Category: Uncategorized

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports that about three percent of babies are born with a birth defect each year. Common birth defects include congenital heart defects, cleft lip and cleft palate, and spina bifida— which is an incomplete closing of the backbone. Birth defects can cause serious problems in a baby’s health and development, and are also the leading cause of infant mortality. January is Birth Defects Prevention Month, and 2018’s theme is “Prevent to Protect: Prevent Infections for Baby’s Protection”. What can you do to help?

Get Educated and Spread Awareness

Promoting awareness of the prevalence and danger of birth defects is important to make prevention possible. But it’s important to first learn about birth defects yourself and then spread the word.

Some birth defects are tied to genetics and can’t be prevented, but others can be. Here are a few ways the CDC suggests that a pregnant woman can reduce the risk of birth defects:

• Avoid alcohol and cigarettes while pregnant.
• Have a preconception check-up— the doctor will make sure you’re healthy, you’re up to date on your vaccinations, and that you aren’t taking medicine that will negatively affect your baby.
• Wash your hands often to risk reduce of common infections.
• Take folic acid, an essential B-vitamin, before and during the early stages of pregnancy.
• If you have a cat, don’t change the cat litter. This will lessen your chance of getting toxoplasmosis, an infection caused by a parasite. Cats are the primary living host of the parasite, and it’s passed through their feces.

You might not be pregnant or have any plans to become pregnant, but your voice is a powerful tool, and you can make sure that the pregnant women in your life and in your community are aware of how common birth defects are and what they can do to prevent them.

Support GFWC Partner March of Dimes

Hosting a fundraiser for March of Dimes will help fund their research and programs that work to prevent birth defects.

Support GFWC Partner Operation Smile

While this month’s focus is on prevention of birth defects, that doesn’t mean treatment isn’t possible. Prevention should be prioritized, but there are still ways you can make a difference in the lives of children who have been born with birth defects. For example, you can support Operation Smile in its mission to provide free surgeries to children with cleft lip and cleft palate who don’t have access to safe surgery.

This January, spread the word about birth defects and support the organizations that work to make them less common.

GFWC clubwomen are filling the holidays with music. The Fuquay-Varina Junior Woman’s Club (North Carolina) has a Christmas Social every year that involves getting dinner at a local restaurant and then going back to a member’s house for dessert and coffee. They spend an hour caroling and sharing their memories of youth, led by a professional pianist they hire for the evening. The club enjoys adding special harmonies and tunes to the carols, and have wonderful time singing and storytelling.

Many GFWC clubs carol to bring cheer to their communities. In addition to an evening of acapella caroling at their annual Christmas party for their guests to enjoy, the Women’s Club of Farmingdale (New York) continued their annual custom of entertaining the Farmingdale Adult Day Care Center with traditional Christmas tunes!

The Swartz Creek Woman’s Club (Michigan) provided a Christmas tree lighting, complete with two live reindeer, and had the high school Madrigals and a local band sing carols. Then they had a huge event called Christmas in the Creek, which was their first ever no-fee event for their community. The event was packed with things for kids to see and do, including a penguin egg hunt and a Charlie Brown Christmas skit. The local library also featured Miss “Christmas” Carol, who read and sang songs to young children! With all of the activities and song, the club made sure their community could find Christmas spirit wherever they turned.

The Oconomowoc Junior Woman’s Club (Wisconsin) braced the wind and cold for their fourth annual tradition of Christmas caroling at local establishments in downtown Oconomowoc. The club uses the evening to raise money for Rogers Memorial Hospital Foundation, which participates in the Give for A Better Day Holiday Gift Drive that benefits the Angel Fund. The Angel Fund gives a gift to children ages 8 through 17 who will be undergoing treatment during the holiday season. Every year, the hospital staff hosts a festive party and distributes gifts to each patient. Oftentimes they are the only holiday gifts they receive. This year the club raised $363.00 for the Angel Fund, and one of the club members will purchase gift cards for the patients so they can have a brighter holiday.

The Woman’s Club of New Tampa (Florida) carolers were right on key when they shared Christmas jingles and joy with the residents at the Legacy at Highwoods Preserve. The residence offers assisted living and memory care for seniors. The club sang and served cookies and warm drinks. The tradition of bringing Christmas cheer to seniors is one of their favorite holiday outings each year.

Whether they’re caroling for a cause, or just to bring a smile to everyone’s faces, GFWC carolers are uplifting spirits in their community through song!

The holidays are filled with traditions that get everyone ready for the season. One popular tradition GFWC clubs have to kickoff Christmas in their communities is hosting a Breakfast with Santa. Christmas came early for the Kings Mountain Woman’s Club (North Carolina), who held their eighth annual Breakfast with Santa event in mid-November. It was intentionally planned early so families could have an opportunity to include their children’s photos with Santa on their family Christmas cards. The cost of breakfast was $8 for adults and $5 for children, but the club sponsors a local family each year to enjoy the festivities free of charge. In addition to a breakfast buffet and photos with Santa, there was also an “Elf Closet” where children could purchase $1 gifts for their families. The club appreciates how the event reaches the heart of their community, and allows families to celebrate this joyous time of year.

The Camp Hill Junior Civic Club (Pennsylvania) were surprised by how much their Breakfast with Santa brings everyone together. They’ve sponsored it for five years now, and get help from the fire department, the Girl Scouts, and the middle school’s volunteer club. Neighbors get to sit and catch up while their children play with friends, making it a pleasurable time for everyone! Proceeds from the event benefit their scholarship fund and local charities, and so the larger community benefits too.

The Pasco Junior Women’s Club (Florida) sold 125 tickets to their Breakfast with Santa this year, with four time slots that allowed for a smooth and calm experience for their guests. The club provides breakfast, a craft, and small toys that Santa Claus gives to each child.

The event was advertised on flyers placed throughout their area, including within local childcare facilities. The club members enjoy the intimate experience, and thinks of it less as a fundraising experience, and more as a way to provide a service to the families in their community. The event is also a chance for recruitment because most of the women who attend are interested in what the club does, and are encouraged to learn more.

Breakfast with Santa has been a beloved tradition of the Woman’s Club of Laurel (Maryland) since the 1970s. Many children who grew up with the annual tradition now bring their own children. The club was fortunate to have the same Santa Clause for 30 years until he retired in 2011, and have had another Santa going strong since 2012. There are four hourly sessions of about 40 to 50 people each. The event is well-publicized in their community, and they keep a list of attendees to mail courtesy invitations for the following year’s event. It is one of their major fundraisers each year, but they also consider it a community service project, so with that in mind, they keep their admission price low so that the event is accessible to as many families as possible. Local stores donate food and supplies that help keep the costs down so more of what they raise goes towards the club’s philanthropic efforts. To add to the holiday spirit and raise additional funds, the club raffles stuffed animals and sell poinsettias for a nominal cost.

GFWC clubs are making sure their communities aren’t short of cheer this holiday season. With delicious food, a festive atmosphere, and Santa Claus himself, Breakfast with Santa events allow clubs to foster a lasting relationship with their communities.

Sunday December 10^th is International Human Rights Day! GFWC’s focus on making a difference in the lives of children, women, and human trafficking victims all falls under the scope of this global day that acknowledges human rights issues, and our need to stand up against the violation of human rights.

The observance honors the UN’s adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights almost seventy years ago. It outlined certain rights— including the right to life and liberty, freedom from slavery and torture, the right to education, etc. — that everyone is entitled to without discrimination. That means a person’s race, sex, religion, and any other identity status cannot prevent them from having the same rights and standard of living as anyone else. The drafting committee of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was actually chaired by none other than Eleanor Roosevelt, a dynamic leader that GFWC is proud to call one of our own.

A few examples of human rights violations include sexual harassment and assault, unsafe labor conditions, torture, slavery, and child trafficking and labor. GFWC clubs have promoted programs and legislation to support and protect human rights, and International Human Rights Day is a celebration of that tradition. So what can you do to acknowledge the observance this year?

• Have your club read the Declaration of Human Rights and plan what you can do as a group in 2018 to fight for human rights.
• Use social media to spread awareness and support for the day. Your social media account can be a platform to talk about why human rights are important to you, and how everyone can make a difference. Encourage your friends and family to educate themselves on how human rights are being violated across the country and the world, and to speak out against it.
• Find an organization to write letters of solidarity to people whose human rights are being violated.
• Organize a fundraising event for organizations that work to protect human rights, like GFWC Partners UNICEF and Prevent Child Abuse America.

If you can’t do anything on the actual date, don’t worry! December is actually National Human Rights Month, so you have the whole month to celebrate the human rights we have, and plan how you’re going to make sure they’re upheld!

Winter is around the corner and temperatures are beginning to drop. In preparation, GFWC clubs have been busy collecting coats for anyone who might not have the proper attire to keep warm and safe this winter, including homeless individuals, low-income students, and victims of domestic violence.

Every year the Bowling Green Junior Woman’s Club (Kentucky) partners with the Bowling Green Police Department to host a coat drive. This year they kicked off their 26^th annual Coats for Kids drive on October 1^st and will be collecting coats until December 1^st. Last year, the club collected over 1,500 coats for kids, teens, and adults in their community.

The club works with the city and school resource directors to get a list of their needs in each school. They collect new and gently used coats, bringing the used coats to local drycleaners who clean them at no charge. In addition to physical coats, the club also accepts monetary donations, all of which go directly to purchasing new coats for the schools so no child will be cold. This year they raised $5,000!

Once they’ve distributed coats to the schools, the remaining coats are displayed at the club’s community wide coat distribution day so that anyone can stop by and get a free coat. The club works with the Salvation Army, Hotel Inc., and BRASS, who come to the distribution day and take any leftover coats to their offices to distribute to those who need them throughout the winter.

The Salem Woman’s Service Club (Oregon) has found an alternative to hosting a coat drive. For the past three years they have partnered with a children’s clothing consignment store to pick up all of their unsold items each month, which includes coats, sweaters, and other warm clothing. They donate the clothes to non-profits in their community who give them directly to children and families in the area who need them. Rather than let those unused items waste away, the club makes sure they get put to good use.

With heated homes and coats to bundle into when we leave those homes, we often take for granted that we can stay warm in the winter. But too many people experience freezing temperatures without winter wear, and that can be dangerous and life-threatening in harsh conditions and severe storms. With every coat or sweater that GFWC clubs collect, that’s one more person who can better survive the winter. If your club doesn’t have a winter clothing collection project, consider it for next year! Even if you don’t have an event in place yet, look into your closet to find coats and other clothing you can donate to make sure everyone can beat the cold this winter.

With Thanksgiving around the corner, that means Giving Tuesday is almost here too. Giving Tuesday is an international day encouraging everyone to kick off the season of giving. It takes place on the Tuesday after Thanksgiving in the U.S. to remind people to be generous to others for the holidays following the shopping events of both Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Consider some of these ways you can participate in Giving Tuesday this year!

Donate to GFWC

Giving Tuesday is right around the time when GFWC clubs and clubwomen begin to think about their end-of-year giving. When you contribute to GFWC, you are upholding our legacy and expanding the reach of our projects and programs. Since GFWC is a 501C(3) charitable organization, that means your donations are tax-deductible. Here are a few ways you can make your donations to GFWC:

Campaign for the Future– You can help preserve GFWC Headquarters. The historic building isn’t just a headquarters, but a home, and a symbol of the organization’s endurance.

Disaster and Relief Funds- Library Replenishment Fund– You can help restock the collections of libraries that have been impacted by natural and manmade disasters.

Friends of WHRC– You can support the WHRC and its outreach activities, fellowships, and internships, and help preserve and build its collections of publications on women’s history.

GFWC Signature Program Fund– You can support the victims of domestic violence by helping fund scholarships for them to pursue higher education.

You can find the compiled list of ways to donate to GFWC by clicking here. You can donate through the GFWC Marketplace, or you can mail a check to:

The General Federation of Women’s Clubs
1734 N Street NW
Washington, DC 20036

If you send a check, make sure to specify which fund you want to support.

Service Project

Donations aren’t the only thing you can give for Giving Tuesday. You can also give your time and effort to a service project in your community. Plan a day of service and invite your friends, family, and neighbors to get involved!

Rally on Social Media

Don’t forget to promote the day on social media with the hashtag #GivingTuesday so that more people can join! Social media has proved to be a beneficial method of getting large-scale participation in something like Giving Tuesday. One way to maximize your impact is to be specific! If you’re going to be donating to a specific cause, encourage your friends on social media to make a donation as well. Share the link so that they can more easily access where to donate, and will be more likely to do so. Even if you ask your friends to spare just $5 for your cause, it can have a big effect if multiple people join in.

Donate to GFWC Partners

The partnerships that GFWC creates are important to the organization’s success in changing our communities for the better. GFWC Partners are a great resource for clubs, and so this Giving Tuesday, you can decide on the partner that best fits your club’s interests and make a donation to ensure that their hard work continues. Click here for a complete list of our partners.

No matter how you decide to celebrate Giving Tuesday, we’re sure you’ll create positive change and make sure that the day lives up to its name.

By Annabelle Bunch

Imagine what it is like to have to prick your finger ten to twenty times a day or to give yourself four to five shots of insulin daily. Over the last 11 years, I have had approximately 23,000 finger pricks and 29,000 shots of insulin, I am a teenager living with Type 1 Diabetes (T1D) and these are my daily realities. My platform, Just Too Sweet, is designed to promote awareness, advocacy, and action to find a cure for T1D. Type 1 Diabetes is an autoimmune disease in which a person’s pancreas loses the ability to produce insulin – a hormone essential to turning food into energy. It strikes both children and adults suddenly and is unrelated to diet or lifestyle. Management requires constant carbohydrate counting, blood-glucose testing, and a lifelong dependence on injected insulin. I am committed to helping others through Just Too Sweet by educating, raising funds, and empowering those who live with T1D to embrace life and create their own definition of normal.

On February 23, 2006, I was diagnosed with T1D at the age of 4. My life changed forever that day. According to the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF), 1.25 million Americans are living with T1D, and new cases of diabetes are diagnosed every 30 seconds. Diabetes is a serious disease and is the seventh leading cause of death in the United States. Being insulin dependent is a daily challenge. For those of us dealing with this disease, it is important to eat healthy, exercise, and check our blood sugar levels multiple times each day. Some days it is very hard to be an active 16-year-old while juggling T1D because keeping my blood sugar in the target range takes constant management.

Since 2008, I have worked to make a difference in the fight against T1D. At the age of 6, I started participating in JDRF walks and raising money to help fund research. The Belle’s Bunch team has raised more than $11,000 to help find a cure for T1D. I was the inspiration for a children’s book, Sweet AB, that I self-published to help children better understand diabetes. I have had the opportunity to read Sweet AB and share my story with more than 500 people in four states. In June 2016, my platform, Just Too Sweet, was selected as the General Federation of Women’s Clubs (GFWC) Southern Region President’s Philanthropy Project during their national convention in Baltimore, Maryland. I served as the featured speaker at the GFWC Southern Region Convention in Jacksonville, Florida and Atlanta, Georgia, where I discussed my own struggle with diabetes, promoted my book, and raised money for JDRF. I have created the Just Too Sweet Wristband Campaign and partnered with LPGA member, Ally McDonald, to bring awareness to T1D and Just Too Sweet. I am a certified JDRF Youth Advocacy Leader. I organized the JDRF Sneaker Campaign at my high school where the students helped bring awareness to The Walk to Cure Diabetes by purchasing and displaying paper sneakers. I have participated in the #T1DLooksLikeMe social media campaign. Through two different resolutions, the Mississippi Senate and House of Representatives have recognized my platform work as an outstanding example of service and commitment to the State of Mississippi. I have served as a Teen Advocate for the Promise to Remember Me Campaign by working with Mississippi’s Congressmen to lobby for federal assistance in funding Type 1 Diabetes research. I participated in the 2017 JDRF Hope Gala which helped raise $347,000 for research to cure T1D. My story and platform work inspired a representative from Kendra Scott to contact me and design the Annabelle Collection which is a jewelry collection that will be sold in the Mississippi store and online with 20% of all sales being donated to the Juvenile Diabetes Research Fund. I was selected as 1 of 150 children and teens across the country to serve as a delegate to the JDRF Children’s Congress in Washington, D.C., where I spent two days educating our country’s leaders on what it is like to live with T1D and advocating research funding to find a cure for Type 1 Diabetes.

As Miss Mississippi’s Outstanding Teen 2018, I will expand my work with JDRF and continue to raise money and help find a cure for Type 1 Diabetes. I have a unique perspective to shed light on this disease and to serve as a role model and mentor for young children who are diagnosed with T1D and other illnesses. Helping others understand the importance of being brave and how to live without letting a disease define who they are is my ultimate goal. I will continue to partner with organizations and individuals who can bring awareness to T1D and the Miss America’s Outstanding Teen brand. Just Too Sweet is an excellent tool to promote the Miss America’s Outstanding Teen Organization because of its expansive reach that focuses on appreciating your health, understanding your limitations, adapting your attitude to make the best of a situation, and most importantly, defining normal on your own terms. My platform is a natural fit with the MAOTeen national platform because Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals treat 935 children with Type 1 Diabetes every day. With T1D there are no days off, and there is no cure. Learning you have diabetes is scary and confusing, but with a little help it is easy to see that life can be just as sweet living with T1D.

The Alzheimer’s Association reports that more than 5 million Americans currently live with Alzheimer’s, and that number could reach as high as 16 million by the year 2050. They also report that it’s the sixth leading cause of death, and kills more than breast cancer and prostate cancer combined. Ending Alzheimer’s is a cause that needs attention, and as GFWC clubwomen, you can make that happen.

There are several ways you and your club can observe the month. Firstly, you can find a local walking event near you.

The Woman’s Club of Emerson (New Jersey) recently participated in the Walk to Fight Alzheimer’s, pictured above.

This month, the GFWC Woman’s Club of New Tampa will participate in the Walk to End Alzheimer’s for their second year in a row. The team is led by Treasurer Caralyn Paul, who lost her father a year ago to complications associated with Alzheimer’s disease.

Many New Tampa clubwomen have family members and friends who have been affected by Alzheimer’s, and so they wanted the club to focus on raising awareness to help advance research to help treat, and eventually prevent, Alzheimer’s disease.

The Carrollton Civic Woman’s Club (Georgia) has participated in West Georgia’s Walk to End Alzheimer’s for ten years. Clubwomen walk, volunteer, and contribute monetary donations, with an additional club donation made through the Home Life Service Program each year. The picture below features Past Club President Nancy Johnson with her family at last year’s walk. Her daughter-in-law is a Care Consultant with the Georgia chapter of Alzheimer’s Association, which is one of the reasons the club supports the fight against Alzheimer’s.

But the club’s work doesn’t end there. They have also supported their local Alzheimer Support Group for over twenty years by providing cookies for their monthly meetings. Each member in their Home Life Community Service Program has taken part in the hospitable tradition that supports family members who have loved ones affected by Alzheimer’s.

The disease can be very difficult for families to grapple with, so by supporting an Alzheimer’s Support Group, your club can be of great comfort to them, and show that you care. Other ways you can help include hosting your own benefit for Alzheimer’s disease, or supporting GFWC Partner Easterseals, which offers Adult Day Services that include programs for people with Alzheimer’s or other forms of dementia.

GFWC clubs have been dedicated both to ending Alzheimer’s, and providing support to those whose loved ones suffer from it. You can make a difference in the fight against Alzheimer’s disease all year long, but if your club is looking for ways to help, there’s no better time to get started than National Alzheimer’s Awareness Month.

The Trick-or-Treat for UNICEF program was originally established to help children who were effected by World War II, but the well-loved and easily recognizable tradition has continued. Each year, children throughout the United States take a UNICEF box with them on Halloween night to collect change and donations, using a night of candy-filled celebration to think of other children less fortunate than them.

But kids aren’t the only ones who participate, and they certainly aren’t the only ones who can be of great support. Many GFWC clubs have their own collections. The Stone Mountain Woman’s Club (Georgia) took part in the festivities and passed out UNICEF boxes, encouraging members to add change to it daily throughout October so that their boxes will be jingling with coins when they bring them back in November. We pick up and hold on to spare change all the time, and this club is cashing it in for a cause.

The Metropolitan Richmond Woman’s Club (Virginia) did Trick-or-Treat for UNICEF this year for the first time. President Lela Martin’s theme as president is “Connect with Metro”, and the club’s participation will do just that. She fondly remembers trick-or-treating for UNICEF as a child, and how it gave her a sense of connection to the children she would be helping, even if they lived far from her.

Club chairman Lyn Swallen ordered boxes from UNICEF and filled them with treats. Members will exchange the candy with coins, cash, or checks. For donations they can fill the boxes themselves, take them to their workplaces, or trick-or-treat on Halloween.

UNICEF determines the countries that need the most help, and allocates the money collected from the Trick-or-Treat program to specific programs in those countries. Clubs support GFWC Partner UNICEF all year round, but since Halloween is so linked to childhood, it seems a fitting time to come together and help ensure that disadvantaged children around the world have the support and resources that they need.