CAPCA 1999 Annual Report

The convergence of our continuing commitment to high school students in the Connections program with our support for Peace Corps Partnership Programs made 1999 an outstanding year for CAPCA. As reported last year, CAPCA has begun to support a service and leadership development program for young people in one of Chicago’s most disadvantaged neighborhoods – Englewood. Through the program students were able to take their second trip to Ghana and, this year, to visit the village of Mafi-Dove – where CAPCA is supporting a water & sanitation project. Continuing the relationship, the Connections students made a well-received presentation to CAPCA members at our October dinner meeting. And. PCV Nell Todd wrote and sent pictures (which are now on our web site < http://www.capca.org/ghana.html > ) to bring us up to date on the progress of our Partnership Project.

In addition to $5,000 for the Connections students’ Ghana trip and $2,000 to the Mafi-Dove, CAPCA members also gave $2,000 to the Hurricane Mitch relief fund set up through the Peace Corps Partnership Project, $2,000 to the American Red Cross for the emergencies in Kosovo (war) and Turkey (earthquake), and $500 for the Peace Corps Fellows Program reception during their Chicago gathering in the spring. This outstanding generosity was made possible because of our 430 dues-paying members’ dues as well as the success of our Founder’s Day event and calendar sales (of the Madison, Wisconsin group’s calendar).

Other 1999 CAPCA highlights included the June Founder’s Day dinner, where President Kennedy’s nephew,

Dr. William Kennedy Smith, founder and president of Physicians Against Land Mines (PALM), gave a wonderful presentation about his organization’s work – and about the importance of all of us being engaged in the world. The dinner also featured a slide show of members’ favorite scenes from their Peace Corps days. In September we were honored to welcome NPCA president, Dane Smith, to our monthly dinner meeting. Earlier in the year (March), we had an excellent presentation from Dr. Thomas Derdak, executive director of the Global Alliance for Africa – a small, grassroots NGO that works with health issues and health education projects, e.g., training local nurses, in various places in Africa.

Other special dinners, beyond our regular monthly dinner meetings, which draw between 30 and 60 people, CAPCA held two "extra special" monthly meetings. In May, CAPCA invited its members to attend "Experience India," a community event in Highland Park (Illinois) which RPCV Chuck Sheftel was involved in planning. In December our year ended with a wonderful holiday potluck (90 members and friends in attendance) at a private club to which one of our members belongs.

In the non-food event category, in February, about 20 CAPCA members were organized by Lee Losey to volunteer for a day of cleaning up and painting apartments for senior citizens in one of Chicago’s public housing complexes. Later in the year, a group organized by Maxine Gere volunteered to answer phones for our public radio station, WBEZ’s, regular fundraiser. Finally, in December, about 15 RPCVs joined Mary Collins and the rest of the staff and volutneers at the Evanston (Illinois) YMCA to decorate and staff about half of the 30 booths for their annaul celebration of Christmas (or lack thereof) around the world.

These leadership transitions occurred for CAPCA during 1999:

• in September, new Directors* were elected and appointed and Hannah Leiterman became newsletter editor;
• in October, Leslie Wilson was elected President and Wallace Goode agreed to continue as Vice President:
• at year-end, Greg Nessinger became our Web Master (following a brief stint in the job by Todd Guren, who had taken over from our first and long-standing Web Master, Chris Patzer).