North West District news & updates
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Our District Meeting will now take place on ZOOM. Please re-register to attend on Oct. 24th |
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The numbers are in and the members have spoken. I have heard strong opinions on hosting an in-person meeting but also just as many very strong opinions on not hosting. I know we all want to meet and get back to normal - believe me I do too one day, but it appears that normal is not going to happen in 2020! Does that suprise you? I bet not. We discussed hosting an inperson and zoom at the same time, but the restaurant does not have a strong WIFI signal. Our hostess clubs spoke with a few churches, but they are not allowing groups at this time. So what does a GFWC member do when she has obstacles in her way or setbacks? We go around them and keep moving. So that's what we will do by hosting our Fall meeting online.
Results: Executive Committee - 15 YES/17 NO - 5 no response. Total Member Responses 28 YES (11 are from our hostess club) and 35 NO. Five out of our fourteen Club Presidents advised that their members are not attending group gatherings at this time.
We are working on making this meeting fun and educational while taking care of business.
Please RSVP for the Zoom Meeting on Saturday, October 24th from 10:00 a.m. to Noon which is the typical meeting timeframe (not including lunch for 45 minutes). Please log in a little early, the meeting will begin promptly at 10:00 a.m.
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News/Announcements from our Officers |
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Membership - "New Growth"
Julie Bates, 1st VP/Membership - jbates1000@aol.com
Our State President has challenged our Districts to increase our membership by 30 members. Please let me know if you have added members since January 1, 2020. Each time we gain a new member in the district we will attach another Bee to our Hive and watch it grow. As of today our district has gained over 20 new members or more! LaFayette Woman's Club alone has gained 15 members this year!
Our State President has also asked us to reach out to former members to ask them to re-join your club. If a former member is interested in re-joining, the State will give a $5.00 discount on dues to returning members. So instead of sending in $20 in dues for the returning member, you will only pay $15.00. There will be a voucher available for your treasurer to send to the State. The voucher can be found on the State's website under Reporting & Forms.
Have you thought of considering a Virtual Member? What is a Virtual Membership and is it an option for your club? Virtual membership allows organizations to retain members who would otherwise leave your club. Virtual members can still contribute financially to your charitable partners, they can take up collections of clothing and other items needed for hygiene kits, goodie bags for shelters, etc. A virtual member could be a someone that is no longer able to drive or meet in person due to age, health issues or being a caretaker for their spouse or loved one. Our seasoned members should not drop from our roster merely because they are no longer to drive to a meeting. Let’s keep them on our roster, offer a virtual membership and provide them opportunities to connect with the club online or by phone. Designate someone in your club to reach out to your seasoned members each month and bring value to being a member of GFWC. You can consider offering virtual memberships to busy professionals for one year so they can test the waters, or maybe college or graduate school students. Of course this concept must be discussed with your board members and they should decide on criteria.
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Maria Barnhart, 2nd VP mariavbarnhart@gmail.com
It is hard to believe it is October 2020. Serving as 2nd VP of the NW District is an honor and I am continuing to learn about my responsibilities and how I can help clubs and our district to be the best they can be. I stand ready to support Cimi Douglass, our District President, and the NW District board to achieve our goals.
Calling all CSP Chairmen and Advancement Area Chairmen!
I serve as a liaison between the GFWC GA 2nd VP and the district CSP and Advancement Area chairmen.
Ok – we are in the midst of a pandemic and that does present challenges. I encourage all of us to be open to using technology to keep our clubs vibrant during this challenging time.
The GFWC Georgia website and the Yearbook for 2020-2022 are two essential resources for CSPs and Advancement Areas. I encourage you to take the time to review these resources to learn more about your area of responsibility. Please visit the following GFWC Georgia links:
Reporting has changed and will be on Google Forms. We are making plans for Reporting Workshops later this fall. Click the button below to view and begin practicing on the sample form.
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It is very important to report what your club has done for the year. Submissions must be received by 11:59 pm on January 25. This is regardless of the day of the week.
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Be sure to check out the PowerPoint presentations developed by Cathy Jones, GFWC-GA 2nd VP. Heart for Service (CSP Plans of Work) and Everything you Wanted to Know About Reporting. https://gfwcgeorgia.org/institute-smile/
Please do not hesitate to contact me should you have questions before our workshop - I'm available and happy to help.
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News/Announcements from our Community Service Chairs |
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Arts & Culture - Joyce Broughton
Please encourage all your clubs to review the excellent 2020-2022 Arts and Culture Yearbook detail that was recently emailed to us from the State Chairwomen, Nicole Braun and Sara Keys. Click here. This document includes a variety of project ideas and resources as well as instructions for the CSP club awards and GFWC Georgia Arts and Culture contests.
Our Arts and Culture programs exist for two reasons: To inspire individual members to create art in their chosen form and to support art in their communities and to encourage Clubs to produce art projects that have a meaningful impact on your communities.
January 25, 2021 is the deadline for GFWC Art contest entries at the district level, so it isn’t too early to begin encouraging members or high school students to complete their art projects for consideration.
For those Clubs participating in the Bra-Ha-Ha, Breast Cancer prevention program, remember that although it is a Health and Wellness CSP event, you are also “boosting” (no pun intended) your artistic skills.
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Civic Engagement & Outreach Connie Morris
GFWC Georgia Challenge: Support/aid/celebrate women veterans during the first two weeks of November.
Ideas: Find the nearest Veterans Hospital/Clinic. Contact Women Veterans Program Manager for direction in assisting women. Sponsor a collection for make-up, feminine hygiene items, or toiletries. Donate items to VA hospitals/clinics for distribution. Sponsor a “Missing Woman” table at a club luncheon or partner with a local restaurant to do so. Donate phone cards to the USO for women veterans. Recognize women veterans in the community.
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Next, the Holiday Season will be here before you know it. Being kind and encouraging others to do the same is a priority in our clubs all year round, especially as we lead our families, children and grandchildren with impressionable little eyes watching us. Duriing the month of November let’s promote to our friends and family the idea of a Reverse Advent Calendar. Start with a box, but instead of opening a door and taking out a treat each day, you place a treat or an item into it. Once the box is full, then donate it to your local food bank, and the contents will find their way to someone who really needs them this Holiday Season.
We created an editable calendar in order for you to place your club name, contact information or change the suggested items to meet the needs of your own local shelter. We encourage you to print these out and place on community boards, leave at doctor’s offices, or waiting room. It’s a great family project. This project is reportable under Civic Engagement & Outreach. Click here to edit the Calendar
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Education & Libraries Linda Mote
GFWC Georgia Education & Libraries Challenge in October
The challenge is to for all GFWC clubs to create and participate in STEM projects for students with disabilities which ties in with October's Disability Awareness Month. This may be hard to do if none of your schools are in session. I suggest you put together a box of items that can help teacher’s put some of these stem ideas to work in their classroom. Donate to a classroom when students are in session or to a school even if closed for future use. Some items to include would be: Play Doh, Jellybeans, toothpicks, pipe cleaners, beads, sticky notes, painter’s tape, craft sticks plain and colored/popsicle sticks, Velcro dots, markers and colored dots. Add any other items you thinkwill be helpful. Click here to download ideas.
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Environment - Kathy Hanna
The directive from GFWC in Conservation is to plant more trees and our District Chairman has trees as her theme.... There are many ways to accomplish this: Planting in your yards, or contributing to the planting of trees in public spaces... In the south part of our NW District Trees Atlanta and some cities have a an alliance for planting residential trees for you, the program is call NeighborWoods, do check into it as they will plant a $250 tree for free in your yard... They also have wonderful programs that you can take advantage of... and you can purchase trees from them on your own... Arbor Day Foundation has a 10 seeding program and you can place an order at https://shop.arborday.org/gift-trees/
Please think about food for wildlife and think native plants, they have been here a long time and thrive where imports struggle... Bees need flowers that carry pollen and a yard without insecticides.... Think natural pest control.......Our most endangered species: BEES
Don't plant seeds form China that may have been Mailed to You... Put them in 3 layers of plastic bags and contact the GA Dept of Agriculture for disposal sites.
Time to prune your Mophead Hydrangea, next year's blooms come from the brown wood.. So shape the plant above a node on a green branch.
PROJECT IDEA: Promote all the native plant sales going on this fall... It's the best time to plant trees and shrubs... Recycling can be done all year long and while we are in this pandemic it's a great time to clean out closets, pantries and drawers... Recycling of all items are now in this CSP.
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Health & Wellness - Barbara Washburn
Our North West District's Bra-Ha-Ha Contest entries are in - thank you! I am certain that the bras will make people smile, bring awareness to October's Breast Cancer Awareness Month and promote your club. The winner will be announced on October 24th and will receive a BRAvo award and table runner (you create the design) for your club. This is a great way to promote Breast Cancer Awareness Month and also your club.
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In November - Be a Purple Champion! November Purple Stride. Do you know what it means? Do you want your club to be a Champion?
Do you have a backache that won't go away? Do you know the third leading cause of Cancer deaths? PANCREATIC CANCER
I am a three year survivor and the Advocacy Chair as well as November Awareness Chair for the Atlanta Affiliate of Pancan (The Pancreatic Cancer Action Network). I invite you to learn more about Pancreatic Cancer and would love to host a personal lunch and learn with your club via Zoom. If you allow me to host a zoom meeting for your club, your club would be considered a Purple Champion and can help in this fight. Knowledge is power - purple power! Please contact me at bwashburn41@gmail.com. I'd like to share my story and experience with your club members, and educate them about some of the possible signs/symptoms of this disease, as well as educational resources. Of course this can be reported under Health & Wellness.
Would you do me a favor? Would your clubs please wear PURPLE on World Pancreatic Cancer Day on November 19th? Please take a photo and post on social media.
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News/Announcements from our Advancement Area Chairs |
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Communications/PR - Ursula Reynolds
Our virtual training session in September was well received. If you missed it, you can view the recording below. The videos will be placed on our North West District YouTube Channel. Click here to view the PDF presentation.
Don't forget to RSVP for our upcoming webinars listed below. Once registered a zoom link will be sent to you a week before each training series.
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Wednesday, October 21: Constant Contact: Create engaging newsletters;
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Wednesday, November 18: Social Media: Effective marketing and recruiting strategies
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Learn how to create engaging newsletters - Register Now
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LOCATION
Zoom
DATE AND TIME
10/21/20 12:00pm
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10/21/20 1:00pm
Constant Contact: Learn how to create engaging newsletters
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GFWC and GFWC Georgia Presidents Special Projects
Karen Clydesdale -karenclydesdale@bellsouth.net
I am so excited about the Teal Pumpkin Project. I know many of you have been doing this for years but I am embarrassed to say that this is the first time I heard about it. It made me realize that after raising three children, who never had any allergies and celebrating numerous holidays, how totally unaware I was of what some families go through. Please share this very important information on the Teal Pumpkin Project with your friends and club members. Let’s make sure every house has a teal pumpkin! Last week I saw where Michaels had plenty. Take pictures and send to me so that we can show support for the FARE organization.
It is also time to start preparing for the FARE Food Allergy Awareness week in May. I am requesting that each club identify a building in their community that can be lit up in teal lights for that week. This is a wonderful way for our clubs to bring awareness to the food allergy issues. If there is anything I can do to help you with this please do not hesitate to contact me. During that week FARE will continue to share game changing research, inspirational and informational resources, as well as stories from the food allergy community that enables their voices to be heard and understood. There will also be allergy friendly recipes and meal planning tips. For more iformation please visit: https://www.foodallergy.org.
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Ella F. White, by Barbara Reynolds, State Chair
What do you know about Ella?
The Ella F. White endowment fund was established in 1913. The preliminary groundwork for the fund was laid during the administration of Mrs. Ella F. White, President of the Georgia Federation of Women’s Clubs 1911-1913. The fund ensures that the GFWC Georgia State Office is well equipped and funded. After Mrs. White’s unexpected death while visiting a club in Augusta, the fund was named in her memory. We remember with gratitude the members of that time and the foresight they had to protect the welfare of our state federation. (Read entire article)
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Tallulah Falls School District Chair,
The Twin River Challenge is scheduled for Oct. 24th - This Cycling Event is a team effort as the entire TFS community collaborates to stage this dynamic event. Dozens of volunteers, including faculty, staff, board members and fundraising committee members assist with support and logistics. Join us as a sponsor of the sixth annual Twin Rivers Challenge cycling event as we raise funds to continue our school’s legacy of success. Download the PDF here
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Women's History/Public Instagram/FB Friends
Ashley DeSalvo Putnam -ashleyldesalvo@gmail.com
Public Pages Social Media Channels:
In order to maintain and build our public social media pages, I created an effective schedule for posts. Every Monday I post motivational pieces for Motivational Mondays on both Instagram and Facebook; I post celebratory posts for holidays and special occasions in women’s history. I plan to start Flashback Fridays where I highlight historical moments our clubs have taken part in. So please send me your historical highlights so we can share them with our online presence! This also goes for events, please take photos of you working (not posed) at your events and I will make sure they are spotlighted on our public social media platforms. Charity Spotlights will be posted on Wednesdays.
On Oct. 1st I began posting our Bra-Ha-Ha photos on our social media channels. When we post the photos, please like & follow, also share to club page and ask folks to follow you. This is a great way to obtain more followers to all of our social media channels. Each submission will receive 1 point for a like, 3 points for shares from our district page and your club pages. This campaign will bring awareness not only to Breast Cancer Awareness Month but also increase our club visibility to others.
If you will recall, we opened our public pages in Mid-May and so far our Instagram has over 100 followers and our Facebook has 74 page likes and 81 page followers. These numbers are constantly growing! We've already received one inquiry to learn more about our organization.
Our goal is to have 300 followers on our public facebook page which includes GFWC members and nonmembers. Please click the below link to visit our pages. Once you visit the page, click "Like" and then click the three dots "..." and Follow Us! Having a large following will help our clubs to promote their club events, charities, and community activities.
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Visit our North West Store
Check out our Fall sweatshirts, long sleeved shirts just in time for cooler weather and S.M.I.L.E. Saturdays! The first Saturday of each month is designated as S.M.I.L.E (Smile, Motivate, Inspire, Lead, Excel) Saturdays. Club members are asked to wear Club, District, GFWC/GFWC Georgia Shirts when they are out and about in the community.
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LAFAYETTE WOMAN'S CLUB Making a Difference at LaFayette High School, LaFayette Middle School and Gilbert Elementary by supporting the Renaissance Program and filling their Library shelves with books!
Also helping commerate the Heros of 9/11 at the Walker County Patriot's Day and donating to their local nursing home.
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Like all other GFWC clubs, the Dunwoody Woman’s Club has had to adjust to the pandemic with all its social restrictions. But the pandemic has also afforded us the opportunity to explore new technologies and rethink how our goals can be met.
This summer our Civic Engagement & Outreach CSP organized four deliveries of pizza, salad, and drinks to insure that all shifts of our outstanding Dunwoody Police Department were covered and all officers knew that they are appreciated for all that they do to make our city safe.
Our Arts & Culture CSP organized our club members’ participation in the painting of a picnic table that is now located at a local coffee shop. The City of Dunwoody’s Economic Development Department partnered with local restaurants to add or expand outdoor dining with the Painted Picnic Table Project. This was designed to help restaurants meet social distancing requirements to protect against COVID-19. Dunwoody non-profit organizations volunteered to assemble and paint the tables and businesses donated picnic tables and painting supplies.
Dunwoody WC is hosting the Dunwoody Woman’s Club Virtual 5K Run/Walk and Stroll this year in lieu of their traditional Home Tour. The virtual run/walk will begin October 11 - October 17.
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CARTERSVILLE WOMAN'S CLUB
Our ongoing commitment to providing meals, each month, for the resident children and staff at the Flowering Branch Advocates for Children Shelter has never stopped. Since there are Covid-19 restrictions in place for the safety of the residents at the shelter, we have made adjustments to the normal procedures of preparing the meals at home and serving them at the shelter. In recent months we have purchased meals from local restaurants and had them delivered to the shelter. We also ade a donation was made to the Perpetual Scholarship at TFS in memory of Stephen Bowman.
Our club also participated in the Masks.com “Great American Mask Drive”. You could purchase masks online for students through the drive and designate the school you wanted them to go to in the community. In addition, we designed a new CWC t-shirt , and hosted a Bonfire t-shirt fundraiser campaign with a different t-shirt. Our members are beginning to gather items to be used when we fill our Samaritan’s Purse Christmas boxes later this year.
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ROSWELL CARES SERVICE LEAGUE
Roswell Cares delivered 200 oragami flower hand towels with a bar of soap to Hope thru Soap https://www.hopethrusoap.org/. They provide showers, haircuts, clothing and food in different parts of the city, targeting homeless or poverty-stricken individuals and families. It’s based in Gwinnett County but travel all over the metro Atlanta area.
We participated in the District’s Bra-Ha-Ha project and created 9 in total. Northside Medical Center in Alpharetta has agreed to display 6 bras in their buiilding. We also have two hair salons that agreed to display our bras.
Currently, we're preparing to pack 100 family kits to donate to the Ronald McDonald House.
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ACWORTH WOMAN’S CLUB gained a new member.
CALHOUN WOMAN’S CLUB
Calhoun is partnering with Keep Calhoun-Gordon Beautiful. The club is currently holding meetings outdoors, but hoping to find an indoor meeting place soon.
MARIETTA WOMAN’S CLUB
Marietta WC particiated in NW's Bra-Ha-Ha contest. They are collecting and delivering bottles to the Animal Shelter in addition to working on a sewing project. They also have a few potential new members interested in joining their club.
SANDY SPRINGS WOMAN’S CLUB
Sandy Springs WC is holding meetings via Zoom and Phone. They hosted a community project by creating lawn signs which read “ HELP SAVE LIVES-WEAR A MASK ”. Members were very pleased with the positive community response and received over $500 in donations from this project.
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The North West District would like to introduce Ashley Putnam to everyone! Ashley is our Women's History Chair and handles our public social media channels. |
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My name is Ashley Putnam and I am a member of the Northside Woman’s Club and the Women’s History and Co-Social Media Chair for the North West District. I am a recent graduate of Washington State University with a Sport Management Degree and minors in Business Administration and History. I am currently in the job market, but I do have a design business! Ashley Lynn Designs can be found on Instagram and Facebook!
What do you enjoy most about volunteering? The joy it brings to others. Making others smile brightens my day.
Who inspires you? Honestly, most of the people I meet inspire me. Everyone has their own unique stories, and it's incredible how we all coexist and impact one another throught our adventures in life, while all being so different.
What’s the last book you read? "Salt To The Sea" by Ruta Sepetys
What’s the first concert you ever attended? I can't remember the first one, but the last one I went to was Bret Eldredge with my mom and good friends when he put on a concert at my university.
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GFWC Georgia - North West District
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