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October 13, 2022
View our Important Dates page for upcoming events and milestones.
Organize Club Projects for Domestic Violence Awareness Month
By Trisha Schafer, Signature Program Chairman
There are many ways your club can help survivors in honor of October as Domestic Violence Awareness Month (#DVAM). Below are some ideas for projects and events your club can organize to bring awareness and show your support to survivors. Remember to encourage community participation!
- Partner with a local orchard or pumpkin patch and paint pumpkins purple. Donate the sales profit from selling the pumpkins to your area domestic violence agency/shelter.
- Hold a candlelight vigil for domestic violence survivors and their families. Provide candles, speakers, and a program.
- At homecoming football games, supply and encourage high school teams to wear purple socks. Cheerleaders could sport purple hair ribbons.
- Purple lights and ribbons will be displayed on the trees on the Freedom House campus. Community members and businesses are encouraged to light their windows in purple to observe Domestic Violence Awareness Month.
- Law enforcement officers wear purple ribbons on their uniforms. Encourage your members to wear purple as well.
- Create posts for your club’s Facebook or social media pages and feature daily inspirational and supportive messages, utilizing: #DVAM22.
Don’t forget to share your club’s project success stories with PR@GFWC.org for a chance to be featured in the GFWC Blog.
Now Open: Success for Survivors Scholarship Application
GFWC is now seeking applications for its 2023 Success for Survivors Scholarship. The scholarship provides survivors of intimate partner violence with financial support as they seek higher education, made possible through generous donations from clubwomen, clubs, State Federations, and other groups.
To recognize Domestic Violence Awareness Month, consider dedicating your next club fundraiser to the GFWC Signature Program Fund this October! Funds donated go directly to the GFWC Success for Survivors Scholarship.
Help give survivors a better tomorrow by donating to the Fund through the Member Portal today!
Volunteers in Action
This week’s GFWC Blog features the Hightstown Woman’s Club (New Jersey) and the Morgan Park Woman’s Club (Illinois). Read how New Jersey clubwomen stuffed Christmas stockings for men and women in the military and how Illinois clubwomen are donating diverse books to local students.
Have a success story to tell? Email PR@GFWC.org to have your club project considered for the GFWC Blog.
Continue to Support Ukrainian Families During Ongoing War Crisis
Nearly eight months after the beginning of the ongoing war crisis in Ukraine, GFWC Affiliate Organization UNICEF USA has remained at the forefront of the humanitarian response for Ukraine. Volunteers are working tirelessly to provide essential services to vulnerable children and families affected by the conflict.
In times like these, while we may witness the most heartbreaking side of humanity, we also see and feel the most uplifting side. As of mid-September, GFWC members donated more than $69,000 to UNICEF to support their relief efforts. Thanks to support from GFWC and other partners, in Ukraine:
- UNICEF has been able to provide life-saving health and medical supplies to nearly 4 million people in war-affected areas in Ukraine, and access to safe water for nearly 3.5 million people in areas where networks have been damaged or destroyed.
- UNICEF has provided access to formal and non-formal education to more than 760,000 children in Ukraine.
- Together with partners, UNICEF has reached more than 1.7 million children and caregivers with mental health and psychosocial support.
- In refugee countries, 320,000 children have accessed education, and 5.4 million people have been reached with life-saving messaging on their rights and access to critical services.
- 40 UNICEF/UNHCR Blue Dots are also providing integrated services for affected families, having reached at least 234,000 children and caregivers.
You can contribute to this humanitarian response by donating to support UNICEF’s efforts.
For continuous coverage on this war crisis, visit apnews.com.
National Day on Writing
By Donna Shibley, Writing Contest Chairman
BTW NALOPKT @TEOTD YWSYLS
If you recognize what the message above says, then you must understand texting (see the last line of this article for translation). To be clear, texting is a quick and easy way to chat, but it is not genuine writing. Genuine writing is an important way to communicate, get one’s message out, and have fun while doing it.
The National Day on Writing® is celebrated on October 20 and was established by the National Council of Teachers of English in 2009. As an essential component of literacy, the teaching of writing while encouraging youth writers is an important role in today’s society. By promoting the various ways people write, GFWC club members can help celebrate these artists.
Poetry and short story are the genres GFWC focuses on. You can encourage youth writers and help them to enter our GFWC Writing Contests. Our clubwomen can enter, too. See the Writing Contest information in the GFWC Club Manual located in the “C” Resources folder of the Member Portal Digital Library.
Writers craft their work naturally, letting their personalities and writing-style preferences appear in their compositions. Let’s inspire these writers to shine while writing from the heart.
By the way, not a lot of people know that, at the end of the day you win some and lose some.
How to Apply for Your State LEADS
By Deb Brossard, GFWC Leadership Committee Member
The excitement is in the air! It is the start of a new GFWC Administration, and time for YOU to consider applying for the opportunity to be your state’s LEADS representative at the 2023 LEADS session in Louisville, Kentucky, on June 9, 2023.
The application process varies from state to state, so it is essential that you investigate how your state determines who will be the LEADS nominee. If this process is not already promoted on your state’s website, begin by contacting your state’s leadership chairman or your state president, who can surely guide you through the process. Or contact your Region’s leadership committee representative, who can also help you navigate the system.
Many states have adapted the GFWC LEADS Application (available in the Leadership Toolkit in the Member Portal Digital Library) to fit their needs and process. Review your state/club application so that you are prepared to provide the necessary information. You will likely need to provide two letters of support from active GFWC club members.
State application deadlines also vary, but each state is to submit its candidate to Susan Gettys, GFWC Leadership Committee Chairman, by March 15, 2023. Good luck!
Sign Up Today for GFWC’s First Engage Beyond the Page: Meet the Author/Book Review
There’s still time to register for GFWC’s first Engage Beyond the Page: Meet the Author/Book Review with Robin Yocum! This exciting event will take place on Zoom at 7:00 p.m. ET on November 16. Registration for the event will also take place directly through Zoom.
2022-2024 GFWC Education and Libraries Honorary Chairman Robin Yocum is the Edgar-nominated author known for his fiction set in the Ohio River Valley. He is the author of six works of fiction including The Essay, our choice for the Meet the Author/Book Review, a novel about a young boy who grew up in a rural town in Appalachian Ohio with little hope for success. It’s a story of finding the path that leads outside of one’s current situation and the opinions of others. For our members who are educators, it will be a walk down memory lane as you remember students who surprised themselves and the adults who believed in them.
Discussing a book with the author is a rare experience to gain more insight about the book, to learn about various inspirations, and to hear about what the author may be working on next.
The Essay by Robin Yocum can be purchased on many online sites. You are encouraged to complete the reading prior to the book review.
Register today through Zoom to join GFWC and Robin Yocum for this exciting opportunity. A brief questionnaire will be sent to those registered approximately one week prior to the book review.
Spread the Holiday Spirit at the 2022 GFWC Holiday Open House
On December 7, GFWC International President Deb Strahanoski and GFWC Director of Junior Clubs Katie Moydell will welcome clubwomen to a festive day of holiday cheer during the in-person 2022 GFWC Holiday Open House. Register to attend one of two scheduled receptions from 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. ET and from 1:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. ET at GFWC’s historic Headquarters at 1734 N St. NW, Washington, DC. During each reception, attendees will be able to enjoy viewing ceramic holiday villages provided by the State Federations that will be on display in recognition of this year’s theme, Home for the Holidays.
Register today through the Member Portal and enjoy the giving season with Federation friends. If you would like to register a group for the reception, please email Events@GFWC.org.
State President’s Project: Jane Jackson, Arkansas
GFWC Arkansas State President Jane Jackson is looking forward to working with clubs to grow membership and increase involvement in GFWC through education. Jane’s education-focused president’s projects include educating members and communities about GFWC and its Affiliate Organizations, promoting and establishing scholarships for students considering pursuits of trade and vocational education, increasing club contributions to the GFWC AR Nurse and Teacher Scholarships, and cultivating GFWC membership for growth and retention.
One of the catch words that has gained momentum in recent years is the word “EPIC,” which historically was described as a great, lengthy narrative poem typically about extraordinary deeds of extraordinary characters.
In today’s slang, EPIC is something that is awesome, great, or unforgettable. Extraordinary!
Well, GFWC is EPIC! As the 2022-2024 Administration continues, consider the following EPIC challenges:
- Encourage members to Educate and Empower each other.
- Promote members’ increased Participation in GFWC, its Affiliate Organizations, and its Community Service Programs.
- Inspire members to make an Impact in their communities through volunteerism.
- Cheer on members who take up the Challenge in leadership roles in GFWC. Everyone needs a cheerleader in their life!
To achieve these four EPIC points, all clubwomen and members of the community must be educated about what GFWC represents. To encourage participation in the state, Jane explained Diamond Awards will be given for challenges completed.
Although Education and Libraries will be the focus of GFWC Arkansas’ Administration, there is an opportunity for education in every Community Service Program, as well as an opportunity to support Arkansas’ scholarship programs.
So, now, how will you write your story? Will it be EPIC?
GFWC Marketplace: District President Pin
Show off your Federation pride with the GFWC District President Pin. This pin features the full-color GFWC emblem on a grey background set on a gold one-inch diameter pin. Order yours today.
For information on mail service in your area, visit the USPS Service Alerts page. To speed up the processing of your order, we request that you pay for your order at the time of purchase in the Member Portal.
Update Your Member Portal Profile
Please visit your profile in the Member Portal and verify that your name, contact information, and home address are correct. If these fields are not correct, select the pencil icon to make edits. If your primary club is incorrect, please email GFWC@GFWC.org for assistance. Past positions are currently being archived by GFWC staff. |
