ISLE CITY OF ALAMEDA BPW

COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT REPORT

2003-2004

Marion Yeaw

President

• Isle City participated in the global community through mailing boxes of medical supplies and yarn to the women's AIDs Clinic in Zimbabwe , Africa , c/o BPW member Sheena Freeman. We participated in the community by selling books at the Peanut Butter and Jam Faire for funds for Project Africa. This year Charlie Axton of J.F. Kapnek Trust provided free shipping of four boxes (see photos).

• Senator Barbara Boxer read the article on Project Africa in the Oakland Tribune and sent a personal letter of thanks for our efforts.

• When Isle City members sorted community donations to Project Africa, they found some items too heavy to shipped or banned because they were liquid or wrong climate-wise. After sorting, members found five agencies in the community to use the clothing and articles, including Dream Catcher (a teenage shelter by Xanthos), Reentry Women's Clothing, AIDS efforts locally, and school clothing for needy children.

• Temple Israel collected supplies for Project Africa and invited Kimberlee Garfinkle to speak about the women's AIDS clinic project on Mitzvah Day, March 28.

• Isle City participated in the global community through mailing boxes of children's books to a Peace Corps volunteer (BPW member JoAnn Landingham) to build a children's library in Kazakhstan.

• We sponsored two low-income girls from Girls Inc. of the Island City for their Women of Excellence honors luncheon, as well as having several members in attendance,. Bookmarks featuring Women in History were donated by Margaret Seaman in Isle City 's name for table favors. Isle City was mentioned in both the program and verbally. Members of our local serve on the Girls Inc. board.

• For a fifth year, we are making plans to hold a parliamentary workshop for the community, with JuelleAnn Boyer and JoAnn Ritko Pozzi as facilitators. The parliamentary workshop was requested by a city board so their members could attend. Various community organizations are being invited.

• Continuing for the 6th year our project of donating Breast Cancer pink ribbons (with literature and Isle City 's contact information) to the community, members distributed over 700 pink ribbons made by Margaret Seaman in baskets to Alameda businesses. The distribution began by issuing the first ribbons to Mayor Beverly Johnson at a city council meeting. Then members were presented with a proclamation for National Business Women's Week (NBWW).

• Isle City donated equipment to a low-income play ground being built in Alameda , as well as equipment to a senior complex.

• Each month Isle City mails an ‘adopt-a-bed' check to the homeless at Midway Shelter, as well as donating women's grooming items.

• Members donated household goods to the Battered Women's Shelter and to the Independence Plaza Senior Citizen's money raiser.

• Members contributed to Foundation and CEF. One of our members, Lisa Lane , was granted a CEF scholarship.

• We provided joint sponsorship with AAUW in the League of Women Voters Candidates Night and propositions forums and provided pages for each night.

For NBWW, Isle City honored women from the community and received excellent publicity, which continued long after October because one of the women was a newspaper editor. Women of Achievement in Government honored were Representative Barbara Lee, Supervisor Wilma Chan, Assemblywoman Alice Lai-Bitker, and Alameda Mayor Beverly Johnson. Woman of Achievement in Business went to Noreen Swafford, owner of Marti's Place. Woman of Achievement in Community Service was Mary Kenney, long-time community activist serving on several local non-profit boards of directors and other local organizations. Woman of Achievement in Law was awarded to public interest lawyer Elise Brown. Isle City 's L.E.N.A. Award, which stands for Leadership, Education, Networking and Achievement, was presented to Julia Park, Editor of the Alameda Sun .

• Sponsored NBWW Awardee Mary Anne Kenney for the 2004 Nomination to the Alameda County Annual Women's Hall of Fame for her volunteer work.

• Year-around, our members serve on various boards within the community, asmong others Lena Tam, Alameda Hospital Board and County Planning Commission; Fran Swingle, County Status of Women Commission; Ethel Simon, Mayor's Committee for the Disabled; Noreen Christin, Historic Alameda High School Foundation; Dorie Guess Behrstock and JuelleAnn Boyer on Board of Girls Inc.; Margaret Seaman on Residents Council of Independence Plaza; and Maria Hargrove, Volantes Unidos, an Hispanic get-out-the-vote organization.

• All meeting notices in the paper specify that meetings are open to the public, which results in guests.

# # #