Crown Point Ecology Center

“Corporate member - the members of the corporation are the prioress and council of the dominican sisters of peace, inc.”

“Decisions subject to member approval - the board of directors may not take any of the following actions without the approval of the corporate members: 1) election of new members to the board of directors 2) hiring or termination of the executive director 3) the sale, transfer, exchange, lease for more than one year, or pledge/mortgage of the corporation's real estate 4) the alteration or addition to buildings or other improvements on the corporation's real estate, or the making of any contract, option or other agreement with respect thereto, if the transaction involved has a value in excess of 50,000 5) approval of the annual budget 6) incurrence of any debt 7) the merger, consolidation, or reorganization of the corporation 8) the amendment of the code of regulations of the corporation 9) acceptance of a gift or grant with restrictions as to its charitable use, when compliance with such restrictions would have a significant impact on the purpose, plan or mission of the corporation 10) any significant change in the purpose, plan or mission of the corporation”

“Review of form 990 - form 990 is reviewed by the finance committee and then presented for approval to the board of directors.”

“Monitoring of conflict of interest policy - each year, board members are asked to read and then sign the conflict of interest statement. If any board members have a conflict on a vote being taken, the board member abstains from voting and the reason is recorded in the minutes.”

“Review of compensation for executive director - the board of directors reviews the performance evaluation of the executive director before deciding on the compensation for the next year. Salaries are included in the annual budget which is approved by the board of directors.”

“Availability of governing documents - copies of crown point's governing documents, conflict of interest policy and financial statements are available upon request to the executive director.”

“Pumpkin patch dash 5k race. These events brought hundreds of visitors to crown point - many for the first time - and helped them to better understand crown point's important role in our community and in our world. In early spring, we had our first, ever prairie burn to help restore and improve our native grasslands and flowers. Prairie plants evolve deep roots and have the ability to regrow quickly and grow stronger after fires. By working with nature, we are helping to improve habitats for native plants and animals and reduce the pressure of invasive species like multiflora rose. Our inaugural earth day volunteer day was a success with several activities including a straw bale workshop building and trail clean-up. Many trees and perennials were planted that day. Families and boy scouts had fun seeding the prairie and transplanting perennials from our greenhouse grown seedlings. We followed up in may with our 14th annual plant sale. We had 40,000 plants for sale, with over 250 varieties of certified organic vegetable, flower, and herb plants. The new native prairie perennials we introduced this year sold out quickly. The sale was well attended and generated 40,000 in revenue for crown point. After the plant sale 12,000 plants were donated to 40 different organizations, including churches, educational farms, refugee support organizations and community gardens that donate food to our food banks. Thanks to a grant from the ohio & erie canalway, we created new signage, trail maps and produced a self-guided tour map for our 5.5 miles of walking and hiking trails. We also planted cornellian cherry trees, serviceberry shrubs, and fringe trees alongside a new trail in memory of sister pat sigler the wildlife orchard walk. Youth education and community activities we held soil science field trip workshop for sixth grader classes from four akron city schools and invited many school groups for different field trips. We are increasing our partnership with scout groups around the area, including st hillary cub scouts and scout pack 3387 of richfield, ohio. Crown point hosted its second pumpkin patch dash 5k in october. We hosted four sold-out healthy dinners in january, february and march and april in partnership with cleveland based local abundance non-profit. In july, we hosted a somali outdoor cooking class centered on the use of our cob oven. The event sold out. Local abundance kitchen educates and assists refugees and immigrants to offer cooking classes and workshops that will provide them with an empowering and enriching path to meaningful income. New event this year, jazz in the barn, was a well-attended and fun concert in our lovely barn. The 20th annual taste of earth gala, celebrating bath's bicentennial was held in august for a full house of guests who dined on our beautiful produce and enjoyed a sustainably prepared local meal. We hosted meditation workshops and regular meetings to study pope francis' encyclical "care for our common home." we continued to offer our monthly labyrinth walks through the year and our weekly yoga classes in fall, spring and summer. We also had a full day yoga retreat and also a fun goat yoga day. We began construction of our "honey house" by bringing water to an old white farm shed. Thanks to a grant from the blooming prairie foundations and funds raised at our taste of earth gala event this shed will be retrofitted to house honey extracting equipment and bee-keeping workshops in collaboration with the summit county beekeepers association. Our property continues to grow as a venue for weddings and business and civic meetings. These opportunities not only bring new visitors to crown point but also provide an important revenue stream that supports our organic farm and educational programming. Farm o our farm manager, assistant manager and a team of seven interns had a successful year, serving 100 community supported agriculture (csa) clients and donating over 2000 pounds of organic produce to the akron”