FCSLA Pilot Program

At the September 2009 Board of Directors Meeting, the Board voted overwhelmingly to approve a pilot program regarding membership for our society. Click here to find out why and to learn more about this program.

Here's why: The Board is continually addressing the need to increase membership and ways to do so. One of the ways considered to increase our membership is to allow more people to become eligible for membership. As long as the prospective member embraced the vision and mission of our society and as long as the prospective member was a Catholic, it was decided to allow such person to be considered for membership. It is a pilot program, which means that it will be reviewed at the end of 2010. At that time, the Board will decide the future of the program. It is not a bylaw change; it is a temporary program.

Under what authority did the Board act? Article III of the FCSLA Bylaws states that the Supreme body shall be the Board of Directors when the convention is not in session. The Board's job is to set goals for the society and to oversee what is done to reach those goals between conventions. The membership decision is made even more critical by the current economy. We need to build our asset base; we will survive these unpredictable business times only if we are strong. We need only to look around us to see what happens to those who are not. Even with the increased sales and increases in our assets, the membership is not growing as much as we need it to grow. The pilot program may give us an answer to this pressing problem. It needs to be tried for the good (and maybe the survival) of the society. Our society cannot wait for two years to try out an idea that could make a significant difference now.

I urge you to be supportive of this pilot program. We must not be afraid to try new things. Our founders were not fearful; they had the goal of caring for the membership. They worked unhesitatingly and successfully. We can do no less.

Thank You

Mary Ann S. Johanek, National President.