AAWGT: Making a difference in our community! |
Full Circle News:
The Power of One ... Multiplied by Many
2018 International Women’s Day Event:
| Upcoming events our members are engaged in. We invite others to join AAWGT to participate with us.
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2017 Grantee Spotlight: Creating CommunitiesCreating Communities is an ongoing innovative arts program that targets elementary and middle school students who live in subsidized housing in Annapolis. The program is led by Rob Levit, a musician and community leader who is passionate about providing opportunities for children from low-income families to experience the arts while learning valuable life skills such as collaboration and perseverance. The experiences are varied and in every session the students are engaged and having fun. In one session facilitated by lead mentor Steve Poole, children were building a Rube Goldberg-like machine, learning STEM principles like cause and effect, design, and teamwork. Another activity used a Picasso painting to encourage the children to “reimagine” a portrait of themselves using geometric shapes. The children visited the Hammond-Harwood House and learned about carpentry from a local artisan. Children have also assembled “art kits” to take home and continue their work.carpentry from a local artisan.AAWGT is proud to support this local program that provides both after school and in-school enrichment programs for children in need.
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What’s new? That’s a bit of a trick question. There is lots new…new members, new dollars, new grant applicants, new opportunities to be involved, and new programs (more on that later). It’s a bit of a trick question, though, because the strength of AAWGT is the same as it’s been for the past 12 years! To take some quotes from members in our last newsletter,
“… thoughtful, talented women who want to make positive contributions to
their community.” Gwyn Smith
“… a great idea that is working.” Lori DeRose
Our mission of “improving the lives of women and families in AA County” stays the same. And we continue to believe in the impact of collective giving to the local non-profits that do such important work to carry out that mission.
Other traditions are our careful, thoughtful, and very thorough processes of choosing grantees and evaluating their successes. Something new we are trying this year is a two-year grant to encourage development of new programs. And, we take seriously our ongoing role of providing educational sessions for our members and the public.
The January event, co-sponsored by the Community Foundation, was on the topic of poverty. A better understanding of income inequality gave us a new perspective on those in need. Our February program on grief tackled a difficult but so important subject affecting us all. And our March Leadership program will look at the past, present, and future of women’s roles in the voting booth and beyond: what hard fought victories, how much work there is left to do.
We thank last year’s president, Linda Eggbeer, for her steady, diligent, and exemplary leadership, carrying on another tradition. We’ve gotten this far thanks to women like Linda and like you, willing to take leadership roles. The future depends on more women stepping up. Nobody requires anybody to be philanthropic, so each of us is stepping up by choice. Thank you for being a part of AAWGT.
Our goals—Invest, Inform and Inspire—benefit all of us and our community. Tell others about what we do (and bring them with you to the next program!). We look forward to continuing another tradition that Linda expressed so well: “We are united by purpose and commitment but end up sharing friendships and good times, too!”
Betsy Chotin, President
Sue Pitchford, Vice-President and President-Elect