News & Notes – November 7, 2019

Support March of Dimes for Prematurity Awareness Month

November is Prematurity Awareness Month! This month is an opportunity to reflect on the nearly 400,000 babies born preterm each year in the United States and what we can do to prevent it. Request your official toolkit from March of Dimes to help raise awareness about premature births throughout the month.

March of Dimes also has an exclusive online military community dedicated to supporting the needs of military moms-to-be with health information and a support network. Being an expecting military mother can be both a joyful and stressful experience. High levels of stress may contribute to premature birth or low birth weight in full-term babies. March of Dimes created Mission: Healthy Baby®, a baby shower program specifically for military families that provides free pregnancy and newborn health information and free baby items through our Military Baby Showers.

Get involved with March of Dimes this month! Your club can make a difference in the lives of moms and babies, whether you put knitting skills to good use or organize a Beyond the Mission: Healthy Baby Shower.

Volunteers in Action

GFWC’s Ojai Valley Woman’s Club (California), Service Guild of Covington (Georgia), and Warwick Women’s Club (Rhode Island) are featured on GFWC’s Blog. Read and comment on their activities at Covington FUMC’s Change the World event, the Elizabeth Buffum Chace Center (EBCC), and supporting the troops at Ojai American Legion.

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

It’s That Time of Year!

Are you taking a mandatory distribution this year? If you are 70 ½ or older, the IRS requires you to take an annual minimum distribution from your tax-deferred retirement accounts. Did you know that a donation made to GFWC can help reduce your taxable income? Contributions issued directly from your annual required minimum distribution to an eligible charitable organization are known as a Qualified Charitable Distributions. If your donation is issued directly to GFWC from your IRA custodian when you take your distribution, then your taxable income decreases by the amount of your contribution.

For example, if you are required to take a $1,000 annual minimum distribution and you instruct your IRA custodian to direct $200 to GFWC, then your taxable income from the distribution decreases to $800! Eligible plans include:

• Traditional IRAs
• Inherited IRAs
• Inactive SEP IRAs
• Inactive Simple IRAs

Remember, the donation to GFWC must come directly from your IRA custodian to qualify for this tax benefit. Consult your tax advisor to see if a Qualified Charitable Distribution is an option for you and support GFWC today!

Cares & Concerns

Doris Berry, President of GFWC Arizona, is currently recovering from kidney surgery and anticipates another surgery in December.

Monday is Veterans Day

It’s not too late for your club to plan its salute to veterans on Monday! Consult the Club Manual for ideas or consider asking your local VA hospital what its needs are. However your club decides to honor women in the military, be sure to submit a project summary and action-oriented photo to be considered for GFWC’s Blog.

Thanks to You… GFWC Members

We have given clothing, coats, shoes, and household goods to those in need, provided shelters for women and children surviving abuse, and supported hospitals such as St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.

We have established libraries, helped fill libraries with books, and given thousands of Dr. Seuss books to children who never have had a book of their own.

We have raised dogs for Canine Companions or supported programs so others can have a service dog to help them live a more complete life.

We have planted trees, established community gardens, and school butterfly gardens while beautifying public parks and businesses.

We have provided supplies and materials for men and women in the military.

We have initiated and supported legislative action for gun control, domestic violence prevention, school safety, and more.

As Helen Dyer has said, “Volunteerism is the voice of the people put into action. These actions shape and mold the present into a future of which we (GFWC) can all be proud.” Which GFWC volunteer experience has taught you the most about gratitude? Share it on this month’s #ThankYouTuesday post.

Holiday Open House

You’re invited to GFWC Headquarters on December 4 for our annual Holiday Open House from 3:00–6:00 p.m. Register now! If you’re registering as part of a group, contact Jennifer Simpson.

Preserving GFWC’s 341 Oral Histories

Help the WHRC preserve the voices of our past by supporting a fundraising effort to digitize all 341 oral histories in its collection!

As we approach the centennials of the 19th Amendment and of GFWC’s time in our historic mansion at 1734 N Street, it is imperative that we bring the voices of our past to life. Interviews cover subjects ranging from suffrage marches, to past president’s recalling their time living at 1734 N Street, to recollections of cherished personalities and past presidents.

To donate to the WHRC, log in to the GFWC Portal.

Logged in to Your Profile?

If you haven’t visited the GFWC Member Portal yet, try selecting “Forgot your password?” and entering the email address with which you are receiving this News & Notes. You will then receive a prompt to check your email for a temporary login code.

Your profile is how you’ll update your contact information, make all Marketplace purchases, and much more moving forward. Please ensure all aspects of your personal profile are running smoothly in the Portal and don’t hesitate to contact us if you have any difficulties logging in.

Seeking Member Profiles

As the end of the year approaches, it’s a great time to recognize a clubwoman who has inspired you in 2019! By nominating her to be considered as a Featured Member on the GFWC website, you can show off a Federation Sister who deserves it.

Consider who has organized a successful event, thought outside of the box while planning a project, or just gone above and beyond in general. Submit a list of her key accomplishments (in 2019 and prior), and anything else you think might be important to recognize her, to pr@gfwc.org.

Parliamentary Pointers
 by GFWC Parliamentarian Deen J. Meloro

 

When you go to your club meeting, you probably expect the meeting to follow a certain pattern. If Robert’s Rules of Order is the parliamentary authority of your club, and if your club has not adopted a special order of business, the following is the usual format of when business will come up: Reading and Approval of Minutes; Reports of the Officers; Reports of the Boards or Department Chairmen; Reports of the Standing Committee Chairmen; Reports of the Special (Ad Hoc or Select) Committee Chairmen; Unfinished Business; and New Business.

Opening exercises are not considered part of the agenda, although it certainly makes things easier for the presiding officer to have everything written down. Before the meeting begins, the president should have been given the courtesy of a phone call or email telling her if someone will not be reporting. Then the president will not call on her.

Under each area of business, the president will generally write notes to remind herself of anything that has to be done. Most clubs have certain tasks to do in certain months, such as the nominating committee report or elections, and there may also be business that was postponed until the current month. If there is an item of business that must come up as soon as possible in the meeting, immediately after the minutes have been approved the president will say: “If there is no objection, the Order of Business will be changed.” Rarely will a member object, and if that happens, when the president says what needs to come up, the member who objected will most likely drop her objection.

Part of the job of the secretary is to remind the president of items that should be on the agenda. The secretary always gets a copy of the agenda before the meeting starts.

Seven Grand Initiatives Keychain

This GFWC keychain features the GFWC logo on one side and the Seven Grand Initiatives on the other. You’ll have a daily reminder of why it’s so grand to be part of GFWC! Order yours.