2010-2012 GFWC of Missouri, Inc. President’s Message
Summer greetings!
Maybe I should say hot summer greetings. Missouri has suffered almost every type of weather Mother Nature could throw our way. We started with hail, ice, record snow, continued on with flooding, tornados, more flooding and now the terrible heat. As I travel the state this fall, I will be anxious to see how everyone is faring.
One stop I will make as I travel to the District Fall Conventions will be Joplin, MO. As you know, GFWC of Missouri, Inc. is participating in the Adopt-A-Classroom project for the Joplin R-VIII School District. While in Seventh District, I plan to stop in Joplin to visit the teacher and classroom we have adopted.
Our assigned teacher is Raye Frerer. Raye is a special education teacher who works with children in kindergarten through third grade. She often goes into the regular classroom to work with all of the children in those grades. Besides losing her schoolroom in the tornado, Raye and her family lost their family home. Raye shared the following picture showing what was left of her home. It is a miracle she and her husband managed to crawl from the rubble. If you would like to donate to the Adopt-A-Classroom project, please look for the process in the article “Tornado Relief for Joplin” which can be found in this edition of The Letter.
State Convention
We had a wonderful state convention in Jefferson City May 2-4, 2011! We gave many awards for the outstanding projects in which our clubs participated during the past year. We had 381 programs/projects reported; 14,010 volunteer hours reported; $318,120.66 donated/raised and $44,271.34 in In-Kind donations. Hooray for our GFWC of Missouri Members.
One evening, we celebrated a ’Fifties Night’ with car racing between the districts. Money collected during the evening went to the districts as well as GFWC of Missouri, Inc. Another evening, we donned our western outfits and had a good old-fashioned hoedown with dancing and singing. If you receive the GFWC Clubwoman Magazine, check the section with pictures of the clubs. You will see GFWC of Missouri members “Line Dancing.” You can see more pictures on our gfwcmo.org website.
GFWC International Convention
June 16-20, 2011 found nine GFWC of Missouri members and five spouses in Milwaukee attending the 120th GFWC International Convention. It is always good to see and visit with GFWC members from around the United States as well as other countries. Attending an International Convention truly gives one an opportunity to see the totality of GFWC and of the worthwhile projects of this great organization. GFWC members volunteered 5,252,763 hours, completed 135,958 projects, donated nearly $47,000,000 in money and In Kind goods. Yes, GFWC has touched many lives and supported their communities in many ways. I hope you will join us next June in Charlotte, NC for the 121st International Convention.
Mississippi Valley Region Conference
I want to invite you to travel with us to Nebraska City, Nebraska for the Mississippi Valley Region Conference to be held October 7-9, 2011. This will be a great opportunity for you to join your fellow GFWC of Missouri members in great GFWC fellowship and to see what is happening in our region. There are nine states in the Mississippi Valley Region (MVR). They are Kansas, Nebraska, Iowa, Minnesota, South Dakota, and North Dakota. Plan on attending and meeting these MVR ladies to see what is happening with GFWC in our neighboring states. Nebraska has interesting workshops and tours planned. You may find the registration form and additional information about the MVR conference and tours in this edition of The Letter.
I look forward to seeing you this fall!
Love in GFWC, Carolyn