Happy New Year as we welcome opportunities to support our country’s vision for a new start, and look forward to the road to recovery from the effects of the pandemic. We learned from our December guest speaker, Siri Bletzer, how we can cope with the financial, physical, and personal stress we’ve had in this pandemic universe in which we find ourselves. Her words and tips for coping were very helpful, and as we say: “On to a better year in 2021!”

We have much to look forward to, with the inauguration of a new President and Kamala Harris as the first woman, first black woman and South Asian American elected to be Vice-President -- the perfect time for advancing the rights of women and girls! With the pandemic raging and so many unable to be part of the workforce, it is imperative we make it known to our legislators that our communities are in need and they must take action ASAP on all government funding and support for economic and pandemic relief! In addition, with the Texas legislative session starting in January, we must ensure our voices and those of all citizens are heard in the political dialogue. We need to partner with our other Texas AAUW sisters and join the chorus for the betterment of all those in need of support.

We will continue to stand up for equity and we can do this with our donations and advocacy. A year-end gift to the AAUW Greatest Needs Fund is encouraged, and, thanks to a generous match from AAUW’s board, volunteers, and staff, your gift will be doubled up to $42,500 through December 31. Our voice with policymakers will be strengthened with a gift to AAUW in its efforts to advocate for our common causes in civil rights, economic security, education and Title IX, and gender equity. In these challenging times, we are redoubling our efforts to fight for the economic security of American women and their families.

We are nonpartisan, while we value the fight to remove the barriers and biases that are in the way of gender equity. We must continue to advocate for federal, state, and local laws and policies to ensure equity and eradicate discrimination.

Congratulations to our winner of the $300 gift card in the Raffle fundraiser, Juanita Felder. Special thanks to Ruth Lyle for leading the charge in raising $1,765 for textbook scholarships.

There will be no regular monthly meeting in January, but Wine, Women, and Wisdom will meet on January 13 and 27. As a new venture, we will be initiating a Bingo fundraising effort, hosted by Malinda Gaul over Zoom, on January 27. Please join in on these dates, whether WWW or Bingo or both.

Good wishes for the coming new year to each of you!

Moving forward in 2021 –
Cheryl Fuller
AAUW San Antonio, President