It is hard to believe that we are in November and looking toward the end of 2023. What a great year it has been! I am so looking forward to attending our 30th Anniversary Celebration and enjoy the Holidays at our December meeting at Terra Nova. If you have not done so, please make sure you bring your dinner monies to our November meeting so that you can enjoy celebrating 30 years of Federation Friendship, Volunteering, and Service with your Club Sisters.
âYou are important, You matter, You are enough, You are beautiful, You are loved, You are capable, You are soulful, You are wonderful, You are needed, Yes You Are!â Author Unknown
November is Membership Appreciation Month and there is no better time to tell all of you how much we appreciate you and what you do each month for the Womanâs Club of West Deptford. The quote above just summarizes how much your contribution means to our successâŚso from me and your boardâŚthank you and know that we think you are pretty awesome!!!!!
Our November meeting is going to be a very busy one. Please remember that our meeting will start promptly at 6:00 pm as we will be having the Gloucester County EMS as our guests who will be demonstrating and training us in CPR. A big thank you to Chris T. for organizing this educational program. All of us will go away learning so much about this very important life saving skill.
I would like to recognize our Committee Chairs once again for working with me and the board to limit their collection to three months a club year. So far, the response has been positive. November and December will be Civic Engagement and Outreach. Look for more information in this newsletter.
Along this same topic, the members almost unanimously voted to have a Zoom January Meeting. I am totally on board with that as the weather is so unpredictable. It will be a cozy meeting where you will be responsible for your own snacks and beverages. J That being said, the committees who are collecting in January are Family Promise, Civic Engagement and Advocates for Children. As we will not be meeting in person in January, please feel free to drop off any requested items for these committees to my house, any board memberâs home or the committee chair. We will make sure that your donations get to the right committees. February will be Health and Wellness and Domestic Violence. Please look for the most updated information on what these committees will be collecting in this and next monthâs newsletter. Thank you all for making these collections run smoothly each month.
Our State Project will be getting a wonderful donation from our 50/50 ticket sales at the Basket Raffle. Thank you to all who bought tickets. At our October meeting, Cheryl asked for a motion to adopt one family from the Emmanuel Cancer Foundation. We voted to give Cheryl $500 toward making Christmas special for our adopted family. Once we receive the information on the Christmas Party and the needs of our adopted family, we will share everything with all of you.
YupâŚwith the end of the year almost upon us, it is time to get our information together for the committee report writing. The forms have been sent to me and I will be giving them to the Committee Chairs at our November meeting so that they can get started on their reports. Janice M. will be attending a Zoom meeting on Report Writing before our November meeting and will be giving a summarized report on what Headquarters is looking for in our reports.
Remember to check out the Social Article this monthâŚOur social committee works very hard to offer amazing activities for our members. Each month there is something for everyone. We just met at Pistonâs for our Ghoulish Breakfast which was delicious. I really look forward to getting together with our Club Sisters for this event.
At this yearâs Garden Districtâs Membership meeting, headed by Sue Sheehan, clubs were informed that our District is participating in a special team project. This year our District is committing to a âTeen Suicide/Mental Healthâ project. A committee has been formed within the District with members from other clubs who will be working on what project we can all do to support this important initiative. More information will be coming. If you have any ideas on a project to support teens with the pressures they face, please send your thoughts to Cynthia H-B., Janice M. or myself. We will forward your suggestions to Sue Sheehan, District Membership Chair.
As I end this article I want to remind ev-eryone that we have our regular meeting this month starting at 6:00 pm, our Anniversary Dinner at Terra Nova in December, a Zoom meeting for January and we will be back to our regular in-person meetings in February starting at 6:30 pm. Donât forget your Secret Pal gifts for this monthâs meeting and we will all be finding out who our Secret Pals have been this year at our December Dinner with our final gifts from them. I canât wait to find out who mine has been. I have been spoiled this year!
Happy Thanksgiving to all my Club Sisters. May you have a wonderful day with your family and friends. This is one of my favorite holidays as our day is all about being thankful for the people in our lives and our blessings that we enjoy each and every day.
Thanksgiving Blessings to you all!
April
Shout Out to Members
One of the best things about this article is recognizing our Club Sisters. While all of you are the best and do so much for the club, sometimes it is nice to recognize some of our members for the special activities that they have been involved in during the past month. As November is Club Membership Appreciation MonthâŚthis is just one way to recognize our members who make the WCWD so awesome and unique.
âDonât wait until you reach your goal to be proud of yourself; be proud of every step you take.â âKaren Salmansohl
This quote is just perfect to remind each and every one of you that no matter what activity you are doing, be proud of what you do. We are so happy and proud that you are part of this amazing group of women and hope you know that because of youâŚwe continue to be the best!
Letâs start our accolades by recognizing the Chairs of our Basket Raffle, Denise H., Sue N., and Nancy D., who worked tirelessly behind the scenes to make our event so successful. Also to the volunteers who manned the raffle ticket sales, super basket ticket sales and the State Project 50/50 table as well as the runners, door greeters and admission ticket collectors. All of you helped make our event run smoothly. FinallyâŚto all of our members who sold tickets, donated incredible baskets and supported this huge fundraiser. Because of your efforts, we surpassed last yearâs total for the raffle, to once again support the organizations that we donate to each year.
I also want to recognize all of you who took the time to wear pink or purple at our October meeting in recognition of Breast Cancer Awareness or Domestic Violence Awareness. Seriously, our club picture is just pinkalicious! (A little purplealicious, too.) Just this little effort shows our support of those who have been affected by both.
Along this same theme, letâs recognize the energetic group who walked under the title, âWCWD is Making Strides Against Cancerâ this past month. Linda M. with her husband John headed the team, which included Jan A., Lisa H., Jody and David H. They were able to raise a significant amount of money to help find a cure to this disease. Way to go!
As this is Membership Appreciation Month, I want to recognize Cynthia H-B. and Janice M. who joined me at the Haddon Fortnightly where we attended the Garden District Membership Meeting headed by Sue Sheehan. It was a very informative meeting and we were able to share our Membership successes and goals. I do want to say that we do most everything that was brought up by the different clubs and are definitely supporting the NJSFWC initiative to increase membership.
Denise H. and Cheryl F. took a day to attend the State Fall Conference and brought back a lot of information to share with us. They had a fantastic time and will be looking to encourage more members to go next year!!!
Finally, I want to recognize Cheryl F. who personally took our donation for Operation Blessing to the WDHS where the staff will be able to purchase the items needed to help our WD families. I also want to recognize Sue N. once again who filled out forms to get $1,000 in ShopRite gift cards, which Cheryl also took to our WD Elementary Schools so that we could adopt a family in need at each school, who will now be able to get a Thanksgiving Dinner for their family.
We are the best at what we do! Thank you all for your support in all that we do to make a difference in West Deptford!!!!
âApril