This month's newsletter features the latest updates on Club activities in the community:
March meeting “Spring is in the Air”
Cocktails for a Cause
Membership Renewals for FY 24/25
Board nominations for FY 24/25
Upcoming Events
Everything you wanted to know about Monarch Butterflies
Our March 7th General meeting, “Spring is in the Air”, was great fun! Our guest speaker, “Butterfly Whisperer” and renowned national speaker, Susie Vanderlip regaled us with fascinating (and often humorous) information about these lovely creatures and her work with the City of Dana Point, helping to bring monarchs back to our City. First Vice President, Toni Nelson, announced our gift of an autographed copy of Susie’s book and dvd on the adventures of “Chester, the Monarch Butterfly/Larva” to the Palisades Elementary School Library.
In addition, she announced DPWC’s donation to the Palisades Elementary Foundation for the school’s upcoming 3-day 5th grade Science Camp. Our gift of $1,000 will help fund scholarships for kids who needed help funding Science Camp tuition this year. Teacher Elaine Dolnack confirmed that thanks to our help, every child will be able to attend camp this year.
To read more about our March meeting on Patch, CLICK HERE.
Cocktails for a Cause - Reserve Now!
Save the Date and CLICK HERE to Register! Wednesday April 10th at 5PM for our Annual Spring Fundraiser *Cocktails for a Cause* at Aventura Sailing Club. Passed hors d’oeuvres, dinner, live and silent auctions, wine pull, raffles, entertainment and FUN! $75 per person ($32 is tax deductible). Benefiting Orange County United Way’s SparkPoint OC program in South County.
This event is open to couples and friends. Please reserve now. We expect a sell out for this
wonderful annual fundraiser.
Our solicitations team is hard at work creating beautiful baskets for our silent auction and raffle. We already have some fun items to auction including a surf board, surf lessons, an electric bike, several local cruises, and many themed baskets and raffle items but it’s not too late to add more. Please do your part by asking your favorite vendors for gift certificates or items, donating a vacation home, cooking class or boat cruise, and/or creating a unique gift basket with a couple of members. We can also use more bottles of wine ($15 minimum retail value each) for our fun wine pull. Please plan to email Marla to arrange for drop off or pick up of your items by April 1st. If possible, please supply a basket or container to keep our costs in check. Wrapping challenged? Don’t worry! Marla and her secret weapon (Karin Marsh and her team) will make your gifts look amazing.
This year’s event is our 3rd annual fundraiser in support of SparkPoint South OC, an Orange County United Way program that helps struggling families to not just “survive” but “thrive”! Thank you for your help and ongoing generosity!
Membership Renewals
As you know, our fiscal year ends May 31st. We will be sending invoices for Fiscal Year 24/25 membership renewals soon. Annual membership will remain at our low $60 fee which is due April 1st and delinquent on June 1st.
All members, including new members, will receive an invoice for $60. Please remember that new members have paid a $40 one time initiation fee, and a pro-rated membership fee for FY 23/24 depending upon when they joined.
In addition to funding new members badges, initiation fees contribute to a portion of our Club overhead. The Board’s financial management goal is to fund Club overhead costs entirely from membership fees and meeting profits, so that 100% of funds raised for our philanthropies can be passed directly to our charitable causes with nothing retained for overhead. A portion of initiation and membership fees (currently $22 per member) is used to cover fees levied by theGeneral Federation of Women’s Clubs ( national organization) and the California Federation of Women’s Clubs.
Nomination Slate for FY 24/25
Our Nominating Committee (Marla Freeman, Donna Childress and Betty Hill) found some great candidates for open Board and Committee Positions. The Slate of nominees was announced at our March meeting. No additional nominations were made from the floor. Board elections will take place in May as usual and new Board members will be installed at our June general meeting. Note that the Community House Director position has been split into two positions with primary responsibility for Rentals and the Facility. The nominees for two year terms are:
1st Vice President - Judy Amiano
2nd Vice President/Membership - Jill Robinson
Public Relations Director - Toni Nelson
Community House Rentals Director - Daisy Howell
Community House Facility Director - Monique Wolff
Recording Secretary - Carol Kelly
Congratulations to our Nominees!
Continuing for a second year are:
President - Kathy Belanger
Ways and Means Director - Marla Freeman
Treasurer - Donna Childress
Current Public Relations Director, Angela Davis, Second Vice President Robin Arielle Torres and Community House Director Jody Hughes are leaving the Board but will be available to provide assistance to the incoming Board members. We sincerely thank them for their service during this challenging but very successful transition year - our first as one unified Dana Point Women’s Club!
There are still a few Committee (non-Board) positions available. Committee and Board positions are open to any qualified member in good standing. Per our By-laws, members are encouraged to serve on at least one committee. There will be sign-up sheets available at our spring meetings. Please contact Marla if you are interested in getting to know our members and make new friends by helping out!
COMMITTEES
Hospitality: Menu, plating, set up, decor, bussing/cleanup, take down
Membership: Welcoming Committee
Secretary: Check in desk, telephone committee
Treasurer: Square, auction and raffle assistance
Public Relations: Website management, Facebook/Instagram, photography, brochures
Ways & Means: Gift solicitation, baskets, auction, event planning, event set up/take-down
Community House: Rental showings, event liaison, house checks, facility maintenance, supplies
Please contact the nominating committee HERE to obtain copies of job descriptions and/or indicate your interest. Remember: many hands make light work and we can all have more “Fun in Philanthropy”!
Upcoming Events
Due to our April Fundraiser, there will be no General Membership meeting in April. Please JOIN US at Cocktails for a Cause on April 10th (see details above)!
Our May 2nd General Membership meeting will be a Graduation Tea honoring our scholarship recipients - two female Dana Hills High School Graduates. Under Chair Betty Hill, the Scholarship Committee (Carol Kelly, Maggie Arquilla, Sheryl Kaner and Rita Jones) has been hard at work reviewing a bumper crop of applications for this year’s two $1,500 awards. We have some wonderful applicants this year and they expect it to be a tough decision.
Our May meeting will be a FREE members only luncheon with catered tea sandwiches and beverages. We will be inviting members to contribute scones, condiments and desserts, and will have a fun raffle to help defray our costs. Please watch for your Punchbowl Invitation and sign up for a potluck item if you can. We will be hosting the scholarship recipients and their parents for lunch and will enjoy hearing about the girls’ future plans.
See you at our annual fundraiser! Thank you for strengthening our local community!
Dana Point Women's Club
Photo Credit: Dana Point Women’s Club