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September 24, 2020
View our Important Dates page for upcoming events and milestones.
October Is National Bullying Prevention Month
by Tina Daniel, GFWC Education and Libraries Community Service Program Chairman
Starting next week, schools and communities across the nation will join forces to promote awareness and help prevent bullying. One question to ask yourself when identifying bullying is: “Is it mean, rude, or bullying?” To meet the criteria of bullying, it has to be repeated, a difference of power, and intentional. There are a variety of websites on bullying and preventing it. Several of these websites have materials for purchase, including STOMPOutBullying.org, PACER.org, and Youth.gov.
One of the fastest growing areas of bullying is cyberbullying—bullying through social media, texting, or posting pictures. While most students are attending school remotely today, a new avenue for bullies has appeared. Students are able to write inappropriate and defamatory remarks in an open, online classroom forum.
Here are some club project ideas to help stop bullying among children and teens:
- Host a teen book club reading at your local library. Provide copies of Queen Bees and Wannabes by Rosalind Wiseman. The book was written for adults to help girls survive cliques, gossip, boyfriends, and other realities of adolescent years.
- Host a movie night and watch “Mean Girls.” Hold a discussion about the movie.
- Wear blue on October 5, 2020. This year’s theme is “Kind Vibes Only.” Let’s use the hashtag #BlueUp together.
- Provide bully prevention material for local schools or sponsor a bully-prevention program.
As a predominantly-female group, we could also encounter bullying-type behavior in our own Federation. Read Dr. Cheryl Dellasega’s Mean Girls Grown Up: Adult Women Who Are Still Queen Bees, Middle Bees, and Afraid-To-Bees. Dellasega contends that all women have experienced bullying at some point in their lives.
Our collect promotes “let us forget not to be kind.” Help others to remember to be kind by promoting bully-proof programs in your club and communities this October.
Top Ten Projects Announced!
GFWC is excited to announce the Top 10 Projects for all 15 programmatic and planning categories! Visit the GFWC website to see the selections from 2020 State Award Entries and Club Creativity Award Entries. These 2019 projects were chosen for their ingenuity, success, and impact, so incorporate some into your club’s plans!
Looking to Print?
A PDF of all 15 listings is exclusively available within the Member Portal’s Digital Library, filed under “T” Resources. From a desktop computer, you can print individual sections by selecting the magenta printer icon at the top of the toolbar along the far right side of your screen.
Volunteers in Action
We are so proud of clubwomen throughout the Federation for celebrating August 26, 2020, in such style! This week’s GFWC Blog concludes our sampling of club Suffrage Centennial observances with stories from GFWC Florida, Village Improvement Association of Rehoboth Beach (Delaware), GFWC Woman’s Club of Aurora (Illinois), Alamo Women’s Club (California), GFWC Arizona Benson Juniors, and the Woman’s Club of West Allis (Wisconsin).
As we approach October, let’s continue to keep the spirit of the Suffrage Centennial alive! Clubwomen like you are making a difference every day. Send your club’s success stories with action-packed photos to PR@GFWC.org.
GFWC’s Recent Email Hack–Update
If you received a suspicious email from Jennifer Simpson when her account was hacked the week of September 6, please review the steps below to keep your information safe. We have learned from GFWC’s IT company that there was no spyware/malware attached to the email but want to share the steps that you can take to keep your accounts secure. We apologize for the inconvenience, and please know that we are working with our IT company to strengthen our security.
- If you believe your account is insecure, the first thing you should do is change your password. Make sure it is complex (contains numbers, letters, mixed cases, and uses special characters), and make sure you do not use the same password for more than one account.
- Enable and use multi-factor authentication for your account, if possible. Good examples would be apps like Authy, Google Authenticator, or for even more security, use physical keys such as a Yubikey.
- If you see strange activity such as unfamiliar messages being sent from your account, or if you get notifications of strange login activity, please contact your IT company or email provider for further assistance securing your account.
Register for Region Conferences in the Member Portal
Have you registered for your Region Conference yet? Log in to the GFWC Member Portal, select “Events” from the top menu, select “Browse Events,” and then select the appropriate Region Conference from the event listing to register. Registration for all of these events closes three days prior to their start, but please register early for planning purposes. Below are the next three registration deadlines coming up!
Middle Atlantic Region Conference
October 3, 2020, 4:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m. EDT
Registration ends on September 30.
South Central Region Conference
October 10, 2020, 1:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m. CDT
Registration ends on October 7.
New England Region Conference
October 17, 2020, 1:00 p.m. – 4:30 p.m. EDT
Registration ends on October 14.
Don’t have a camera or microphone on your computer? No problem! You can still listen in, watch, and vote during all Region Conferences. If you’d like to register for multiple Region Conferences, contact GFWC@GFWC.org.
Focus on Your Club’s Long-Term Plan
Have you taken advantage of the extra time at home to read the six Advancement Plans in the 2020–2022 Club Manual? These Advancement Plans contain many thought-provoking topics that are excellent to tackle now during the pandemic while many of us have some extra time for reflection. Start planning for your club’s future and learn more about:
- Communications—executing a strong communications strategy. Refine your club’s remote meeting capabilities, branding, public relations, club communications, website, and social media presence.
- Fundraising—elevating your community, club, and members. Put the fun in fundraising when selecting an idea, creating a successful event, and advancing your club and GFWC.
- Leadership—sharing practical ideas and resources for developing club members’ leadership skills. Become the strongest leader you can be and inspire others to do the same.
- Legislation/Public Policy—using public advocacy to seek solutions to local, state, and national concerns. Gather facts and work for change with this practical plan for taking action.
- Membership—retaining, recruiting, and welcoming and mentoring new members. Market your club and GFWC more effectively!
- Women’s History and Resource Center—preserving the past and using history for community outreach. Consult WHRC’s various resources to help you tell GFWC’s story.
All six Advancement Plans are exclusively available in the GFWC Member Portal. After logging in, go to “C” Resources within “My Digital Library,” “Club Manual,” and then select “Advancement Plans.” Interested in downloading the entire Club Manual? Directly below the “Advancement Plans” folder, there is another folder named “Entire Club Manual.”
State President’s Project: Vicki Bechet, Tennessee
GFWC Tennessee’s emblem for the 2020–2022 Administration is the dragon, and the theme is GFWC Tennessee Volunteers: Be the Light; Light a Fire; Get Fired Up. Vicki’s special project, the TRTL Program, focuses on literacy and has two meanings:
- Together, Replenishing Tennessee Libraries
- Terri Ross Twyford Literacy Program—in honor of Vicki’s sister, who passed away more than a year ago from metastatic breast cancer. Like Vicki, she was a voracious reader.
The TRTL project logo is a turtle to represent Vicki’s sister and a dragon reading books outside of a hollow tree library with the GFWC emblem on the trunk.
During the last two Administrations, GFWC Tennessee constructed huge Christmas trees out of stacked children’s books, which were displayed at the Governor’s Mansion during the holidays. After the exhibit ended, the books were then distributed to nursery schools, children’s hospitals, and other organizations in need.
As Tennessee State President, Vicki wanted to find another way to provide books to children in need. During her preliminary research, Vicki was astonished to learn that many Tennessee public school libraries did not have the number of books required per student. GFWC Tennessee will be working with the state’s Department of Education to identify the schools with the most deficient libraries.
There will be two options for the project:
- A club can adopt a local or nearby school(s) and collect book donations and/or funds to purchase specific books requested.
- GFWC Tennessee Districts may elect to collect book donations and/or funds to be used for schools in their District.
COVID-19 has delayed the start of the project, but GFWC Tennessee hopes to begin very soon. Children need more books to choose from in their school’s library. GFWC Tennessee will also benefit from the public relations of the TRTL Project, which will hopefully result in new members and clubs.
Marketplace: Folders
Use the extra time at home to organize your personal GFWC files. Divide up your essential information about GFWC and your club by topic with these red and blue folders. Order a stack of as many folders as you need in GFWC Marketplace.
Please note: Headquarters is operating with limited staff daily, and the Postal Service is also experiencing service delays in many communities. |
