The 2021 Annual Meeting of the board of directors will be held on Thursday, June 24, and one of the questions that will be considered is the future of N2N. After several attempts over the years to increase volunteer participation in running the organization, not much has changed. As a result, there was very little resilience in the organization during the past year to pivot in programming and communication during the pandemic (as readers of this newsletter have noticed, publication of the newsletter has dropped in frequency). Attempts at starting a Movie Group and Bridge Group fizzled. The N4N Health Network, led by Jane McCarthy, produced a handful of important referrals and assistance for inquiring participants, but communication through that group discontinued. In addition, two valued board members and friends who have been with N2N since the beginning will be stepping down from their roles: Linda K. Jacobs (Vice-President & Treasurer) and Kathleen Dimmick (Secretary).
On a positive note, the Conversation Group and the Book Group, both originally facilitated by board member, Mary Ellen Fielder, are going strong and provide a reliable sense of community for their participants.
Is this enough? Are we at the end of this experiment, or can the organization pivot into a post-pandemic existence that is meaningful for its participants?
We invite you to send us your thoughts before June 24 by posting a reply here or sending us an e-mail to n2n.greenwich.village@gmail.com. If you have participated in any of our events or groups, what would you like to see happen? Would you be able to offer your time to keep N2N running? Or have we reached the end of this all-volunteer experiment?
Thank you all for your thoughts and for participating by – at least – reading this newsletter, and coming to our lectures and events. We hope to publish a follow-up newsletter once we reach a decision about the future.
After all this time and effort, I’d hate to see this promising project dropped. My own participation is limited by my physical condition, but I’m willing to do what I can to keep N2N going and flourishing.
George
During the pandemic, many organizations started to fizzle. I think we should not be discouraged. N2N benefits all of us, regardless of our level of participation. Let’s see how we can reactivate the activities we would enjoy in person and virtually. We learned from the speakers who were very relevant, and we enjoyed getting to know each other by exploring neighborhood restaurants with Linda. I hope all will participate in Lonnie’s research. We need to help him finish his PhD; he has given so many hours to N2N. Just three reasons to keep going. Let me know how I can help.