PRESIDENT’S NEWS BRIEF
Our September Board Meeting provided a comprehensive look at what will be transpiring in the various WRWCF Committees in the near future:
- Grants – looking into new approaches for Grant’s processes, due to increased membership dollars that will be available
- Educational Forum – symposium defining community needs & how they are being addressed
- Membership – creative approaches to educating new members & encouraging guests to join WRWCF (highlighted in this issue)
- Events – lining up venues for the best settings for each event
- Marketing & Public Relations – utilization of social media to meet a broader audience & being attentive to maintaining a user-friendly website
- Governance – creating a Task Force to study where we want to be in 2020
The Board is united in their efforts to support the needs of our community through creative approaches and strong membership involvement. Future News Briefs will highlight the work of these committees.
Janet DeBard
President
NEW MEMBER’S BRUNCH
Fifty-seven women gathered at the home of member Sheila Mells on the morning of September 10th for a lovely brunch. The event, an orientation meeting for new members and an opportunity for prospective members to learn about WRWCF, featured remarks by two of our Grants Executive Committee Chairs. Charlotte Unger explained the timeline of our grants cycle, such as: how the Letters of Inquiry (LOI’s) for grants are received from the non-profits; how the non-profits who move on to the full proposal stage are given a site visit by our grants committee; and how the finalists present the way in which their grant would be used to better their impact in the community. Charlotte then explained how the whole membership of WRWCF votes on the final selections, whether they are in the valley or living or traveling outside the area. The voting is on-line and in order to refresh our memories on the content of each non-profit’s presentation, a recorded video is also available on-line.
Charlotte followed up by citing some of the many grants that have made significant impact in our community over the past nine years. She referred the guests to our website for a full listing of the grants WRWCF has given. Lynne Heidel shared important information about grants for the 2015 season and how to sign up for the different grant committees, emphasizing that a WRWCF member need not be a full-time resident to participate in our grants process.
Charlotte Unger, Grants Committee Co-Chair, welcomes Heidi Cook from the Advocates. Lynn Heidel, another Grants Committee Co-Chair, is on the right in the photo. Heidi spoke to the New Members Brunch regarding the impact the ETC Leadership team has in the schools
Heidi Cook, Community Educator for The Advocates, shown in the photo above, spoke to the new members about the projects which WRWCF has helped fund in the past two years. The Every Teen Has a Choice (ETC) Leadership Program was able to get off the ground with help from us in 2013. Our 2014 grant continues to support ETC & help fund a Green Dot Summit in Oct. For more information about these programs, please visit www.theadvocatesorg.org.
The New Member’s Brunch program concluded with heart-warming stories from our hostess, Sheila Mells, about her personal experience in being part of WRWCF. She had the guests alternately laughing and nodding thoughtfully at the wisdom of her experiences over the years.
Hostess and speaker Sheila Mells with new member Anita Green.
Although the event was a wonderful learning experience for our new members, sixteen guests were also invited to the brunch, and several completed membership forms before departing…evidence that the momentum for our foundation continues to grow!
Dede Huish
Membership Chair
Most of you are aware that our Mentor Program is a huge success. And most of you are also aware of the amazing growth the WRWCF has had in this past year. With our rapid growth, new members are requesting mentors to assist them in becoming integrated into our organization. We are seeking your help and asking that you consider becoming a mentor to guide them.Being a mentor involves very little. Mentors contact their mentees, introduce themselves, notify them of our events either by call or email and encourage them to attend. At events, we introduce them to other members so they feel included and welcomed. We are also available to answer their questions, and if they would like to be more active, we help them in that process as well.
Please join the mentor team and make a new member feel special and included. It takes a village…
Contact one of us to join this effort.
Leslie Silva (leslie.j.silva@gmail.com)
Sheila Mells (animells@me.com)
RECOMMENDED READING FOR SEPTEMBER
We live or spend time here in our Valley because we appreciate beauty; we love the wildlife that roams through the valley; we feel mentally and physically freer. It’s quiet! The settlement of the West reflects innovative ideas. Some of these ideas are good and others–not so much– but here we are. Knowing how it happened makes for contemplative and reflective reading.
My recommended reading for this month is dedicated to the western environment—-we are only here because of water —why we have it and why we could lose it is a big consideration. How we have managed to save our trees and forested lands is tied in with this concept of water and land management and our ecological systems reflected in the news today.
With this in mind, I was drawn to an article in the paper that mentions author and New York Times Pulitzer Prize winning reporter, Tim Egan, who will speak on October 2nd at the Church of the Bigwood at 6:30PM. He was granted the National Book Award for his writing about the Dust Bowl in the Midwest, The Worst Hard Time, which targets the issue of water. The Big Burn tells the tale of the formation of the National Park System by Theodore Roosevelt. In August of 1910, one of our country’s worst fires blazed through Washington, Idaho and Montana…our own country! Mr. Egan dissects the fire and how it was fought, and, its impact on national forest management.
Please click on this link and you will find a list of books and sites recommended for the month of September.
Alice Calvert
2015 will be the 10th year of WRWCF granting community support through the programs of our nonprofits. We are thankful for the work of our nonprofits in the valley and our ability to support them.
Janet DeBard
President
Janet DeBard |
Our Mission StatementThe WRWCF inspires and educates women to become leaders in philanthropy and brings significant, positive change to the community by pooling and distributing its members’ resources. |
WRWCF |
Please Welcome Our New Members for This Month:Lisa Adam Sue Gaasland Geri Herbert Amy Levere Dabney Mann
1417 Landfall Dr
Wilmington NC 28405
919-971-3807
Djmann1942@gmail.com
Jane Conner Taylor PO Box 1768 Sun Valley ID 83353-1768 941-343-3532 Janetaylor0416@comcast.net News Brief Editor Peggy Grove |
