News & Notes – February 14, 2019

Leave Your Mark

One of the Seven Grand Initiatives is to plant 1,000 trees for National Arbor Day on April 26. With GFWC’s Federation Day on April 24, it’s the perfect opportunity to bring the celebrations together. What better way to celebrate Federation Day than to plant trees in GFWC’s honor! They will symbolize that GFWC’s roots grow deep and will live on for years to come.

Planting trees is a simple way to make a positive impact on the environment. From improving air quality to creating shade that reduces the energy used by air conditioners, a single tree can make a difference. Imagine the difference that could happen if every clubwoman planted a tree!

Help GFWC reach its goal of planting one thousand trees and leave your mark this National Arbor Day. Whether it’s a sapling or a seedling, each tree will carry on GFWC’s legacy of conservation efforts.

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Call for Articles

As GFWC prepares for Women’s History Month, we continue to look to the past as we prepare for the future. From the beginning, clubwomen have placed the utmost value on their communities and their environment. In 1890, GFWC formed a Forestry Committee to help promote and advocate for the preservation of land. Clubwomen have been integral in the formation of parks such as Everglades National Park, Yellowstone National Park, and Calabasas Big Trees State Park, among many others. The New Jersey State Federation of Women’s Clubs fought for the preservation of the Palisades Park; the topic of our annual Women’s History Month Event. In celebration of this year’s event, and all the incredible environmental work accomplished by clubwomen, this spring’s WHRC Newsletter will focus on environmental history. Please send WHRC Manager Alyssa Constad articles which discuss what your club or State Federation has done to help to preserve vital park lands or to aid the environment. Articles should be no more than 500 words and pictures are encouraged but not required. Please send all articles to aconstad@gfwc.org no later than March 6.

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Techie’s Tips: Why Aren’t Club Members Seeing Facebook Posts?

You’re eating lunch with a fellow club member who asks if you’ve seen the #ThrowbackThursday post GFWC posted an hour ago. You pull up Facebook on your phone, but the post doesn’t seem to be on your feed, even when you scroll. Both you and your friend like the GFWC Facebook page, so why wouldn’t you both see it? Facebook algorithms can affect what posts are visible.

When you go to the GFWC Facebook page, you’ll see a “Following” button at the top. Click on it to see your options!

• Default Follow: when you “like” a page on Facebook, it automatically gets you to “follow” it. This means updates from that page will appear on your News Feed.
• See First: this brings GFWC’s posts to the top of your News Feed so you’ll never miss them.

Change your settings for @GFWCmembers to “See First” to ensure you’re instantly in the know about what GFWC posts!

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Sew Much Comfort Says Goodbye

As we look back we feel so blessed to have proudly served our military for 14 years! What an honor and privilege to have provided comfort and dignity to wounded service members as they recovered from their injuries and transitioned back into their communities. With your help and support, we were able to provide 159,675 pieces of quality adaptive clothing to our wounded service members.

We are so very thankful for your love, support, and patriotism.

With warmest wishes and our eternal gratitude,

Michele Cuppy
Founder and President
mmc.cuppy@comcast.net
www.sewmuchcomfort.org

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Cares & Concerns

We are sad to announce the passing of Bobby Bjork, Past GFWC Montana State President (1996-1998) and Past Western State Regions President (2006-2008). Our thoughts are with her family and friends.

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Volunteers in Action

The GFWC Crescent City Woman’s Club (California), Homemakers of Hickman Mills (Missouri), Women’s Club West Side (Pennsylvania), GFWC Women’s Club of San Bernardino (California), and GFWC Georgia are featured on GFWC’s Blog.

Share your success stories about the Dr. Seuss Initiative or your club’s involvement in GFWC’s cooperative giving project with Soles4Souls by emailing pr@gfwc.org.

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Share the Love

Celebrate today, Valentine’s Day, by sharing what made you fall in love with GFWC. February’s #ThankYouTuesday theme is “Share the Love” so don’t forget to show GFWC some love on this month’s Facebook post.

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RSVP for Women’s History Month Event

Get your friends together and join us at GFWC Headquarters on March 7 from 4:00-6:00 p.m. to learn about the conservation efforts of women’s clubs. Today is the last day to RSVP with aconstad@gfwc.org.

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February is Teen Dating Violence Awareness Month

It’s important for teenagers to know what a safe and healthy relationship looks and feels like, especially if it’s their first one. They might not recognize abusive patterns or behaviors. They also might only know how to identify physical abuse and not psychological, emotional, and digital abuse (using technology such as cell phones or social media to abuse and control). Visit www.loveisrespect.org to educate yourself and youth in your community on teen dating violence, indicators, and healthy relationships. Use GFWC’s Action Guides as resources!

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Recruitment Forms Due

Reminder: Winter Recruitment Reports must be received by March 1, 2019. Forms can be either emailed to ewest@gfwc.org or mailed to GFWC Headquarters. Clubs reporting after the March 1 deadline will not be recognized in the summer issue of Clubwoman Magazine.

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Buy a Convention Program Ad

Do you want to celebrate your club or a specific clubwoman in your life? Buy an ad for the 2019 Convention Program! You can create your own ad or choose from our designs. Check out our Convention Program Ad form to learn more. Order and pay for your ad by March 29!

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Dr. Seuss Facts

Dr. Seuss dedicated his fairy tale book The 500 Hats of Bartholomew Cubbins to a fictitious child, “Chrysanthemum Pearl.” He never had children.

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Listen and Learn About Women’s Health

Last week, Johns Hopkins Medicine’s A Woman’s Journey launched a monthly women’s health podcast. The podcast, “A Woman’s Journey: Insights that Matter,” will post interviews with Johns Hopkins Medicine faculty physicians the first Thursday of each month. Subscribe on ITunes or on Android to this free podcast and hear Lillie Shockney, acclaimed humorist, cancer survivor, and nurse, interview Hopkins doctors about important subjects from Mindful Meditation to the microbiome. Tune into the first in the series: Symptoms You Shouldn’t Ignore with Dr. Anne-Marie Lennon. Check back on the first Thursday of each month for a new topic.

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March of Dimes Notice

Please hold off on shipping baby blankets to March of Dimes until further notice. They are currently transitioning to a new location and don’t have much space in their warehouse. Stay tuned and keep making blankets in the meantime!

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State President Project: Alabama, Christine Steele

Christine Steele’s State President Project honors Alabama’s foremothers: Celebrating 125 Years of Changing Lives Through Scholarships. Building up to GFWC Alabama’s 125th Anniversary in April 2020, the project has three components.

1. Educate members on the 3-volume, rich history of GFWC Alabama. In particular, many hours were spent compiling volume I and it is now in circulation again.
2. Have fun. Thinking about what took place in our history, Purse-onalities and Hat-itudes of Alabama members are being explored as meeting decorations, icebreakers, and fundraising themes!
3. Enhance the current scholarship program (GFWC Alabama’s Scholarship Committee was formed in 1898). The President’s Project Chairman set goals to extend scholarships into areas of study not normally recognized and to exceed the average fundraising for Alabama’s Presidents Projects. Within the first four months, enough was raised to award three additional scholarships. Now seven months in, more than $15,000 has been raised (already 150% ahead of the historical average for a 2-year period). The credit goes to Co-Chair, Sherry Stutts for thinking outside the box and being inventive. The three additional scholarships this year are for a woman who has served in the military, and in the education or counseling/psychology fields.

GFWC Alabama has been actively fundraising for these efforts. The “Degree Campaign” recognizes levels of donations with an associate, bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral degrees. There are also silent purse auctions at meetings and events. And the “Fascinators, Federation & Fun” Fashion Show is taking place this April.

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Legislative Action Corner

This fall, GFWC members voted to support the 3-D Printed Gun Safety Act at their respective region conferences. Recently, a federal judge rejected a request to halt a court fight over the 3-D printed firearms, saying that the government hasn’t justified its decision to end a ban on publishing blueprints for the weapons. The Justice Department had sought a delay as it compiled information to support its 2018 decision to deregulate the use of files for 3-D guns, which the plaintiffs say would make it easy for criminals and terrorists to get their hands on untraceable firearms. GFWC will work with the 116th Congress to ensure that this piece of legislation is reintroduced.

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Parliamentary Pointers

By GFWC Parliamentarian Deen J. Meloro

On this day of “love,” think about your club and its members. How does everyone feel about each other? Are things going well?

There is a little-known device that may help you bring some love into your club, or some more love if things are going well. Robert’s Rules of Order has a meeting device called “Good of the Order.” It can also be called “General Good and Welfare” or “Open Forum.” Some organizations have this as part of every meeting, but most use it only occasionally.

In Parliamentary Procedure, discussion is always based on a motion, except in this case. During Good of the Order, members may bring up concerns or observations about how the club is doing. This is not a time to criticize another member, but someone could say that they are concerned about the cliques they see forming, and what should the club do. This is the time for informal observations and thoughts, regarding the work of the group, the reputation of the group, and the internal functioning of the group. It’s a good time to make some gentle suggestions but not demands.

Good of the Order may be placed under New Business or wherever the presiding officer feels it would have the most affect.

So Happy Valentines’s Day! Hopefully Good of the Order will help renew the “love” in your club.

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GFWC Marketplace: Glitter 3/4 Sleeve Shirt

Valentine’s Day has us in the mood for this snazzy shirt featuring “GFWC” in red glitter across the front. With extra soft cotton and a feminine shape, this might just become your new favorite shirt! Get one today at the GFWC Marketplace.

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