News & Notes: January 23, 2020

GFWC Is Thinking of Australia

 

Catastrophic bushfires are devastating the land of Australia. The thousands of people who have lost their homes and have been forced to urgently evacuate are in GFWC’s thoughts. So far, there’s been a total of 28 deaths and 2,500 homes destroyed as the fire scatters through 25.5 million acres of land. Billions of animals have tragically lost their lives. As the people of Australia work tirelessly to rebuild their communities and restore wildlife, they are faced with decreased resources. If you’re interested in making a donation, here are three organizations that need help.

Support Fire Fighters
Donate directly to the Rural Fire Service New South Wales. Its donation fund is registered with the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission.

Support Wildlife Rehabilitation
Donate to WIRES (Wildlife Information, Rescue, and Education Service, Inc.). Online donations will benefit all areas affected by the wildfires.

Support Disaster Affected Communities
Donate to the Australian Red Cross, which is providing accommodations, water, food, and essential supplies.

Cares & Concerns 

GFWC regrets to inform you of the passing of Wisconsin Past State President Lois Reinfield (1988-1990). Information regarding Lois Reinfield’s funeral can be found in her obituary. Please keep her family and GFWC Wisconsin in your thoughts.

Volunteers in Action

GFWC Woman’s League of Lowcountry (South Carolina), GFWC Mississippi, and GFWC Women’s Club of Farmingdale (New York) are all featured on the GFWC Blog. Read and comment on their activities supporting the Jasper County Boys & Girls Club, reading to children in their community, and donating to those in need.

Have a success story to tell? Email pr@gfwc.org.

Download GFWC Resources Faster 

A digital library is an online filing cabinet that allows you to access and download resources faster, such as the one in the GFWC Member Portal. After logging in, “My Digital Library” is the second option in the drop down underneath your profile photo (if you’ve uploaded one) in the top right corner.

While the same resources are posted on GFWC’s website, the GFWC Member Portal has more robust document-storing technology that reduces wait times for documents to download. Check out this new member benefit!

Women’s History Month Event

Join us for our Annual Women’s History Month Event on March 5, 2020 from 2:00 – 4:00 p.m. As the centennial of the 19th Amendment approaches, the Women’s History Month Event will focus on celebrating the history that led to its passage. GFWC is proud to have endorsed women’s right to vote in 1914, and to have counted a multitude of suffragists among our ranks. This Women’s History Month event will be dedicated to celebrating those who helped to ensure that our voices are heard.

The event will be held at Headquarters at 1734 N Street NW, Washington, DC. Light refreshments will be served. Register Now!

Honor Your Club’s Founders: Winter WHRC Newsletter 

This past December the WHRC celebrated the life and legacy of the founding mother of GFWC, Jane Cunningham Croly. In this winter’s WHRC Newsletter, we want to know about your club’s founding members. Do you have a story to tell about the tenacious women who started your club? Maybe you have information to share on the circumstances that helped to establish your State Federation? We want to hear how your club was started! Articles must be 500 words or less, and pictures are encouraged but not required. Please send all entries to WHRC Manager Alyssa Constad by February 6.

Buy a Convention Program Ad

With registration almost open, GFWC’s Annual Convention is starting to feel more real! Get excited for the experience in Atlanta by purchasing an ad in the 2020 Convention Program. Check out our Convention Program Ad form to learn more. Order and pay for your ad by March 27!

GFWC Middle Atlantic Region: Linda Kreussling 

GFWC New Jersey hosted the 2019 GFWC Middle Atlantic Region Meeting October 10–13 in Parsippany, NJ, and more than 125 attended throughout Delaware, New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania. Conference Chairman Jean Revis and her committee did an outstanding job. Dinner was served on Thursday night at a local Italian restaurant with 40 members in attendance. On Friday morning, there was a luncheon cruise. On Saturday morning, a representative from the New Jersey State Attorney General’s office spoke about human trafficking. Presentations from the GFWC programs followed that afternoon. There were also vendors all day Saturday!

What is Linda most proud of ? Members of the Middle Atlantic Region have collected 1,100 pairs of shoes for Soles4Souls to support International President Brock’s Grand Initiative.

Give to Survivors Scholarship Fund 

Improve the lives of domestic violence survivors around the country by making an investment in their future with a donation to the GFWC Signature Program: Domestic Violence Awareness and Prevention Fund. Monies from the fund will allow GFWC to award survivors of intimate partner violence with scholarships annually, giving them hope for a better tomorrow. The GFWC Success for Survivors Scholarship was created through GFWC’s commitment to change the lives of survivors as they reshape their future in a positive way through higher education.

State Director’s Project: Maryland, Andrea Lilly

 

The Director of Junior Clubs has been hard at work to make a difference in the state of Maryland, beginning her administration with the theme “Take Me Out to the Park.” She chose this theme because it is near and dear to her heart. Her dad was a state park ranger for 30 years; she grew up visiting state parks and lived on one for 10 years. Her love of the outdoors and wildlife, especially spending time at the seashore, are what inspires her.

She has strived to promote projects that will improve conservation to keep Maryland beautiful. Her goals include supporting Save the Bay; Tremendous Maryland; energy conservation; reduce, reuse, recycle; and to support and gain knowledge of the needs of local and state parks, with special emphasis on planting trees, supporting community gardens, and supporting animal habitats. This director is receiving newsletters from the National Park Service in order to keep informed of needs and programs. Let’s live like the earth is home, where it is kept and protected with respect; together, we can all go out to the parks.

Conservation bags with goodies donated by the National Wildlife Foundation were given to a Boys & Girls Club, and also to a teacher for her environmental science classroom. Bird feeders were made out of recycled materials, along with a conservation learning activity on how well we know our National Parks. Members learned all about one service project, the Aviary-Animal Rescue Program at Rocky Gap State Park. Informational handouts were given to members, and clubs donated two vehicles full of much-needed supplies, which were delivered to Ranger Frank at the park, who graciously provided a tour of the facility.

Parliamentary Pointers
by GFWC Parliamentarian Deen J. Meloro

The club/state president has specific rules she must follow during a meeting.

One of the most important jobs the president has is to handle business in an impartial and fair way. If she is a member, she has the same right to debate as any other member, but the impartiality required of the chair precludes her from exercising that right while presiding. On certain occasions, which should be extremely rare, the presiding officer may believe that she has information unknown to others or that a salient point is being overlooked, and that either of these outweigh her duty to preside at that time. To participate in debate, she must relinquish the chair.

1) She would turn to the ranking vice president who has not spoken to the question and does not decline on the grounds of wishing to speak on it; or
2) If no such vice president is in the room, the chair would appoint some other member who is assumed to receive the assembly’s approval by unanimous consent unless one or more members nominate another person. In that case the person designated by the president and the person nominated by members would both be nominees and the matter is decided by vote.

The presiding officer who has relinquished the chair cannot return to it until the pending question has been decided and disposed of. The president also does not vote with the other members when voting is done by voice vote, raising hands, and/or standing. If members are voting by ballot, the chair may vote with other members as no one knows how she is voting.

The president may vote to make or break a tie. If the vote is 24–24, the question is lost because a tie vote is a lost vote. If the president does not want the question to be lost, she can vote to break the tie and the vote would be 25–24. If the vote ends up 30-29 and the president isn’t happy with the result, she has every right to vote to make a tie. By voting, she can make the vote 30–30, creating a tie, and the vote would be lost.

Marketplace: Shoe Bag

GFWC’s shoe bag is a convenient way to carry your shoes and protect them during travel––especially when you travel to Atlanta, Georgia for GFWC’s Annual Convention! Get yours for $5.00 in the GFWC Marketplace.