Heart disease is the #1 killer of women in America taking more lives than all forms of cancer combined. Learn how to make simple changes that could save your life.

Take Charge of Your Health

As women, we tend to put others ahead of ourselves. But if we do not care for ourselves, we cannot take care of others. If you do not make your health a priority, who will?

BE AWARE

Learn the sign and symptoms of heart disease and understand your family history and risk factors.

Signs and Symptoms of Heart Attack

If you have any of these signs, call 9-1-1 and get to a hospital right away.

1. Uncomfortable pressure, squeezing, fullness or pain in the center of your chest. It lasts more than a few minutes or goes away and comes back.
2. Pain or discomfort in one or both arms, the back, neck, jaw, or stomach.
3. Shortness of breath with or without chest discomfort.
4. Other signs such as breaking out in a cold sweat, nausea, or lightheadedness.
5. As with men, women’s most common heart attack symptom is chest pain or discomfort. But women are more likely than men to experience some of the other common symptoms, particularly shortness of breath, nausea/vomiting and back or jaw pain.

LIVE WELL

Move more, eat better, and track your blood pressure. How do you want to live? Along with eating right and being active, real health includes getting enough sleep, practicing mindfulness, managing stress, keeping mind and body fit, connecting socially. The Go Red for Women website has tools and resources to help you take charge of your health.

MAKE AN IMPACT

Go Red for Women has provided a platform for women to come together, raise awareness, fund lifesaving research, advocate for change and improve the lives of all women.

Resources

goredforwomen.org -The American Heart Association’s signature women’s initiative, Go Red for Women, is a comprehensive platform designed to increase women’s heart health awareness and serve as a catalyst for change to improve the lives of women globally

#GoRedGetFit- join our Facebook community for online support from other women working to be active and eat well.

goredforwomen.org/join- get the latest tips, health, news and more by signing up for our Go Red for Women newsletter.

Projectbaseline.com/gored- Women especially women of color continue to be underrepresented in research. You can help by joining Research Goes Red and participating in research, surveys, focus groups and more.

Chris Angotti

GFWC- NC

Health & Wellness Chairman

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National Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month

Did you know??

There are three main types of human trafficking reported in the United States:

• Sex trafficking means the recruitment, harboring, transportation, provision, obtaining, patronizing, or soliciting of a person for the purpose of a commercial sex act.
• Labor trafficking includes involuntary servitude; peonage; debt bondage; and slavery.
• Child soldiers are forced to fight but also used as: cooks, porters, messengers, medics, guards, spies, and sex slaves.

Traffickers will often use force, fraud, and coercion to compel victims to perform labor or services or commercial sex acts. So… what does this look like??

• Force may be drugging a person to incapacitate him/her, confinement (locked room, vehicle, bondage), or physical assault such as being hit, kicked, or punched.
• Fraud may include false advertising and/or promises of a better job, good pay, new life in the US, and/or better circumstances for one’s family.
• Coercion may be physical or psychological and may include blackmail, threats, intimidation, and threatening to hit/hurt/harm someone.

Traffickers prey on victims with little or no social safety net. They look to exploit victims for cheap labor by preying on individuals in vulnerable situations due to economic hardship, illegal immigration status, political instability, natural disasters, and other causes. Traffickers also exploit people who are vulnerable because of their age. It is important to note that legal migrants can also be vulnerable to trafficking.

National Human Trafficking Awareness Day on January 11^th raises awareness of the persistent issue of human trafficking. Though the entire month of January has already been recognized as National Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month, this day is specifically dedicated to awareness and prevention of the illegal practice. This holiday is also separate from the World Day Against Trafficking Persons, as established by the United Nations. Since the Senate established this day of observance in 2007, it has drawn massive public support from individual donations to government-organized events. The horrific injustice of human trafficking can affect people of any race and background, and on this day, we are all called to fight human trafficking wherever it exists.

What can YOU do?

• Learn the signs and indicators of trafficking.
• Do not engage in prohibited activities.
• Report anything suspicious that you see to your chain of command or to your local DoD IG office, through the DoD IG Hotline at 1-800-424-9098, or visit their website at http://www.dodig.mil/

• Never act ALONE, you may want to help, but trafficking situations are dangerous.

“The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.” —Eleanor Roosevelt

Happy New Year!

With each new GFWC year, comes the reporting season! We Look forward to receiving reports and award entries and appreciate the time you take to prepare them. We have been updating the GFWC-NC website, so as you plan your projects for 2022 and prepare award entries and reports be sure to visit the Community Service section. There you find the program handouts, project ideas and tools, project worksheets, resource organizations, and the monthly program calendar. The section is organized as follows:

2020-2022 Special Projects and Programs – GFWC-NC President’s Special Project, GFWC-NC Director of Junior Clubs Special Project: Safe Kids, Signature Program: Domestic and Sexual Violence Prevention and Awareness, Juniors Special Program: Advocates for Children, Boys and Girls Homes of North Carolina and Federation Friday.

Community Service Programs – Arts & Culture, Civic Engagement & Outreach, Education & Libraries, ESO, Environment, and Health & Wellness.

Advancement Plans – Communications & Public Relations, Fundraising & Development, Leadership, Legislation & Public Policy, Membership and Women’s History & Resource Center (WHRC)

You will also find guides on where to report projects, fundamentals for awards and reporting, award submission tips, and Tab n’ Type versions of the CP&S and Award Entry forms in the section titled Awards & Reports.

We are keeping personal, privileged information off the site as much as possible because of hacking. To obtain contact information for the Program Chairmen for awards submission, you can request the All-Awards Contact List from Headquarters or refer to section 8 of the GFWC-NC Administration Book. Be sure to the refer to the updated version, sent to Club Presidents in the fall of 2021.

Remember that CP&S reports and Award Entry forms are all due by midnight February 1^st. And a reminder that this year the Community Impact award entries are due March 1^st to the GFWC-NC 1^st Vice President. This is a 2-year award, and it has been streamlined. You can submit up to three projects and the GFWC-NC winning entry will be submitted to GFWC for the opportunity to win a $2,500 grant.

If you have any questions, your GFWC-NC Program Chairmen are great resources so please feel free to reach out to them.

Best wishes for a healthy and prosperous 2022. Follow your dreams!

Karen Throckmorton, GFWC-NC First Vice President

Pam Mediano, GFWC-NC Dean of Junior Community Service Programs

Each of us has had a lasting impact on another person at some point in our lives and likely to a fellow clubwoman.  These connections have not only helped others but have cultivated friendships you will treasure for a lifetime.  Mentoring takes on all shapes and sizes and could be a quickly found solution or acting as an advisor for a much longer period of time.

If you are a newer member who do YOU consider your mentor?  Does she KNOW you look to her for advice and guidance through club work?  Often, we help other clubwomen and friends/acquaintances without really thinking of ourselves as mentors and it would be refreshing for you to take a moment and thank her.  You will make her day!

Invite new members to travel with you to District or State meetings when safe to do so. This will allow the newer member to ask questions before and after the meeting and will give the more experienced member time to provide context for the meeting. Hopefully, this will help the newer member engage in all levels of GFWC!

If you are a seasoned member take some time to find a newer member or another seasoned member and become her mentor.  Help a new member acclimate to your club’s activities or help a returning member become re-engaged in club work.  Those extra few minutes you allow for conversation will show compassion and perhaps the kindness they need to brighten their day!

Mentoring is all about building the connection between members.  It is not always a seasoned member mentoring a new member – it could be a newer member has talents a seasoned member may need.  The time it takes to mentor is minimal compared to the lasting impact YOU will have on another and think of the friendships you will make that will last a lifetime!

Don’t forget our incentive for this club year!   The GFWC-NC Membership Committee is drawing at the end of each of the four “seasons” for a $25 gift card to help your club celebrate its newest members!  There will be another drawing at the end of the year for a $100 gift card and other fun stuff for your club.  Your club must submit the GFWC Seasonal Recruitment Campaign Report to GFWC and send a copy to Kim Fulcher.  Be sure to submit for each “season” your club adds new members.  Even if you only took in one new member – REPORT it and your club will be eligible for the drawing.  Congratulations to the Outer Banks Woman’s Club for winning the Fall gift card – the next drawing will be in March!

Kim Fulcher, GFWC-NC President-elect, kefulcher@gmail.com

Hope Hockaday, GFWC-NC Director-elect of Junior Clubs, hopelynn@gmail.com

“Volunteers do not necessarily have the time they have the heart.” – Elizabeth Andrew

 The holidays and winter tend to shine a light on the needs of those less fortunate, homeless, depressed, and lonely more than usual. There are many simple Done in a Day projects that can change lives in our communities. Acts of kindness are the best gift you can give during the holiday season!

Get Crafty – Put activity kits together for sick children at your local pediatric hospital or St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. Kits can be simple, colored pencils, crayons, and a coloring book, for a little waiting room fun. Make something for children in need, the troops, seniors, and those with terminal illnesses by connecting with opportunities through the online site Giving Artfully. Projects include knit blankets, handmade cards, and more. Need by Social Issue — Giving Artfully

Deliver Care Packages and Holiday Blessing Bags – Create holiday care packages of snacks and bottled water to hand out to homeless people, shelters, and food banks. Contact a soup kitchen or other hot meal service in your city. These centers may need extra help on the holidays, and they are likely to need day-to-day volunteers as well. Bring a meal to a local police/fire station/EMT/hospital (Especially during third shift!) Remember troops overseas. Organizations like Operation Shoebox offer tips on how to get your packages together.

Be a Mentor – Reach out and read holiday stories at events and for children in the community. Contact your local public library to see if the staff needs volunteers to read to children. Check in books or complete administrative tasks. Drop off holiday books to the local Little Free Libraries too. These small outdoor library boxes are full of books that you can take for free.

Decorate the town or local nursing home – Spread some holiday cheer! Offer to plant in and decorate public areas or spend a day cleaning up the area or local park. Local nurseries can be a source of donations. Donate your gently worn shoes – organizations such as Soles for Souls provide footwear to people around the world.

Focus on health – Cook a healthy meal for the local police officers, firefighters, or nursing home residents. Assist girls and women throughout the world without access to personal products by donating feminine hygiene kits locally or through organizations like Days for Girls. Focus on your personal health too! Download an app like Charity Miles to earn money for great causes just by going on your morning jog or walking the dog. Also, check out sites such as active.com for a list of charity runs in your area.

Additional ideas: Buy in Bulk or Shop Until you Drop! Next time you find a deal or a buy one, get one free article of clothing or small appliance, donate it to the local Goodwill or shelter. Donate your loose change. Clean out your children’s rooms and donate toys and stuffed animals. First responders can give them to children affected by fires, accidents, etc. Organizations like SAFE — Stuffed Animals for Emergencies — also accept these donations.

Remember to Elevate Women and Girls and Advocate for Children this winter!

Karen Throckmorton, GFWC-NC 1^st Vice President

Pam Mediano, GFWC-NC Dean of Junior Community Service Programs

We are entering the new GFWC Seasonal Recruitment Campaign – MENTORING.  What is your club doing now to support your members and keep them engaged?  This time of the year is full of excitement with so many festive holidays and we need to make sure we are staying in touch.

• Start a phone tree and call members you haven’t seen in a while.
• Organize a ZOOM Holiday gathering or a Virtual Holiday Cookie Swap/Baking party and share recipes! Some clubs are meeting in person – if yours is and it is safe to gather do these activities in person.
• Reporting and Award entry season is coming quickly – gather in small groups again, if it safe to do so and your members are comfortable and write them together – many heads and hands make this process much more FUN!
• If you have Big Sisters or another mentoring program, make sure you touch base often. The winter season can be lonely, cold, and sad for many.  Check in often and share your beautiful smile either in person (if safe) or with your cheerful voice!

December brings us to the middle of the holiday season and brings with it joy, happiness, smiles, family, friends, and STRESS!!!  Most of us LOVE the holiday season and vow at the beginning that “I will be more organized, I will get shopping done early, I will ENJOY this time of year,” and if you are like many that falls apart on DAY 3.  Here are a few helpful tips to help you slow down and love this time of year!

• Begin planning early – create lists, plan menus, and when to decorate for the season
• Spend time wrapping gifts – schedule a day or evening each week and sit and enjoy the process of wrapping gifts! Maybe watch a tutorial video on how to make your own bows!
• Grab your family, hop in the car, and drive around town to look at Holiday lights. Many towns have light festivals or homes in neighborhoods who have quite the festive lights display!  And music that guides you through.
• Read a holiday book or, my favorite, watch a Hallmark holiday movie (or 3 or 4…)
• Send holiday cards – again schedule a day where you can sit with a cup of hot cocoa, cider or tea and hand address your cards. Everyone loves to receive these!
• Lastly and most importantly, do not This is a season of joy and a time for you to take some time to rest, relax, and recharge and welcome 2022!!

Happy Holidays!!

Kim Fulcher, GFWC-NC President-elect, kefulcher@gmail.com

Hope Hockaday, GFWC-NC Director-elect of Junior Clubs, hopelynn@gmail.com

Our Fall Conference was full of great ideas and information from all our GFWC-NC Program Chairmen. The Community Service Program Chairmen highlighted the latest project ideas and contests, so we wanted to share the latest with you.

Arts & Culture

A donation to the Arts & Culture CSP has provided us with the opportunity to hold a special arts contest for clubs this year at the State Arts Festival. We would like to see your original designs painted, drawn, or colored for a Little Free Library for your community. What would you do if you could paint anything you wanted, to make your Library “special” for your neighbors to see and use? We want to find out!

The entry will be a three-sided design on paper (one page for each of the sides and the top) sent to the Chairmen by March 1, 2022. Judging will be at the State Arts Festival in March. At that time, the club winner, chosen by the GFWC-NC Arts Festival visual arts judges, will take home their own “Free Little Library,” valued at $300. A contest entry form is available. There will not be any specific criteria so use your creativity and imagination. We hope to receive a lot of entries and cannot wait to see what kind of designs you come up with!

Civic Engagement & Outreach

“When you are homeless, you don’t have time to think about goals and dreams and schemes. Every day becomes another battle for simple survival,” says Alyce Knaflich, a NC woman Veteran who was homeless for ten years. She has since escaped that life and founded Aura Home Women Vets headquartered in Asheville. They serve women veterans in nine western NC counties. We collected over $235 and some groceries for the Aura Home, which will assist with rent, car payments to prevent job-loss, and the food pantry. A Note – They are building a home in Hendersonville to house 125 homeless women vets.

At the conference we made 100 luminarias for the NC State Home for Veterans at Black Mountain, one of 5 such homes in NC. Our goal was to make a luminaria for each veteran to have in their room. Many thanks to Barbara Sawyer, Mary Hart, and the Forrest Woman’s Club for their support on this project. Click here for instructions on how to make luminarias.

Education & Libraries

Education and Libraries CSP’s across the state have been supporting schools, promoting literacy through mentoring, supporting libraries through encouraging and participating in library card sign-ups, and in promoting a lifetime of learning. Our Clubwomen have created Story Walks and pursued Reach Out & Read (ROR). This is an initiative in North Carolina to increase child literacy skills for children from birth to age five. Clubs and members partner with physicians to provide books in their offices for young children to read. Thank you so much to all who brought books to the Conference. Over 60 books were donated and presented to the ROR Western Area Manager who will take them to one of the five locations in Asheville. Our Challenge Project this administration is to support STEM activities for disabled children. This has been a fun and enlightening endeavor. The handouts for Jars of Sunshine and STEM project ideas are available on the GFWC-NC Education & Libraries page under project tools.

ESO

Hilda hopes to get at least one report from every pledge and member, including those who have been dormant for years, before the end of the year! If you have not submitted a report in a while, you will be surprised with a copy of your own spreadsheet when you send one. If you have trouble reading it, just let Hilda know and she will be happy to explain. One report will allow your club to count you as an active member and give you a copy of your spreadsheet, so take advantage of this simple step. Reports may be hard copies or electronic.

Thanks to all who brought books for ESO members! Over 35 books were swapped at the Conference The few that were leftover will be donated to the Arts & Culture Design a Little Free Library Contest so the winner will have a few books to start their new library!

Environment

The Challenge Project is “Reduce Plastics Use, Refuse, Reuse, Re-purpose, and Recycle.”  Mary sent out the October Plastic Counting Project to each Environment Chairman and hopes that all clubs participated. One club already collected 500 pounds of plastic bags and was having them recycled into an item for the community. The workshop included ideas for recycling. For instruction on making a gift box from a recycled greeting card and other upcycle projects, go to project tools on the Environment CSP page.

One national affiliate is Heifer International. You can look them up online to see the wonderful things that they are doing, and this would be an excellent place to put your environment funds. They are currently helping farmers and conserving rainforest land.

Speakers are a fantastic way to educate your fellow Clubwomen and encourage innovative ideas. Several organizations with speakers willing to come to your club are the local landfill or recycle center, local animal shelters or zoos, thrift shops to encourage reusing items, and local farmers market associates.

Health & Wellness

The GFWC-NC Chairman provided valuable information on Mental Health Awareness. Recently, John Broderick, former Chief Justice of New Hampshire Supreme Court, was the keynote speaker at the GFWC Convention in Atlanta. He shared his personal story and his lack of knowledge about mental illness that devastated his family. He is the GFWC Honorary Chairman; and he has been reaching out to students, educators, parents, and professionals to change the conversation on mental health and help to reduce stigma. Click here for the information and the link to watch his podcast. “Taking Care of Your Emotional Well-Being” by recognizing the signs of emotional suffering in yourself or others, and learning the healthy habits of emotional well-being are the focus of his message. We encourage you to take the time to review so you can R.E.A.C.T!

Enjoy the holidays and Happy New Year 2022! We look forward to your award entries and reports.

Karen & Pam

“When you’re homeless, you don’t have time to think about goals and dreams and schemes. Every day becomes another battle for simple survival,” says Alyce Knaflich, a NC woman Veteran who was homeless for nearly ten years and founded Aura Home Women Vets with headquarters in Asheville serving women Veterans in nine western NC counties.   Sadly, many women and men veterans have experienced homelessness after their service to our country. Aura Home Women Vets is building a safe temporary shelter for homeless women veterans in Henderson County to help them readjust to civilian life, but it will not be available until 2023.  Aura’s services to women veterans include help with emergency rent, car, and utility payments to prevent homelessness, help in navigating VA benefits and community resources, as well as mental health counseling and health referrals.

At the present time, Aura is assisting one woman veteran who is raising her grandchildren and whose home sustained extensive damage in the recent flooding.  We will be taking donations at the meeting and have put together a gift basket to go with the donations to assist Aura Home Women Vets clients.  https://www.aurahomewomenvets.com/

As of 2019, there are 86,575 women veterans in North Carolina, 14% (12,120) are homeless. Homeless women veterans are the fastest growing homeless population in the United States.  NC has the 6^th largest female veteran population in the country.  Homeless women veterans are confronted with issues like converting military job skills to civilian employment, budget and personal finance changes in pay and responsibilities, feeling like an outcast among people without military or combat experience, and mental health and medical concerns.

November 11 is Veterans Day, a national holiday when we remember the outstanding courage and commitment to freedom of men and women Veterans, and express thanks for their service to our country and our state.  GFWCNC Resolution 015-150 encourages clubwomen to honor local veterans in our state which has one of the greatest number of military bases and veterans of any state in the US.

At our annual GFWCNC Fall meeting in Asheville on Nov. 5-6, 2021, members will be making a crafts project of luminaria tray favors to relay our thanks to the 100 Veterans at the NC State Veterans Home in Black Mountain, NC.  These will be delivered to the home following our meeting, to honor and thank the Veterans there on Veterans Day, November 11.  https://www.pruitthealth.com/microsite/facilityid364

There are 5 NC State Veterans Homes: https://www.milvets.nc.gov/services/nc-state-veterans-homes   Black Mountain, (828) 257-6800 (capacity 100); Salisbury, (704) 638-4200 (capacity 99); Kinston, (252) 939-8000 (capacity 100); Fayetteville, (910) 482-4131 (capacity 150); and opening at the end of November a home in Kernersville (capacity 120).

Veterans Day celebrates the service of all U.S military veterans, while Memorial Day honors those who died while in military service.  Armed Forces Day honors those currently serving in the U.S. military.  Women Veterans Day is recognized by several states and is observed on June 12 in the United States.  Women Veterans Day honors women who have served in the U.S. military and recognizes the unique challenges that they have faced including disparities in care, recognition and benefits that our women veterans receive.

The U.S. Department of Defense recently highlighted five important facts about Veterans Day.

1. There is no apostrophe in Veterans Day, because it honors all veterans and is an opportunity to thank living veterans for their sacrifices.
2. Veterans Day and Memorial Day are two distinct holidays celebrated in different ways.
3. Veterans Day was originally called Armistice Day to commemorate the end of World War One.
4. After World War Two and the Korean War, Congress changed Armistice Day to Veterans Day which is celebrated on November 11.
5. Veterans Day is celebrated worldwide in different ways. For example, Canada, Australia, and Great Britain have Remembrance Day in November honoring vets in their countries.

Clubwomen are encouraged to search out women veterans in your community, as well as organizations that will partner on services to all veterans.  Your members can contact these organizations to offer services most needed by their veteran clients or residents.

Invite women veterans to join your GFWC club.

Combat Female Veterans Families United, Sandra Robinson or Phyliss Abbott 919-637-7679

sandra.robinson@cfvfunited.com

https://www.cfvfunited.com/ Greensboro

Women Veterans Support Services, Patricia Harris 919-276-5083

sgtpattycake1wvss@gmail.com

https://www.wvss-nc.org/wp/ Raleigh

For more information contact Lois Nixon, GFWC-NC Civic Engagement & Outreach Chairman

November means pumpkins, delicious North Carolina apples, mums, trips to the mountains, fire pits with family and friends, a slight nip to the morning air and the beginning of the Holiday Season.

For GFWC it means an emphasis on Civic Engagement and Outreach, Education & Libraries, Environment, and Health & Wellness. These Community Service Programs are the focus of our GFWC-NC fall meeting break-out sessions, which begin today in Asheville. We will offer hands-on projects to support veterans, including homeless and women veterans, teachers and students, recycling ideas to preserve the environment, and information on mental health.

Veteran’s Day is November 11^th. It is an opportunity to express our gratitude to all who have served and are serving in our armed services. Our focus in Civic Engagement & Outreach this administration is to support and aid women veterans. The sacrifices these individuals make are truly priceless and immeasurable. We continually enjoy the countless freedoms they have afforded us. Every Day!

History buffs will know that November 11, 1918, is referred to as the end of “the war to end all wars.” World War I officially ended in June 1919, with the signing of the Treaty of Versailles. However, fighting ended seven months earlier when an armistice between the Allied nations and Germany went into effect on the 11^th hour of the 11^th day of the 11^th month. In 1938, November 11^th became a legal holiday.

American Education Week is November 15^th to 19^th. We celebrate National Educational Support Professionals Day each year on the Wednesday during American Education Week, which is November 17^th this year. The National Education Association Representative Assembly established this day to honor the education support professionals who work for public schools’ well-being. They play a key role in forming a healthy community as they help students and teachers. It is an opportunity to support bus drivers, custodians, cafeteria workers, school librarians and administrative staff. November is also National Family Literacy Month.

America Recycles Day is November 15th annually. It is time to repurpose, refuse and reuse. Simple, done in a day projects on November 15th are a fantastic way to raise awareness about the importance of conservation in your local community. Also, inviting speakers to meetings is a way to educate fellow clubwomen and encourage innovative ideas to improve the environment. Contact representatives from local landfills or recycle centers, local animal shelters or zoos, thrift shops to encourage reusing items, or local farmers markets.

National Alzheimer’s Disease Awareness and American Diabetes months are recognized in November. International Survivors of Suicide Day is November 20th. The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention is promoting walks for mental health awareness, which is the Health & Wellness challenge project, throughout November. Be sure to visit their site to find out more about walks near you.

And November 25th is National Family Health History Day (always Thanksgiving Day). A day for family, friends, giving, and healthy celebrations!

Happy Thanksgiving from our GFWC-NC Family to yours!

Karen & Pam

Karen Throckmorton, GFWC-NC First Vice President

Pam Mediano, GFWC-NC Dean of Junior Community Service Programs

Fall is finally in full swing and so is our club year!   Our clubs are busy recruiting new members and having successful Membership Recruitment events.  Many find that getting these new members to join is not difficult, but once they join, we need to be careful that we don’t FALL short and ensure they find their CONNECTION within our club.  And the quicker the better – remember when you first joined?  How did YOU find your connection?

• Was it a member reaching out to you?
• Was it a project that you found interesting?
• Was it simply being part of a group doing GOOD in your community?

Whatever your connection was be sure you share your experience with new members and encourage other members to share too.  Not all members are the same, but we all want to find a CONNECTION, to be involved, and to be part of this wonderful

federation!  And furthermore, we want to connect our clubs across the state – we want to share what each other has done.  Who knows?  A fabulous recruitment idea or event may be just what another club needs to help them succeed in recruiting.

• Did your club have successful recruitment activities? This year we have had some clubs meeting in person and other meeting via Zoom.  We would love to hear how your club tackled the challenges head on to make recruiting a success!
• Did y’all have fun and interactive Zoom/in person socials and meetings? Other clubs are asking for creative ideas – please let us know what you did!

Don’t forget about forming NEW CLUBS!!  Have you heard anyone interested in starting a new club?  Maybe someone is aging out and does not have a general club nearby?  Remember it only takes 5 members to start a club and GFWC has a Special Membership Award for this administration.  GFWC-NC will get a certificate AND $50 for each new club!!  GFWC will gather this information from the New Clubs Forms submitted between July 1, 2020 and February 15, 2022.

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Kim Fulcher, GFWC-NC President-elect, kefulcher@gmail.com

Hope Hockaday, GFWC-NC Director-elect of Junior Clubs, hopelynn@gmail.com