Support | Action | Legacy
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CFUW Ontario Council News
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Ontario Council President's Message
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Dear Ladies of CFUW Ontario Council Clubs:
Spring. A season of renewal, rebirth, hope. Life is changing and renewing everyday. I feel compelled to share wonderful stories I have been sent or read.
"A teacher gave a class a surprise test. When the students turned over the paper, there was a black dot. The only instructions: describe what you see. Then she read the responses to the entire class. They focused on the dot, not the wide, white space around it. Think of the dot as the despair, disappointments, frustrations in life. She wanted them, however, to think of the white space as to what else life has to offer. To celebrate the blessings each and every moment of life."
“This is the first time in my life I will not spend Easter with at least some of my family. We are strictly following the rules. Solo is not what I pictured. Yet, I do not feel alone, as the love of family and support of friends remains, and transcends physical separation. Easter is a time of hope. I am encouraged by the birds singing, the ground greening, the trees budding. The spring plants are coming up to share their brightness and bring a smile.”
“From 1940 to 1955, my grandmother Nelle Reagan visited tuberculosis patients at Olive View Sanatorium in California. (It is now Olive View/UCLA Medical Center, but in the years when tuberculosis was sweeping through the country, patients were locked up in sanatoriums, and Olive View was one of them.) My grandmother would drive there every week and sit with patients whom no one wanted to visit. She would always bring gifts, even if it was just small things such as ribbons or pencils, and listened to them, filling up their empty days. She wanted to assuage their loneliness, to tend to their fear. She spent hours there. Despite poverty, her husband’s alcoholism and the terror of a disease that put thousands of people in sanatoriums, Nelle believed in the goodness of human beings and the elixir of compassion. We are all going to see who we are in this pandemic. As the coronavirus causes uncertainty, fear, hoarding and greed, we will get a clear and stark view of our neighbors, our friends, our families and ourselves. Each of us will be who we choose to be. We can be the person yelling at a cashier for what might have been a $2 mistake, or we can be someone who checks on neighbors and friends, who makes sure they are okay and are not in need. We will gravitate to the best of who we are capable of being, or we will stumble into the dark corners of who we should never be. I’m not suggesting that we go around shaking hands. But I am suggesting that we go around being kind.”
In challenging times, we often see the best of human nature. It is the little things that will have lasting impacts. It is the courage of individuals, in recognizing the needs and giving of themselves.
I believe the women of CFUW Ontario Council are strong, tenacious, generous and kind. Women Helping Women ... as currently demonstrated by CFUW Perth as they sew masks for their health care community! Please see the article below. And to CFUW Windsor, who are sewing masks for the health of the general public and raising money for their scholarship fund! Send us your stories!!
We are busily preparing for the electronic AGM on May 23 and I see many of our members are embracing the available technology to hold meetings and club AGMs as well! During these meetings, may I ask you also to review the slate of candidates to consider for voting purposes. (Note: for regional directors, only clubs within the region will be allowed to vote a candidate). I encourage you to consider this growth opportunity by standing for a director's position on the board! Send us your nominations package!
Please also read of the work we have accomplished and what you can do to support women and girls during this pandemic. Support. Action. Legacy.
Sandy Thomson, President
CFUW Ontario Council
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Advocacy Action
Ontario Council Submissions
2020 Pre-Budget Consultations
CFUW Ontario Council submitted
comments concerning the 2020 budget to the Ministry of Finance, based on the 2019 survey of clubs. A summary of our concerns relative to the government’s questions: 1) the need for public consultations for a human services strategy while attempting to balance budgets 2) affordable quality child care 3) supports for caregivers 4) support for public education and full-day kindergarten among other issues.
Poverty Reduction Strategy Review
Thanks to CFUW Guelph, Ontario Council presented a
brief to the Review. The highlights were: Basic Income, social assistance, child care, pay equity, affordable housing and prescription drugs.
Letters sent
A letter of thanks
for all of their efforts was sent to Dr. David Williams, Chief Medical Officer of Health, Dr. Barbara Yaffe Associate Chief Medical Officer of Health, Hon. Doug Ford, Premier, Hon. Christine Elliott, Deputy Premier and Minister of Health and the Presidents and CEOs of the Ontario Nurses Association, Registered Nurses Association of Ontario, Ontario Personal Support Workers Association and the Ontario Medical Association.
As a women’s organization, we are very cognizant of the involvement of hundreds of women - nurses and other health care workers, personal support workers and caregivers, administrators, public health officials, emergency services and paramedics, grocery clerks – to deal with this massive situation. We are so thankful for their efforts, and for many putting their own lives in danger. When this is over, how can we possibly thank them. For now, we thank you, and appreciate all of your efforts.
Ontario Council Sign-on
Ontario Council is a signatory to an
open letter to the Honourable Todd Smith, Minister of Children, Community and Social Services, from the Income Security Advocacy Centre. The letter has been signed by 138 community organizations, and is asking for support to the vulnerable regarding income security in the time of COVID-19.
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For CFUW Clubs, advocacy includes social action.
It is truly the power of women working together; of women helping women
At a time like this, our attention turns to our community, to support our family and friends the best that we can.
The
Canadian Women’s Foundation warns us of the gendered impacts of COVID-19, some of which especially affects our younger members and our own families:
- More caregiving and housework
- More economic stress
- More gender-based violence,
- UN Women is concerned that violence against women and children is the world-wide ‘shadow pandemic’
- Less access to support services.
- Luckily both the federal government and Ontario have reacted:
- Federal - $200 million for shelters
- Ontario - $2.7 million to support victims of domestic violence and other violent crimes, plus $40 million to support organizations that provide residential services for the vulnerable
The longer that this lasts and the more and more we become isolated, the worse some of these stresses will become.
When you are thinking of the community, do consider financial supports either as individuals or as Club. Check out COVID-19 special programs and projects requiring help as listed on
CanadaHelps.org
. (Many of your scholarship funds are listed here as well.)
Those locally that could also use your financial assistance:
- Hospital foundations
- Food banks and food services, such as Meals on Wheels, food recovery services
- Women’s shelters and sexual assault services
- Programs supporting children
- Programs supporting mental health services
When many of us think of ‘women helping women’, we do think of our own members, many of whom are older, perhaps living in senior residences or apartments. Remember when we used to have telephone trees and we were all dependent on the phones. Some of our friends, especially those newly widowed might like some calls.
And for those on Facebook and Instagram, social action and caring can be the simple sharing of a smile, a joke, a gorgeous photograph, a light or inspiring comment.
Working together, helping each other, supporting each other – this is what we do and this is what we’ve always done - very well!
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All of us are impacted by Covid-19; if we can, we want to help in some meaningful way. In the last few weeks, Susan Roach of CFUW Perth has been actively trying to find out how we, as a Club, can do that. In particular, she wanted to provide protective gear for those essential services workers who are providing the services we need to survive. Initially thought to not be necessary, the current guidance is that face masks for everyone, particularly in a hospital setting, can help slow the spread of the virus. Working with a local physician, Susan has now been successful in sourcing hospital grade material and a sewing pattern. These masks will be used for patients in order to free up the N95 masks for nurses, doctors and all other front-line staff. These are coming in from Dr. Stephanie Popeil, who is very enthusiastic about our potential contribution. Five people will each be sewing 36 masks which will be donated to the local hospital.
What are your COVID-19 Stories?
In these unprecedented times, many of you are stepping up to help ... whether it is a phone call, delivering groceries, and/or contributing to the local food bank. Ontario Council would like to hear from you! For example, CFUW Windsor members are making masks for the general public, and using this as a fundraiser for the club. There are many sides to this pandemic. Give us your stories...and if you wish, consider the following suggestions.
Some ideas for you to consider writing about:
- What is the situation for women in your community, including statistics if possible
- Personal experiences - what do you do to cope?
- Do you have a positive story of a woman and how she copes?
- What are you most concerned about?
- Should more be done to protect women and girls?
- What can we do as individuals or as a club?
- What are the positive sides of this pandemic?
- Any other perspective about COVID-19 you might like to write about.
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2020 Ontario Council Virtual AGM
May 23
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Due to the COVID-19 situation, a decision has been made to have an electronic AGM this year. The virtual Ontario Council Annual General Meeting is scheduled for May 23, 2020 and the official AGM notice will be sent out in early May. In addition to elections for the 2020 - 2022 Ontario Council Board, there have been a number of proposed amendments to the CFUW Ontario Council Constitution and Bylaws (revised Mar 2019). For more information click
here
.
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Ontario Council Nominations for the 2020-2022 Board
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The Ontario Council Nominations Committee is pleased to have received a number of nomination and application forms for Director positions on the Ontario Council Board for 2020 - 2022. As you may be aware, elections will take place at the virtual Annual General Meeting (AGM) on May 23rd. All Board Director positions are open for election. The eligibility requirements for Director positions are outlined in our Bylaws, clause 2.05.
The following candidates provided their nomination package during the published nominations period and will be standing for election at the AGM:
Regional Directors:
- Susan Vecchiarelli, ON West (CFUW Kitchener-Waterloo)
- Elana Freeman, ON West (CFUW Windsor)
- Anne Cordon, ON East ((CFUW Peterborough)
- Roline Maconachie, ON North (CFUW Orillia)
- Lori Ker, ON Huron (CFUW Orangeville)
Advocacy Co-Ordinator
: Judy Gay (CFUW Kingston)
Communications
: Ingrid Sproxton (CFUW Orangeville)
Legislation Committee Chair
: Lisa Long (CFUW Sudbury)
Human Rights and Status of Women Committee Chair
: Sandra Shaw (CFUW Perth)
Nomination packages for the candidates above may be viewed
here
.
There were no nomination packages received for the following positions during the nominations period:
- Education Committee Chair*
- RD Ontario South
- RD Ontario Central*
- Secretary*
- Treasurer*
- President**
*However, since the close of the nominations period, there are Members who have expressed interest in standing for these positions.
**The nominee for President must have served at least one (1) term on the Ontario Council Board or in a leadership position with CFUW Ontario Council.
Nominations for director positions are allowed "from the floor" at the virtual AGM as per the Ontario Corporations Act.
In order to be efficient with our AGM business meeting proceedings, you are requested to submit the nomination and application forms to the
Nominations Committee
prior to the AGM. Proposed candidates must meet the eligibility criteria as per Bylaws clause 2.05 and be registered and in attendance at the virtual AGM. Please click
here
for the Nomination form and
here
for the Application form.
Should there be no candidates nominated for a position, the incumbent will continue in that position until they resign or until their successors are elected or appointed as per Bylaws clause 2.06.
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Women Helping Women
Our vision for Ontario Council can be summed up in the following key words:
Support. Action. Legacy.
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At our IWD, the Photography Interest Group launched their initiative of selling their photographs on greeting cards with all proceeds going to help fund our scholarship program. On that one morning they made over $400. Sales are ongoing. (
photo of Donna Unwin at IWD selling photo cards)
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What our club has done to support our members during the pandemic include setting up a group of 14 members with a list of members to call and check in with. It was very well received by both the callers and the recipients. New friendships have been made. Our PR Chair set up a Private Facebook group for members to share their photos. Over 30 members have joined so far. The photo sharing of gardens and vacation adventures have been uplifting. Our Board members have agreed to continue on in their positions until our postponed AGM can happen, face to face.
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CFUW Aurora/ Newmarket enjoyed a wonderful year up until the pandemic changed our plans. We managed to host International Women’s day on March 6
th in advance of COVID19 and any evidence of community spread in York Region. Our speaker Margot Denomme focused her presentation on how we can help build a more equal and inclusive world when we raise our girls with the knowledge that beauty and strength comes from within. (
photo of President Lynn Bird, with Margot Denomme and her daughter Brooke)
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CFUW Guelph - Celebrating Women
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Following a year of celebration CFUW Guelph in collaboration with the Community Engaged Scholarship (CESI) at the University of Guelph, Zonta and Women in Crisis decided to continue this celebration for International Women’s Day. Students under the guidance of CESI researched significant policy achievements, political events and political groups impacting women’s rights in Canada over the last 100 years. This research is summarized in 14 posters, titled “Celebrating Women”. The posters will be displayed around the community, on various websites and at other gatherings.
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CFUW Oshawa & District - ZOOMing Right Along!
During this social distancing time, CFUW Oshawa and District has been "Zooming" right along. We started our Videoconferencing, by encouraging our Executive to become comfortable with this method of communication. Eventually, we managed to complete our March Executive meeting on Zoom.us. Our next goal, is to have an online videoconference for our April 22, 2020 General Meeting. It is interesting to see how happy members are when they manage to use the technology and can conference with other members.
Donna Henderson
Co-President, CFUW Oshawa and District
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Upcoming Club Fundraisers & Public Events
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Cancellations and postponements due to COVID-19 continue. We look forward to the day that in-person meetings, fundraisers and public events can resume. When that day arrives, p
lease remember to send posters of your coming events to
the Editor
as soon you have them finalized, so we can include them on the website and in the newsletter. A complete list of past events can be found
here...
In the meantime, if your Club has a COVID-19 story to share, please submit using the button below.
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Ontario Council News is a newsletter for and about our Ontario Clubs.
- We receive news from so many of our clubs that we've decided to publish it on our website to limit the need for scrolling in the newsletter.
- Please note: Because Ontario Council includes close to 50 clubs, we are not able to publish club meetings, AGMs, scholarship winners and other charitable giving.
- To help you help us, click the link below for all the information you need about our publication schedule, submission deadlines, and preferred format.
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Save the Date!
2020 Ontario Council Virtual AGM
May 23
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