AAUW IL/MO Convention

(from WAB member Nann Blaine Hilyard's blog With Strings Attached)

 

Monday, May 6, 2013

AAUW-full -- and $500 for LAF!

The AAUW IL/MO state convention was May 3-5 at the Hilton at the Ballpark in downtown St. Louis. We had a joint convention in 2001 and it was high time to try it again.  I left home early Friday and picked up AAUW friend Kate at her house in a western suburb. Despite rain the entire length of I-55, we arrived in St. Louis at noon. 

[Note: to find out more about AAUW just click here:  www.aauw.org]

I always feel so "AAUW-full" after an AAUW convention -- that's "awe-full," not "awful"! -- because our collective efforts to empower women have accomplished so much since 1881 -- and there is still much to do.  AAUW members are interested, interesting, and dedicated.


The Cubs/Cardinals walk around Busch Stadium raised $2319 (Cubs) and $1285 (Cardinals) for a total of $3606 for  the Eleanor Roosevelt Fund which honors an individual, project, organization, or institution for outstanding contributions to equality and education for women and girls.

AAUW's  Legal Advocacy Fund  (LAF) works to challenge sex discrimination in higher education and the workplace. The speaker Saturday evening was a woman who was sexually harassed and abused while she was in the National Guard, starting with the recruiter who signed her up when she was a junior in high school. The harassment, ostracism, and loneliness she endured during her Guard service (including a deployment to Iraq) were horrible.  AAUW support for a class-action lawsuit has helped both financially and emotionally.  She is now 27 and working as a pediatric nurse in Indianapolis.

I don't always dress to match my quilts!

Every spring I donate a quilt to the Waukegan Area Branch  to raffle to raise funds for AAUW projects.  This year it was Easy Street, the most recent Quiltville mystery. Ticket sales at convention were great!  The net proceeds, $500, will go to LAF.  The LAF plaintiff pulled the winning ticket -- and the winner was delighted!

I took Kate and Shirley May home on Sunday afternoon.  No rain and good company made the drive easier.

Nann

My blog comes "with strings attached" because I value the connections between and among people, organizations, and institutions. I'm a librarian and a quiltmaker who participates in local and national associations.

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