UPDATE
VEBF Donation Deadline is Monday, November 30, 2020
“Villagers are encouraged to visit the new web site at www.VEBF.org, and make a donation to the fund before Nov. 30. The cash gifts to POA workers will be distributed by VEBF board members at the annual POA employee Christmas luncheon in early December.” Thank you!
Hot Springs Village Employees Benefit Fund (VEBF) opens new website to boost donations
The Village Employees Benefit Fund is now in its 21st year of fundraising, asking Villagers to donate for the purpose of thanking our POA workers for the hard work they do day in and day out, 365 days a year.
The fund donates a cash gift in early December to full- and part-time hourly workers only, not management, and only to those workers who are employed by the POA, not any sub-contractors.
As a non-profit organization, the VEBF is run by an all-volunteer board of Village residents, who solicit and collect donations through the use of a mass-mailed letter to every household in the Village and through corporate sponsorship donations.
This year, in addition to the letter, the board authorized the creation of a web site, www.vebf.org. We can now present as complete a picture as possible to Village residents about our mission, the impact the annual donation has on Village workers, and why Villagers choose to donate. And new this year, Villagers now have the option to donate through the website, using their credit card in a safe and secure transaction.
The web site also has some great “behind-the-scenes” photos, courtesy of several of the POA’s departments, showing our employees at work on our behalf. This is a good place to mention that the fund is in no way “connected” to the POA. No one at the POA directs or controls any of our board’s decisions. However, recognizing our significant contribution to employee morale, the POA does aid us, especially in helping to coordinate the distribution of the annual cash gift at the POA Christmas luncheon to the 400 or so hourly employees.
At the luncheon, a member of the VEBF board shakes every employee’s hand as he/she is presented their cash gift and thank you card and told the gift is from the property owners as a way to say “Thank You” for their efforts and service.
Finally, let me just add that last year, the fund was able to give a cash thank-you gift to full-time employees of $150, and to part-time employees, $75. This year, our goal is to reach more households with our message and increase our gift.
We believe this kind of gift at Christmastime can make a real difference in the lives of workers; whose average hourly wage is just around $11.
If you have never donated to the fund, we hope you will consider doing so this year. If you are already a supporter, thank you for your donation. We look forward once again to passing along your gift to our deserving POA workers.
DC Reed, President Village Employees Benefit Fund, November 6, 2020
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Max
11/12/2020 — 11:21 am
This is a great program and I wish more Villagers would partake in it.
Tom Blakeman
11/12/2020 — 2:33 pm
While this is a good and worthy program perhaps the Village (POA Board) should consider implementing an across the board Christmas Bonus for all employees. I’m guessing that all do not take advantage of the current 1/2 price on all amenities program so this way all could benefit. Of course such a program would need to be based on some sort of measurable and realistic POA performance criteria for the year which might be a problem to figure out (particularly since we’ve never had any such thing). A Christmas Bonus would also be much more equitable than a big bonus for a “ceo” or “gm” every year which has been what’s been going on in the past. That big bonus could be eliminated (along with contracts for that job). Perhaps the 1/2 price amenities program could be scaled back or eliminated as well so we could afford such a plan.