Altrusa International of Tidewater, Inc.

Tidewater Altrusan Newsletter

July 2022

Important Dates / Information

July 12: Service Committee Meeting

July 13: Board Meeting via Zoom @ 5pm

July 18: Add an Altrusa Day! Program/Business Meeting @ 6pm: Location: Sherral's Home

July 27: Ways and Means Committee Meeting @ 1:00pm, Ellen's home.

August 10: Board Meeting via Zoom @ 5pm

August 15: Family Picnic @ 6pm, Christ United Methodist Church | 1601 E Bayview Blvd, Norfolk, VA 23503 Click here to RSVP and sign up for a dish to pass.

August 17: Scholarship Committee Meeting @ 10am, Gina's home.

Area III Workshop Tentative Dates: October 15 or 22 hosted by Capital City.

April 2023 - District Two Conference - Tidewater, VA

Christ United Methodist Church

President's Message

I have to say, I'm very excited after our planning for 2022-23 at the annual retreat. We look forward to new projects and refreshing existing ones.

We expect to initiate three new members at our July Social/Add An Altrusan day. This is so important to our club and a big international goal.

You will soon see the results of the Service Committee's meeting. Hoping we all can support some new upcoming projects. A big thanks to June, Joanne, and the committee for their hard work.

Sherral

Zoom Link for Altrusa Meetings:

Click here to join all scheduled Altrusa Zoom Meetings. The password is the same with a capital first letter.

Board Actions/Information from the July 2022 Board Meeting

During the July Board Meeting, there were two recommendations to the club:

1. The Board recommended meeting regularly at Jo-Kell starting in September. Please vote on this recommendation by clicking here. If you prefer, you can contact Sherral with your vote. Votes can be cast until AFTER the August picnic.

The rational for this recommendation is to ensure a consistent location that can accommodate technology needs, space for a variety of activities, and health related concerns.

2. The Board also recommended the Service Committee Report be sent to the membership for a vote at the July Meeting. The report is included in the newsletter and will also be sent via email.

Accent

Greeting Altrusans!

I hope this message finds you all doing very well. We closed out this month with a very productive retreat! Together, we have shared some excellent ideas to better serve our communities with our powerful gifts of kindness, empathy, and volunteerism! I am excited to see how both our current commitments and our new opportunities express our ongoing passion for giving and helping others. Another one of the many reasons I feel very blessed to be a part of our wonderful club! In addition, we have continued to grow our club with several new members this year! Please allow me to say, “Welcome” and we are thrilled to have you with us! You have made an excellent decision to join Altrusa of Tidewater! Considering we do have some new members and reminders are always welcome, please see below a message from Altrusa International:

What Is an Altrusa Member?

The Altrusa member today is the only one who says it CAN be done. She has suffered losses and defeats—yet she tries again. She is the one who is so bold to make a past to remember and a future to mold. So here is to Altrusa and all her members who continue to say “I CAN.”

The Altrusan today is:

A—Active and alert

L—Learned and loyal

T—Thinking and thorough

R—Receptive and responsive

U—Unassuming and unbeatable

S—Scintillating and selective

A— Accepted and accomplished

The Altrusan today is true to herself—to her fellow man, to her community, and to her country. She is the one who will continue to say “I CAN AND I WILL.”

Reprinted with permission from District Eleven.

Wishing you all had a Happy 4th of July and a continued beautiful summer!

-Tracey

Committee Reports

Service Committee: Joanne & June, Co-Chairs

Service Hours: If you like to submit your service hours as you do them, Shari has added an updated form for this 22-23 club year. Service completed from June 1, 2022 to May 30, 2023 can be submitted on this form. You can access it from the website menu or click here.

Service Committee Recommendations: Seven service committee members met at June's house on July 12 in the evening and developed the following recommendations.

Service Committee Board Report 2022.docx

Hope Village

Members of Altrusa of Tidewater, Inc. met recently at Salvation Army’s Hope Village to work on the educational center’s library. Approximately 150 books, donated by members were added to the collection. The books were categorized into genres and identifying labels were placed on each one. Book plates were added before placing them in new colorful bins on the shelves. The work was completed in about two hours by many helping hands, including Barbara Duke’s sister Cathy. Afterward many treated themselves to lunch at Panera.

Green Run Elementary School

Club members were asked by Dr Wynn, principal at Green Run Elementary School to read to Kindergartener students once a week during the last five weeks of the school year. We read a diverse selection of stories from fiction to non-fiction. Potential member Sharon Boudreau, a beekeeper read a book about bees. She even brought beekeeping equipment to show the students. Robyn shared a book on bubbles, and we surprised the kids by blowing bubbles for them! Each student was sent home with their own bottle of bubbles.

Weekly reading by club members will continue at the school through July during their Kindergarten summer program.

International Project Update: Barbara Speight provided an update at the May meeting. Schools in the Philippines are opening up slowly, at half-time. We will be moving forward soon on the final part of this project.

Scholarship Committee

We are pleased to announce that we had two Altrusa International of Tidewater. Inc. scholarship recipients.

Recipient #1 started her college career at James Madison University. She has since transferred to Sentara College of Health Sciences where she is pursuing her dream of becoming a registered nurse.

Recipient #1, a graduate of Bayside High School, will be attending Sweet Briar College, where she will pursue a career in Midwifery with a major in Pre-Med Biology. She plans to be a female rights activist.

Both recipients excel in academics and service. Checks for $500 have been sent to the educational institution on behalf of each recipient.

The Scholarship Committee met on July 13, 2022 and proposed to the board of directors that undispersed funds totaling $2,500 from fiscal year 2021-2022 be carried over and used for scholarships during fiscal year 2022-2023. The Scholarship Committee will meet at 10:00 a.m. on August 17th at Gina's home to discuss some changes in procedures and additional outreach methods.

Reminder! Club 21 dues must to be paid online. Use this link to update your personal Club 21 dues to support International Foundation.

Want to order items from Amazon for Hope Village and other service projects? Check out this wish list created by Joanne (with a little help from her sister, Karen)!

Joanne's Altrusa List

Environmental Ideas

The Environmental Committee is collecting empty pill bottles with the label removed for the Humane Society in Chesapeake.

To view Tidewater's Strategic Plan (working copy), click here.

Program/Business Minutes: June 2022

June 2022 Program-Business Meeting

Treasurer's Report: July 2022

TREASURER'S REPORT JULY 2022.docx

July Birthdays

July 5 - Cynthia Paré

July 12 - shari gomez

July 13 - Emily Pugh-land

July 18 - Marcy Royal

Subscribe to the Altrusa of Tidewater Google Calendar. Click here for directions. Use this link to join.

Tidewater's Member Update

Barbara D. and John spent a few weeks in Wyoming and got to visit Yellowstone National Park right before the big flood. This is a picture of the area known as the "Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone". We could walk there from our campsite!

Judy and Chuck have sold their Norfolk home and are transitioning to spending more time at their home on Ocracoke, NC and their newer home in Highland County, Va. (no mail box or P. O. Box yet).

They have a permanent bedroom at Jennifer’s house for the times they do spend in Norfolk.

Kathy enjoyed attending her nephew’s wedding in St. Petersburg, Florida.

Kathy with her daughter, Amy, son Jeff, and his friend, Anh, in St. Petersburg, Florida.

Congratulations Lisa! We're so proud to call you an Altrusan!

From Ellen: Summer post-Covid means entertaining grandkids for a week (Ryan and Emily Kain). Saw Buzz Lightyear and Minions, Norfolk Botanical Garden, USS Wisconsin, Jungle Golf, swimming, trampoline park, shopping and blanet forts. Many games and chats and so happy to celebrate together!