Welcome to the Summer 2024 edition of ROOTS Roundup! In this newsletter you will read about what is happening at ANFP Headquarters, updates from Craig Brightup; ANFP’s Washington DC representative, and valuable information you can share with your state chapter and leaders.

Continuing their service on the Government Affairs committee are Barbara Thomsen, CDM, CFPP as Chair, Cindy Cothern, CDM, CFPP, Dave Kahn, Amarylis Saluk, CDM, CFPP, Jeffery Wuollet, CDM, CFPP and newest member Mark Riley, CDM, CFPP. This committee is responsible for Developing and implementing comprehensive and effective government affairs strategies for the association on the Federal and state levels.

Continuing their service on the ANFP PAC committee are Dorothy Radermacher as Chair, Karla Klein, CDM, CFPP, Marjorie Smith, CDM, CFPP, Raven Marchino, CDM, CFPP and newest member, Jesus Osorio, CDM, CFPP. This committee is responsible for assisting the Government Affairs committee in the development and implementation of effective government affairs strategies and recommends the disbursement of funds from the ANFP-PAC in concert with current legislative strategies.

The U.S. Dept. of Education (ED) has revised minimum hour requirements for approved training programs to be eligible for Title IV financial assistance. New requirements are from the Oct. 31, 2023, final rule “Fiscal Responsibility, Administrative Capability, Certification Procedures, Ability to Benefit (ATB),” which amend regulations for Title IV of the Higher Education Act. 

Starting July 1, 2024, to be eligible for Title IV financial assistance, training programs must adhere to amended gainful employment regulations at 34 CFR §668.14(b)(26), which specify programs can’t require hours exceeding the greater of either the institution-stated didactic and field experience minimums or the minimums required by the State to qualify for Title IV funding. The ANFP program is offered in fifty schools nationwide and requires a minimum of 120 didactic and 150 field hours, but many approved schools exceed the minimums. As of July 1, those schools and their newly enrolled students will not be eligible for Title IV financial assistance unless their hours are pared back to match ANFP’s minimums or the State’s, whichever is greater.

The proposed FY2025 Prospective Payment System for SNFs published by CMS on April 3 also included requests for comments on potential changes to the malnutrition code and nutritional approaches for residents; the Quality Reporting Program concerning food; and the Value-Based Purchasing Program. ANFP submitted comments on these topics to CMS in May.      

ANFP Washington Representative Craig Brightup attended a May 8 lunch for Congresswoman Jen Kiggans, who saluted National CDM, CFPP Day with remarks she made in the Congressional Record, and a July event for Kiggans is being planned for which ANFP-PAC support will be requested. 

If you are interested to learn more about the GrassROOTS initiatives or to become a member of the network please sign up here. Please also consider giving to ANFP’s Political Action Committee. ANFP-PAC is integral to our visibility and success on Capitol Hill. ANFP-PAC can now accept association member contributions electronically via an FEC-compliant system to facilitate donations at ANFP’s live meetings and other events. ANFP-PAC had $8,5334 cash-on-hand as of May 31, 2024, and the goal is to reach $10-15,000.

Learn more about becoming a Chapter Champion HERE.

Chapter Rebate Requirements

Below are the upcoming rebate requirements. Documents can be submitted either via the chapter portal or sent to chapters@ANFPonline.org.

• Submit bank statement for the month of April to ANFP Headquarters – Due May 31
• Officers entered in Chapter Portal for future volunteer year (Officers must be entered each year regardless of length of term.) – Due June 1
• Updated - Submit updated financial reporting template by July each year to ANFP Headquarters - Due July 15
• Upcoming Meeting Dates - Due July 15
• 990 filed and E-receipt submitted - Due July 15
• Affiliate Agreement – Due June 15

PAC Donations – New Way to Donate!

ANFP PAC is now taking donations via the new online platform. Members of ANFP will need to click on the following page and use the donate button. Or ANFP can provide a QR code for your chapter meetings.

The online form will collect all the required information needed for FEC reporting as donation forms are no longer needed. This will eliminate the responsibility of chapter volunteers from collecting forms, cash and checks and mailing to us.  

The update PAC donation policy can be found here.

ANFP is celebrating and recognizing holidays/observances and month-long celebrations throughout the year. To learn more about these observances, please visit our Facebook page, DEI webpage, and check out eNews, which will include links to our toolkits and other resources. This month ANFP proudly recognizes:

Pride Month - June 1-30

As we kick off the new volunteer year, many of our chapters are already thinking about what lies ahead for the new year. Many chapters have scheduled their fall meetings, and some are continuing their work on other initiatives or have started new projects. However, before getting too deep into our chapter work this year, we want to take the time to acknowledge our volunteers’ hard work this past year.

Chapter Awards & ACE Awards – ANFP is recognizing 13 chapters with over 50 awards for their efforts in Communications, Government Affairs, Membership, and State Achievement at ACE in Reno. Additionally, 12 chapters will be recognized as Diamond Award nominees based on submissions of projects that went ‘above and beyond’ the day to day chapter management. Thank you to all our volunteers for your hard work and efforts!

Crowded Banking & Pilot Chapters – The Crowded banking orientation and onboarding calls will begin in mid-June with select chapter leaders. Without our pilot chapters stepping up and being the first to try the new platform and test the functions with their members, our trainings and knowledge would not be the same. With the help of our pilot chapters (FL, IA, ID, IN, MT, NC, NY, UT, VA, WY), trainings and onboarding will go smoothly and will allow us to provide the best possible support and assistance for our chapter leaders during this transition. Thank you to our pilot chapters!

Volunteers of the Month – We have also had the honor of recognizing many of our chapter leaders as Volunteer of the Month throughout the past year. These chapter leaders were recognized for their continuous hard work for their chapter. They are an inspiration to our members and fellow chapter leaders.  All our chapter leaders deserve this recognition, and we’d like to recognize you as one of our Volunteers of the Month in 2024. Please send your nominations (which can include yourself) to asolazzo@ANFPonline.org.

Committees & Task Force – Much of what our committees (and boards) and task force do behind the scenes may go unnoticed. These are groups of members, or chapter leaders, that are continuously looking for ways to improve the volunteer and chapter experience. Whether it is creating new policies or programs to benefit chapters, they are always keeping chapters top of mind. Thank you to our committee and task force members for your support and hard work!

Chapter Leaders & Volunteers – While some of you may not fall into the above categories, your work is still important and appreciated. Our chapters are a lifeline for many of our members and a benefit to all our members. Because of volunteers like you, our chapters provide support, education and networking opportunities that would not otherwise be possible for some of our members. We thank you for your dedication, time, and hard work!

Learn more about becoming a Chapter Champion here.

Congratulations to the following Chapter Champions!

Indiana ANFP
Minnesota ANFP

Chapter Rebate Requirements

Below are the upcoming rebate requirements. Documents can be submitted either the chapter portal or sent to chapters@ANFPonline.org. 

• Submit bank statement for the month of April to ANFP Headquarters – Due May 31
• Officers entered in Chapter Portal for future volunteer year (Officers must be entered each year regardless of length of term.) – Due June 1
• Updated - Submit updated financial reporting template by July each year to ANFP Headquarters - Due July 15
• Upcoming Meeting Dates - Due July 15
• 990 filed and E-receipt submitted - Due July 15
• Affiliate Agreement – Due June 15

PAC Donations - New Way to Donate! 

ANFP-PAC is now taking donations via a new online platform. Members of ANFP will need visit this page and use the donate button. ANFP can also provide a QR code for your chapter meetings. 

The online form will collect all the required information needed for FEC reporting as donation forms are no longer needed. This will eliminate the responsibility of chapter volunteers from collecting forms, cash and checks and mailing to us.  

The update PAC donation policy can be found here

ANFP is celebrating and recognizing holidays/observances and month-long celebrations throughout the year. To learn more about these observances, please visit our Facebook page, DE&I webpage, and check out eNews. These resources will include links to our toolkits and other resources.  This month ANFP proudly recognizes: 

May 1-31: Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month
May 21: World Day for Cultural Diversity for Dialogue and Development 

We’d like to recognize you and your fellow chapter leaders as our Volunteers of the Month in 2024. Please send your nominations (which can include yourself) to asolazzo@ANFPonline.org. 

May marks the end of another successful volunteer year. Looking back, our chapters have accomplished a great deal and have taken on many new changes and initiatives, not only as individual chapters, but as a group as well. We’ve seen our chapter meeting attendance bounce back and new volunteers step forward. Our chapters are embracing our new banking system and working more closely together and learning a lot through our 1:1 calls with National and members of the Chapter Leadership Team. We’ve had some great discussions during our happy hour calls and had various opportunities to learn new leadership skills from each other. As we close out the year, we want to continue this momentum and ensure our incoming (or returning) chapter leaders are set up for success. Here are a few ways we can do this:

Orientation & Onboarding – Chapters should consider hosting their own orientations to go over governing documents, reimbursement policies, and role expectations, as well as hands-on training with the chapter portal and the new online bank, if available. Provide new volunteers with the roles and responsibilities and chapter rebate requirements checklists as well. An orientation checklist is available in ANFPConnnect in Volunteer Resources to help you get started. 

Orientation with National - New volunteers can start their orientation with our online courses: Volunteer 101 and Chapter Board Orientation. They can also take courses specific to their role. These courses are available in the Marketplace at no cost (e-mail staff for discount code). National will also be conducting a live board orientation (click here to register) on Thursday, May 16 at 2:00 p.m. We encourage new volunteers to attend the live session. A similar PowerPoint presentation with talking points on ANFPConnect is also available for your chapter’s orientation. 

Check-in – New volunteers may feel overwhelmed by the amount of information they receive during the orientation, so it's important to check in with them during and after your chapter’s orientation. Returning chapter leaders should act as mentors and have regular communication with new volunteers outside of board and business meetings to ensure the new volunteers can ask questions and run ideas by someone with experience. 

Make it Easy – Making training and orientation accessible and flexible is key to getting your new volunteers started on the right foot. This may mean holding your orientation, as well as board and business meetings, virtually. Not all members are able to take time off their jobs to attend such meetings, so bringing the meeting to them will ensure they can attend. Also, let them know of all the materials and resources available to them (Volunteer Handbook, Volunteer Resources, mentors, staff contact info, etc.) should they have questions. And encourage them to ask questions!

Encourage Engagement – While training is a very important part of our volunteers’ success, we also want to see our new chapter leaders engaged. Encourage them to attend the leadership happy hour calls (typically the first Tuesday of each month at 2:00 p.m. CT) as well as the virtual chapter best practices sessions, town hall meetings, and of course all your chapter board meetings. You can have them reach out to new members on a regular basis and if you have social media accounts, ask them to help share posts in addition to the other work that has been assigned. 

Learn more about becoming a Chapter Champion here.

2024 Chapter Spring Meetings & Prior Approvals

As you begin to finalize your spring meeting agenda/programs, please be sure you are following the prior approval guidelines and best practices. Please review the application and handbook and make use of the tools and template available in the Prior Approvals Toolkit & Meeting Resources. Submitting completed applications along with the required documents the first time helps to expedite the approval process. 

Chapter Rebate Requirements

Below are the upcoming rebate requirements. Documents can be submitted either through the chapter portal or sent to chatpers@ANFPonline.org. 

• Submit bank statement for the month of April to ANFP Headquarters - Due May 31
• Officers entered into Chapter Portal for future volunteer year (officers must be entered each year regardless of length of term) - Due June 1
• Submit updated reporting template by June 30 each year to ANFP Headquarters - Due June 15
• Upcoming Meeting Dates - Due July 15
• 990 filed and E-receipt submitted - Due July 15

ANFP is celebrating and recognizing holidays/observances and month-long celebrations throughout the year. To learn more about these observances, please visit our Facebook page and check out eNews, that will include links to our toolkits. This month ANFP proudly recognizes: 

April 1-30 – Autism Awareness Month

April 22 – Earth Day

This month we are recognizing Clara Poole CDM, CFPP, of the Florida (FL) ANFP Chapter. Clara has been certified since 1989, and began her volunteer career with ANFP in 2015. She started assisting the district and state by recruiting speakers and helping with securing donations for both. She was then elected as a district president, and eventually was elected to the state chapter president role in 2021, which she continues to serve in today. 

During her robust career, starting as a server in the hospitality industry, and then moving into the foodservice and healthcare field, she received recognition and awards for her exemplary work, including the Riverchase Rehab Center Pillars of Excellence Manager of the Year Award in 2010. 

Clara’s positive impact continues today with the FL ANFP chapter where they have built a new board and recently taken part in the pilot program with the new online banking platform, Crowded. Yet with the positive changes for the chapter, Clara would still like to see membership grow with more foodservice managers becoming CDM, CFPPs within the state. She would also like to see current CDM, CFPPs step into volunteer roles and eventually hand over the reins of leadership to new board members. Clara would also like to see the chapter hold meetings consistently at the state level. 

We thank you Clara! Your determination and perseverance has revitalized the chapter and provided services and support to the members of FL. Thank you for all you do! 

We’d like to recognize you and your fellow chapter leaders as our Volunteers of the Month in 2024. Please send your nominations (which can include yourself) to asolazzo@ANFPonline.org. 

Earlier this year we conducted another round of one-on-one calls for those chapters that showed interest. Chapter one-on-one calls are an opportunity for chapters to meet with members of the Chapter Leadership Team (CLT) as well as staff, to ask questions, discuss their challenges, and give feedback. These calls have been mutually beneficial and helped staff and the CLT understand how we can provide support to our peers and learn about the obstacles chapter leaders are facing and be able to help them overcome these challenges or offer assistance. Chapter leaders also took the time to request tools and resources that would be helpful, including member outreach and communication templates.

Member Outreach – A newly updated section in Volunteer Resources includes email templates for new members, students, and lapsed members. Communications with new members should be sent out on a regular basis to ensure your new members know who to contact with questions and the resources available. You can customize the template to fit your needs and include important information about your chapter. This section also includes letters for students and inactive/lapsed members.

Employer Letter of Support – Many of our chapter leaders mentioned members having a difficult time getting support from their employers. We created a template that members can use to start the conversation and explain to their employers the importance of maintaining the credential and how they can support them. Members should also include the scope of practice and ‘How Employers Can Support a CDM, CFPP’ when discussing the benefits of the CDM, CFPP. Both tools, as well as other useful support resources, can be found in the Chapter Marketing & Recruitment Toolkit in Volunteer Resources.

Support for Attendance at ACE– Members that need employer support to attend the upcoming Annual Conference & Expo (ACE) in Reno can also present a letter to their supervisor to explain the benefits of attending such an event. This template can be found here.

Learn more about becoming a Chapter Champion here. 

2024 Chapter Spring Meetings & Prior Approvals

As you begin to finalize your spring meeting agenda/programs, please be sure you are following the prior approval guidelines and best practices. Please review the application and handbook and make use of the tools and templates available in the Prior Approvals Toolkit & Meeting Resources. Submitting completed applications along with the required documents the first time helps to expedite the approval process. 

Chapter Rebate Requirements

Below are the upcoming rebate requirements. Documents can be submitted either through the chapter portal or sent to chapters@ANFPonline.org.

• Submit bank statements for the month of October to ANFP Headquarters – Due November 30
• Financial Reporting Template – Due January 15 (can be uploaded via the portal)
• Chapter Bylaws – Due January 15 (if the chapter bylaws have not changed, please let us know. You will not need to submit another copy.)
• Policies & Procedures - Due January 15 (If the chapter policies & procedures have not changed, please let us know. You will not need to submit another copy.)
• Bi-Annual Chapter Rebate Achievement Report - Part 2 - Due January 15

Also, if you have not submitted the following documents from the first deadline, please do so as soon as possible:

• 990
• Affiliate Agreement
• Financial Code of Conduct

ANFP is celebrating and recognizing holidays/observances and month-long celebrations throughout the year. To learn more about these observances, please visit our Facebook page and check out eNews, which will include links to our toolkits. This month ANFP proudly recognizes: 

March 1-31 – Women’s History Month

March 31 – Easter

This month we are recognizing James Stewart, CDM, CFPP of the California (CA) ANFP Chapter. James joined ANFP in 2019, but did not get involved until 2022, after attending his first ACE. Following the 2022 ACE, he began to engage with the other chapter leaders regularly through Zoom meetings and offered his assistance.  

During his first year, James began to learn from the CA chapter leader “all-stars” and began to understand how the organization worked from the inside and continued to help whenever asked. Eventually he was appointed to the role of President-Elect and is currently the CA Chapter President.

Since getting involved with the chapter, James’ biggest impact has been the consistent willingness to help, show up and do whatever he can to help the chapter become stronger. He does this also by speaking at CA chapter events, assists with virtual meetings and is in continuous communication with members, all while having a great sense of humor. 

James envisions a bright future for the CA chapter. One that involves the chapter winning awards, including the coveted Diamond Award. Additionally, he would like to see the chapter increase the number of CDM, CFPPs in the chapter as well as increase CA member presence at ACE.  

Thank you, James, for your continuous dedication, hard work, and support of the CA ANFP Chapter! Our chapters continue to thrive because of volunteers like you!

We’d like to recognize you and your fellow chapter leaders as our Volunteers of the Month in 2024. Please send your nominations (which can include yourself) to asolazzo@ANFPonline.org. 

Much of our content consumption, whether it be educational, for trainings, for fun, or otherwise, is often done via video. It might be a webinar, TikTok, YouTube, Facebook Reels, or a video on your local news page. It has become a consistent method of communication as well. With video conferencing on platforms such as Zoom, RingCentral, Slack, and even FaceTime, it is a presence in our everyday lives. However, while video is convenient, it does not replace the need for written communication. There are many reasons written communication is still necessary, particularly with our chapters. Newsletters are one of the ways we communicate with our chapters, along with e-mails, social media posts, or other essential documents. These communications provide important and updated information relevant to our members and their careers. So, it’s important that these communications are written in a professional manner that is free of spelling and grammar errors and are clear and concise. To ensure your chapter’s communications include content that is presented in a professional manner, we’ve included a few tools listed below that chapter leaders may find helpful. 

• Grammarly is an artificial intelligence (AI) writing tool that assists writers with punctuation, spelling and overall grammar and content structure. Don’t let AI scare you! While it should not be used to create the content itself, it is a useful tool to ensure your writing is clear, concise and error free. The platform is free. Users can plug in their content and check for grammar accuracy or improve the content with the paraphrasing tool. 
• Canva is a graphic design platform with templates for all types of documents like newsletters, fliers, invitations, and other visual communications. The free templates can be designed to fit your needs and branded with ANFP logos and colors. 
• Microsoft Templates is like Canva, as it offers various templates within the Microsoft Office Suite that can be useful for other chapter projects. Perhaps you are looking to enhance your next PowerPoint or would like to track evaluation results over a period in Excel. Microsoft offers an array of templates to help you get started on your next communication or project. 
• ChatGPT is another AI tool that can help users refine their content making it more concise. Like Grammarly, it should not be used to create the content itself; it can be useful to rephrase content and ensure accurate spelling and grammar.
• ANFP's Style & Brand Guide is a handy resource for all your chapter branding and writing needs. When creating a marketing document (including your newsletter), we recommend you refer to this guide to ensure seamless branding and a professional look. You can access this in Volunteer Resources here.  
• Perhaps the most important tool you have is the Spelling & Grammar function in Word which should be used with every document created as a best practice. Additionally, when creating communications, newsletters, or other marketing documents or collateral, it’s also a best practice to proofread the content before sending it out to your audience. You may also want to consider having a couple fellow chapter leaders proofread these documents as well.