ACTIVITIES & EVENTS – 2009

[DECEMBER MEETING MINUTES HERE]

 

PRESIDENT’S COMMENTS:

We will remember the year 2009 as a great one, if for no other reason than that we survived and have the opportunity to do more in 2010. Please take a few minutes to read our activities, events and the last paragraph…our challenges.

1. Chapter 2009 Officers:

	President: Shirley Ann Rawls
	Vice President-Actions: Terri Wohlscheid
	Treasurer: Elaine Fuller
	Secretary/Webmaster: Rhonda Wright

2. Our Strategy for 2009 and beyond: Take action to improve women’s lives by focusing on…

• Membership – recruit new members, reconnect with current members

• Partnership – reach out and touch our partner organizations

• Media Relations – more visibility in the community via all media

• Events – get involved with all major events; tracking dates and showing up

3. Chapter membership total as of 12/01/09 = 60

4. Finances as of 12/09/09 = $1,164.74

JANUARY-FEBRUARY:

We celebrated, with the world, the Inauguration of our 44^th President, Barack Obama.  Thank you Amy Carr for allowing us to use your home to share in this historic event...awesome vittles too!

 

Our first meeting, February 14^th, was heartfelt [shameless, Shirley Ann!]…four of the seven candidates for Mayor of Montgomery discussed their platforms and took questions from the audience. We do not endorse candidates, but this was our gift to the citizens of Montgomery to help make an informed decision at the ballot box.  We tried a lot of new ideas in 2009…keep reading for more interesting tidbits…

 

	Meetings were every 2 months vs. monthly
	First time ever: Posted minutes on our website
	Out excellent webmaster, Rhonda Wright [blush], did a great job by keeping the website updated with important events and other current, feminist issues.
	Joined the social networking craze…we are now on Twitter and Facebook.
	Rhonda Wright was also instrumental in our Bumper Sticker Campaign.
	Shirley Ann joined the Birmingham chapter counter protest Roe v Wade weekend.
	Feb 6th – Terri & Shirley Ann attended an NCRA seminar about fund raising at AUM.
	Feb 15th – participated in Equality Alabama’s 11th Annual Victims of Hate Vigil.

CLINIC ESCORT:  Amy Applegate continued her superb management of escorts for the Reproductive Health Services Clinic. The clinic was mobbed early in the year because of the anti-choice movement frustration with President Obama’s win. Our 10 escorts did a phenomenal job in 2009…740 patients were escorted for a total of 95 days and over 190 hours! WOW!

NEW PROJECT– DIAPER BANK: Elaine Fuller is the creator and manager of our Diaper Bank Project. She single-handedly managed everything from developing the brochure and recruitment to delivering diapers and advertising. By October 2009 she has collected and delivered over 6,000 diapers for mothers and their infants…impressive…super work Elaine! In essence, a Diaper Bank distributes unopened boxes of disposable diapers for children through existing organizations that serve the needs of low-income families and know which families are in need of which sizes of diapers. We will miss you Elaine, good luck in Pennsylvania!

MARCH-APRIL:

1. A first ever: Bylaws were written and distributed to the membership and is also on the website.  Bylaws were due to National on April 30^th.

2. April’s 11^th meeting was a blast! It was our Spring Fling and Maya Belly Dancing Studio did wonderful entertaining, a fun time for all.

3. We participated in Planned Parenthood's 2009 Alabama Lobby Day on April 22nd we toured the Capitol, spoke with legislators, and observed the legislative process. Our purpose was to ensure legislators understand the importance of using common sense, prevention measures to reduce the rising number of sexually transmitted infections and unintended pregnancies in Alabama!

 

MAY-JUNE:

1. On May 16 we set up a booth at the annual Montgomery AIDS Outreach Springfest on the Riverwalk, a beautiful day and a nice crowd. We made over $100 from sales of bumper stickers, buttons, and T-shirts. Several new members joined and several others took brochures and membership applications.

2. June 19-21 was the National NOW Convention in Indianapolis, IN. Shirley Ann was the lone delegate from the Montgomery Chapter. This convention elected a new National President ... Terry O’Neill and her team replaced the incomparable Kim Gandy and her team!

3. The Chapter also gave Mississippi NOW 2 of our delegate seats.

 

JULY-AUGUST:

1. Shirley and Elaine set up a booth at the International Spouses Orientation at Maxwell Air Force Base, great crowd lots of interest in our Diaper Bank.

2. In an effort to reach out to our membership and improve our visibility in the community; we sent a letter to all members to get a vote on the topics below…Violence Against Women got the most votes as an issue we should pursue.

• Code Blue Action Night

• Comprehensive reproductive education

• Planned Parenthood efforts to improve sex education in schools

• Reconnect with Alabama Birth Coalition (midwife advocacy)

• Violence Against Women

• Elderly women

• Support Eve's Circle

• Autism assistance for aging autistic population

SEPTEMBER-OCTOBER:

1. September 12^th was a “diaper raising” event called D’oeuvres and Diapers Social at the Kenneth Baker Equality Alabama Center.  We provided the d’oeuvres and admission was a package of diapers and a guest. We received over [300] diapers for our bank!

2. September 19^th Terri Wohlscheid represented Montgomery NOW at the Alabama ARISE meeting.

3. Our October 10^th Meeting was a Chat & Chew at Starbucks on Zelda Road.

4. October 18^th, several members attended Public Witness Against Domestic Violence in Cloverdale Park, sponsored by several local organizations.

5. A few members attended Alabama NOW’s Annual State Conference, Saturday, October 24, 2009, in Birmingham. The event was awesome, excellent speakers and a lot of good information about our theme.

Theme: Comprehensive Sex Education:

What is it? Why do we need it? How do we get it?

 

NOVEMBER-DECEMBER:

1. Virtual Chapters: Officers researched the possibility of the chapter going virtual because of lack of membership participation. It would make sense to go virtual within Alabama as it has been difficult to get other cities as well to maintain active chapters with regular meetings. We are still in discussion with National NOW and will keep the membership in the loop.

 

THE TOP FIVE REASONS MONTGOMERY NOW SHOULD BE A VIRTUAL TEAM...

1. More frequent and better communication with ALL members, using emails, conference calls, with webinars on a quarterly basis.

2. Fewer meetings, only one annual meeting, which will boost morale.

3. Less travel, save gas, money and energy....more time for family and friends.

4. Achieve better results during challenging times.

5. Take hold of the future...move Montgomery NOW into the 21st Century.

2. December 19^th…we finished the year with Holiday Cheers at Sinclair’s Restaurant in Old Cloverdale….appetizers and desserts were on the house to members.

 

ABBREVIATED DECEMBER MEETING MINUTES:

1. Elaine Fuller, our excellent Treasurer and Diaper Bank founder, is moving to Pittsburgh in January. We will miss you, Elaine! Shirley Ann Rawls will continue the Diaper Bank.

2. Shirley Ann has been elected President of NOW for the state of Alabama. Congratulations, Shirley Ann! However, this does leave Montgomery chapter presidency vacant.

3. NEW OFFICERS FOR 2010:

	Secretary:  Shirley Ann Rawls
	Treasurer:  Larry Grewelle

Terri Wohlscheid continues as Vice President-Actions.

Rhonda Wright continues as Webmaster.

4. Shirley Ann will go to the NOW president's conference in Washington, DC in January.

5. We will continue to meet every other month on the second Saturday. By agreement of those present, we will move back to 1:00 pm. We may move around occasionally (as we did with the October and December meetings), but most meetings will continue to take place at the Library.

6. If Alabama NOW goes virtual, it would remain the umbrella organization with local subgroups of some kind. Leadership would be by consensus conferences, possibly via toll-free conference calls.

FINAL COMMENTS: I know I speak for all the officers when I say; we have thoroughly enjoyed serving as YOUR Officers in 2009. We especially like to thank that cadre of members who came to meetings, supported events and assisted where needed…we could not have survived without YOU…you know who you are.

 

In 2010 Montgomery NOW will continue to face many challenges…

	Membership
	Partnership
	Community Service
	Visibility in the community

We might have to become a virtual chapter … the only other option is to dissolve the chapter.

We cannot not let this happen…Montgomery NOW Needs YOU!!!