Larry Minnix, CEO of LeadingAge, a not-for-profit aging services organization, reminded me in an email last week that May is Older Americans month. Before you say “Geez, they’ve got a month for everything now!” let me say “no disagreement here,” but that doesn’t mean that we can’t or shouldn’t create a special moment out...
The two big conversations among non-profit leaders these days are around accountability (how was your money spent?) and performance or impact (what did that spending achieve?). Some areas of MPTF’s charitable activities are easier to measure than others: we know how much charitable financial assistance was given out in any given month, who it...
This afternoon, MPTF (Motion Picture & Television Fund) and the union representing certain of its employees, SEIU-UHW, jointly announced a 60-day cooling-off period during which time the two organizations will continue to negotiate in good faith toward a collective bargaining agreement. The announcement was made by Bob Beitcher, MPTF CEO, and Dave Regan, President...
We met earlier today with the bargaining team from our union, SEIU-UHW, and the federal mediator who has been involved in our negotiations. After extensive good faith bargaining on MPTF’s part, we have reached an impasse. No further negotiating sessions have been planned. At this time, we are preparing for a strike that the...
Last week, we were delighted to learn that US News & World Report had named MPTF’s skilled nursing home as top facility in our area, with an overall rating of five stars, citing Nurse Staffing levels and Quality of Care in particular. The US News recognition is a strong validation of the terrific efforts...
Part of the brilliant legacy of MPTF is our 40-acre residential campus in Woodland Hills, since the early 1940s an historical treasure overflowing with Hollywood mystique and creative people whose contributions to film and television have made the entertainment industry what it is today. At any given time, you never know who you’ll find...
The short story writer Flannery O’Connor had an anecdote about “A Good Man Is Hard to Find,” one of her truly great works. She went to a class at Wesleyan and one of the young teachers there started asking questions. “Miss O’Connor,” he said, “why was the Misfit’s hat black?” She answered that most...
No one said it would be easy. And no one told me really hard work could feel so good. This past Saturday, 60 volunteers from all walks of the industry responded to a call for action from Derek Krull, MPTF Constituent Development manager, to join in a home safety and renovation project in Burbank...
Here we go again! A new year, new opportunities and new challenges. But before I go into that, I want to take a moment to thank all of you for contributing to a wonderful 2012 for MPTF. I’m not going to stick my neck out by including individual thank-you’s because I will surely miss...
The common thread running through every MPTF volunteer group I ever meet up with is “don’t thank us, we should thank you, because we get so much more out of volunteering than you can ever appreciate.” And so it was a week ago last Sunday when I saw down for a really enjoyable breakfast...