Saturday, November 6, 2010 | 3:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m.
On Saturday, November 6th members of the Council of Friends of New Amsterdam (COFONA) assembled to strategize on plans to assist the town of New Amsterdam. Several meetings had been held after the September Forum to formalize the organizational structure of COFONA. In the November meeting, representatives of several affiliated organizations described their programs and involvement in New Amsterdam. COFONA plans to begin by working with existing projects in New Amsterdam and build on those experiences to make their work more successful.
Several fund raising events are being planned for 2011 to support projects that will be identified for assistance. The President of COFONA explained that COFONA’s mission is to establish an organization that focuses on helping to create the conditions that are conducive to job creation, programs that encourage and promote education, and those that focus on health issues. Additional information on COFONA could be found at the website at www.cofona.org.
Representatives of COFONA will visit New Amsterdam within the next few weeks to meet with the Town Council, business leaders, educators, civic organizations, community leaders, and other stakeholders. In addition to identifying needs and discussing ways to address those needs, a counterpart representative group would be organized in New Amsterdam to monitor programs and projects and liaison with the town council and other stakeholders.
COFONA will soon establish a Memorandum of Understanding with the Mayor and Town Council of New Amsterdam to define the organization’s relationship with the Mayor and Town Council. COFONA intends to establish and promote a long-term relationship with the town in order to effectuate change over time.
Persons who expressed an interest in New Amsterdam were invited to become Founding Members of COFONA. Founding membership was open to all persons who signed up for membership up to the end of October, 2010. Over 54 persons signed up as Founding Members of COFONA. These Founding Members include persons from various states within the United States, as well as persons who reside in Canada.