to support and maintain Hot Springs Village.