The Communiqué. October brings us many causes to support; Breast Cancer, World Polio Day and Domestic Violence Awareness

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1 The Communiqué Newsletter of the GFWC of Holden Beach P. O. Box 902, Supply, NC Volume 11, Issue 8, November, 2015 Karen Throckmorton, President Jean Newland, Editor A NOTE FROM YOUR PRESIDENT: I m so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers L.M. Montgomery October brings us many causes to support; Breast Cancer, World Polio Day and Domestic Violence Awareness The October meeting focused on our health and the importance of prevention. So don t forget your flu shot! And let Linda Sturgill know if you get your shot at Walgreens. Many thanks to the International Committee for their focus on our GFWC partner Shot At Life. The Shot at Life party hosted by the committee at Carol Ann Lohman s home was, by all accounts, a big success! It helped us to focus on the importance of giving every child a shot at life. Only $20 is needed to

2 vaccinate a child, and eradicating diseases like Polio makes the whole world a safer and healthier place. In the Spring we move forward with our Gala and CSP programs. This fall as we get ready to fall back, breathe in the fresh air that only the fall has to offer, and relax for the holidays. We continue to use our talents to make a difference. The Home Life Committee will bring a special speaker all the way from Raleigh, North Carolina, to talk about another cause near and dear to our hearts - Alzheimer s - at the November 17 th meeting. We have opened the speaker session to the public so it will be a nice evening to enjoy guests. The meeting will begin at 5:30pm and then we will break for a short social at 6:30 pm as we get ready to greet our speaker and guests. Remember to bring your box tops for education, old pill bottles and DVDs to the meeting. We will have our Christmas Party the 15 th of December at Linda Sturgill s home so be thinking about your dish to share and an ornament for the ornament exchange. Many thanks to Linda for opening her home to us. We continue to support the women who are working to form a Holden Beach Junior s club and wish them success. Thanks for all you do and Happy Fall! Regards Karen

3 NOVEMBER CLUB MEETING At our October meeting, the GFWC of Holden Beach women s club launched its celebration of Life, an immunization project sponsored by the United Nations Foundation. Hosted by the Club s International Outreach Community Service Program Committee, the meeting featured Julie Evans, Pharm. D., staff pharmacist at Walgreens in Shallotte. She spoke of the Walgreens program, Get a Shot, Give a Shot through which Walgreens participates in Life by donating an immunization to a third world child for each shot Walgreens provides to its clients. Dr. Evans also discussed the

4 most common diseases for which Walgreens offers shots and encouraged the membership to keep their immunizations current. Pictured above, from left are Linda Sturgill, Committee Chairman, Dr. Evans, and Karen Throckmorton, President, GFWC of Holden Beach. International Outreach CSP Committee Carol Ann Lohman, Julie Wolfe, Chairman Linda Sturgill, Suzanne Gurski, Jean Newland, Ann Landis - serving a variety of refreshments in shot glasses. Also, as part of the meeting, members were invited to attend the Committee's Life Party which was held the following weekend at a member s home. Tickets were sold for $20.00 per person, an amount needed to immunize a third world child against four deadly but preventable diseases: polio, pneumonia, measles and rotavirus. Opportunities to make other contributions to Life included buying chances for a basket of goodies, shown, as well as Life T-Shirts. Donations were also gratefully accepted.

5 GEM OF THE MONTH At our October meeting Pam Burris, Chairman of the club s Home Life Community Service Program, and pictured at right, was honored by club President Karen Throckmorton as Gem of the Month. President Throckmorton s choice of Chairman Burris was based on Mrs. Burris s significant contributions to numerous Club activities as well as her willingness to accept additional responsibilities whenever needed. Most recently Ms. Burris has accepted the position of Co-Chair of the Club s Charity Gala, the Club s biggest fundraiser scheduled for April 16th, 2016.

6 Club Members unite with "Take A Stand" posters. October 20, 2015 Take A Stand is a call to action meant to bring attention to the issue of domestic violence and is intended to remind the nation that there are still countless people--victims and survivors, children and families, friends and family, communities--impacted by domestic violence.

7 COMMUNITY SERVICE PROGRAM COMMITTEE REPORTS; Arts Community Service Program Maureen Wright, Chairman Though usually very busy, Arts CSP is taking a breather this month. Soon we will start collecting student art entries in preparation for the Arts Festival. Don't forget to get your items ready for the festival too! Home Life Community Service Program Pam Burris, Chairman Home Life CSP Committee is presenting the program at the November meeting. The speaker is Melanie Bunn, RN, MS, a Dementia Training Specialist for Alzheimer s North Carolina and founder of Bunn Consulting. She has worked with older people with and without dementia and their families in a variety of settings, including hospitals, long term care facilities, and at home. She gives over 150 presentations annually, speaking to both health care professionals and family caregivers. She has volunteered as an Alzheimer s Support Group Facilitator since Melanie received her BS in Nursing from UNC at Chapel Hill, a MS from Clemson University, and a Gerontological Nurse Practitioner certificate from Duke University. Please remember we are collecting DVD's for assisted living facilities in Brunswick County for their movie nights. The DVDs will bring so much joy to the residents. You may bring any DVDs you wish to donate to the November meeting. Thanks so much!

8 Education Community Service Program Judy Brock, and Jane Decker, Co-Chairmen The Education Committee is continuing to work with the schools that the Club supports. The Carey Page Truesdell Scholarship application has been sent to the counselors at North Brunswick High School to be distributed to interested seniors. Jane Decker and Judy Brock presented a check for $ for a STEM Kit to three very excited science teachers at Cedar Grove Middle School... Funds for this gift came from the Day at the Docks Festival Bake Sale that the Committee chaired and the general club. The STEM Kit provides activity suggestion and lesson plans to enhance the teaching of science, technology, engineering and math to better prepare students for further education in these fields.

9 Additionally, the Committee will purchase children s underwear for students of Supply Elementary to meet an expressed need there. Club member who wish to donate to this cause may bring donations to the November Club Meeting, Both boys and girl s underwear is needed in sizes 4-S or M adult.

10 International Outreach Community Service Program Linda Sturgill, Chairman on This was a huge success! A BIG thanks goes to everyone who supported this project. We raise $2042 and since there is a matching campaign going on now, over $4000 will go to help immunize Children. That means over 200 children will be able to fight off these childhood diseases. An overwhelming thank you goes out to the International Outreach CSP committee members -- without their generous heart; this would not have been possible. Our UNICEF collection raised over $73.39 Thank you Thank you Thank you!! Don t forget to supports Walgreen s Get a Shot, Give a Shot Campaign and they will donate to Shot@Life. Hattie Belle got her shot, Have you? Remember to tell Linda if you did so that can be added into our final report. November 12 h is -- WorlD Pneumonia Day -- to raise awareness of pneumonia, promote prevention and treatment, and generate action to fight the illness. November 20 th Universal Children s Day -- The one thing all children have in common is their rights. Every child has the right to survive and thrive, to be educated, to be free from violence and abuse, to participate and to be heard.

11 Life Party Sixty guests attended the Life Party, including four representatives of the Club s North Carolina parent organization, GFWC of NC: Ann Landis, 1st Vice President; Linda Browne, Chairman, International Outreach; Peggy Schiavone, Chairman, Public Issues; and Lori Seiler, Leadership Chairman

12 Linda Browne, GFWC-NC International Outreach Chairman, spoke at the Life Party. Here are excerpts from Linda s message: UNITED NATIONS FOUNDATION - SHOT@LIFE is one of four official GFWC INTERNATIONAL OUTREACH PARTNER ORGANIZATIONS Mission - To protect children worldwide by providing life-saving vaccines where they are needed most ABOUT UNITED NATIONS FOUNDATION SHOT@LIFE ORGANIZATION: v 4-star rated on the CharityNavigator website v established in 1998 with $1 billion gift from Ted Turner to support UN causes v UNITED NATIONS FOUNDATION SHOT@LIFE campaign is an advocacy and fundraising initiative administration costs are funded primarily through support from the BILL & MELINDA GATES FOUNDATION v SHOT@LIFE implementing partners (delivering vaccines globally) are: USAID, CDC, GAVI (the vaccine alliance), and United Nations (WHO + UNICEF) FACTS YOU NEED TO KNOW WHY IT IS IMPORTANT TO ADVOCATE FOR GLOBAL VACCINE FUNDING: 16,000 children under 5 die each day that s 11 children every minute Ø more than 5.8 million children under 5 die every year 1 in 5 children around the world do not have access to life-saving vaccines that we in the developed world can so easily take for granted. Every 20 seconds a child will die from a preventable disease too often a disease that could have been prevented by an immunization. Ø Approximately 1.5 million children in developing countries die each year of a vaccine-preventable disease like pneumonia, diarrhea, measles and polio. For $20 you can protect a child for a life from those four diseases. For $15, you can protect a child from the two most deadly diseases pneumonia and diarrhea.

13 For $5, you can protect a child from polio and measles those two diseases are now nearly eradicated worldwide.) WHAT HAS BEEN THE ACTUAL WORLDWIDE CHILDHOOD VACCINATION CAMPAIGN IMPACT? Helped immunize more than 1 billion children Immunization saves 2.5 million children s lives each year Contributed to the reduction of the under-five child mortality rate by more than 50% (between ) Ø Measles deaths are down 78% worldwide in the past 10 years Ø Polio cases have decreased by nearly 99% since 1988 o Polio has nearly been eradicated. Earlier in 2015, Nigeria reached one year without a single new case of polio. That means that there are only two countries left with remaining new cases: Afghanistan and Pakistan. CONCLUSION: I believe that children are our legacy and, more importantly, they are also our future. I believe that every child deserves a shot at a healthy life, and that access to vaccines can give them that chance. I am convinced that vaccines work and that we should work hard to protect the health of children worldwide!!! Ø Vaccines save lives Ø Vaccines prevent the spread of disease Ø Vaccines are cost-effective FINAL REMINDER Please consider getting your flu shots and vaccinations at WALGREENS WALGREENS is partnering with SHOT@LIFE and will donate 18- cents per shot/vaccination (up to $2M) in support of the SHOT@LIFE global vaccination campaign THANK YOU, Linda, for attending and supporting our event!

14 NOVEMBER BIRTHDAYS Linda Sturgill November 1 B.J. Stephens November 16 Gracie Annecchiarico November 17 Carol Ann Lohman November 19 Lane Wood November 26 Donna Geise November 28 Coming Events Calendar NOVEMBER 14: District 7 Financial Follow-up 10:00 am NOVEMBER 15: Club Meeting Home Life 5:30 **Reminders bring DVDs, pill bottles, Box Tops for Education, and items for Supply Elementary School** See CSP Reports for details

15 STATE AND NATIONAL NEWS GFWC-NC SER Annapolis, MD November 5 8

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17 And a good time was hat by all!!!