Starfish Community

Summary of meeting 29 AUG, 2010:

1. Dustin Barrington will be the Chairman and lead the different working groups.
2. Tom Webb is going to London/UK and will be connected to NGOs and key Pakistani leaders in London. Dual purposes is to raise money and also raise awareness/recruit NGOs for Pakistan Flood Alliance (PFA).
3. Mark will send emails to all in TO and CC to coordinate a conference call no later than WED this week. Purpose of this call will be to designate way ahead and also see who will volunteer for the different working groups.
4. Rusty has received a list of resources from Presidential Office contact, his agent, that has been given to Pakistan. This will help initilly for gaps so PFA can fulfull them.
5. Rusty was reassured again from his agent that we will have President's concurrence and support on the ground in Pakistan. Customs will be handled by his man there. They will have helicopter access and transportation.
6. Rusty's agent will act as agent on the ground to receive GIK and will coordinate with our NGO networks, including HISG's IDRN as needed.
7. Doug Seebeck is talking with his staff at Worldwide Partners to assemble a agricultural team of SME (Subject Matter Experts) to consult the President's office for the country. Rusty's contact would like CVs within 48 hours.
8. Kay again reiterated that the Starfish Community website is available to be used for collaboration of the PFA and its working groups. David Bopp and Mark Sprenger will work on getting a tag on the Starfish Community website for the PFA: "Pakistan Flood Alliance"
9. A first quick win is to raise the necessary $56,000 to ship the $4M USD of GIK to Pakistan through HISG's present project.
10. The logistics and procurement working group after the conference call will collect information on the 100,000 water systems and compare to other system for price and durability. Mark Sprenger has logistics contacts as well as our Red Orange friend as needed. We will use whomever is cheapest.

11. Liz Cochrane will help solicit financial support as well through foundation contacts. All members will contact people, donors and foundations to raise awareness and support for the PFA.

12. EVERYONE! Please register right away on the Starfish Community Website: http://starfishcommunity.net to facilitate collaboration and communication for the PFA and especially the working groups.

I hope I captured what we discussed. Please forgive me if I missed anything or got something wrong.

Blessings, Kay

This post was edited by a moderator September 2010.

29 AUG Meeting Notes at Lunch:

Background:

There is a growing number of NGOs and companies that desire to work together to serve the people of Pakistan, following is what we have decided to agree on:

1. HISG has offered the Starfish Community website as a collaborative tool for this effort.
2. HISG has been working with local NGOs and churches since the flood one month ago.
3. Rusty Jordan has Presidential access for customs and access. The office has asked for strategic consultation relative to long term agriculture sustainability and food security.
4. HISG has offered for a $56,000 shipping fees, $4 million worth of GIK
5. There is an offer of 100,000 water filtration units. Research will be needed to assess costs and compare with other products available.
6. Initially, there are six working groups that will collaborate on line StarfishCommunity.net: 1. Prayer, 2. Logistics, 3. Procurement/Products, 4. Media/Communications, 5. Fund Raising, 6. Training/Long Term Development

Next Steps:

1. Assign a leader to lead this effort.
2. Mark Sprenger will make HISG con call number available this week for first steering committee meeting. Mark, please contact all to set a time for a con call. Please set a time and contact them. David will brief you on what was discussed this past weekend.
3. Everyone needs to set up an account on the StarfishCommunity.net so we can begin to collaborate and invite others on the different working groups.

With that, I turn over to you all to begin working together for the peoples of Pakistan!

May God bless our efforts!

This post was edited by the author August 2010.

Great news! I have just gotten news that I have raised $28,000 matching grant for the $56,000 needed for the shipment we discussed for the Pakistan Flood Alliance!