A lead columnist for the Sarasota Herald-Tribune, Carrie Seidman, has been a full time staff writer since 2010. A graduate of the Columbia University School of Journalism, she has been a metropolitan daily newspaper journalist for nearly 40 years, previously with the New York Times, the Los Angeles Herald-Examiner and the Albuquerque Journal and Albuquerque Tribune. She has been a feature writer, columnist, sportswriter, investigative reporter and food and dance critic and has specialized in mental health and dance. Her writing has received awards from local, state and national organizations and she was selected for a 2016-2017 fellowship from The Carter Center for Mental Health Journalism. The single parent of an adult son with a mental health diagnosis, she is also a two-time cancer survivor and a life-long dancer.

This meeting will be held at Cafe L’Europe, 431 St. Armands Circle, Sarasota, FL 34236 at noon on September 26, 2018. Cost $25. Contact Carole Shaw for more information and reservations at cins@juno.com.

RSVP
Season Opening Luncheon with Carrie Seidman
NAME:
PHONE:
EMAIL:
Menu
❒ Chicken Salad-L’Europe
❒ French Dip
❒ Soup & Chicken Florentine Crepe
Dessert
❒ Ice cream with strawberries
❒ Sorbet D’Jour
COST: $25
RSVP by: September 17, 2018
Make check payable to: NCJW
Please Indicate your menu and include this form with check. selection and send to:
Carole M. Shaw
4340 Falmouth Drive,
Longboat Key, FL 34228

Thank you, thank you, to everyone who brought items to the May installation luncheon. We “covered the Bottoms” of a lot of the littlest ones at Children First.

NCJW has partnered with HOPE HOUSE, a shelter for abused women and their children for many years. This shelter is located in Bradenton and provides vulnerable women with the opportunity to escape abusive situations to get a start on rebuilding their lives.

This year, as a change, the Board has decided to adopt a family in December. We will do whatever we can to make the holidays special for this family. Hope House will identify, and give us the particulars of our family in October – how many members are in the family, what the ages are, and whether the children are boys or girls, and what sizes they wear. We will be given suggestions for gifts, both practical and a wish list.

We will ask our members to sign up for specific items (we don’t want 25 pairs of PJ’s). Any items that our members don’t provide, we will purchase with funds collected in our Hope House boxes. These are the boxes that we pass around at meetings and luncheons.
Look for more information in October. We will send an e-blast with specifics, as soon as we get them. Thanking you in advance for making the holidays special for one family.

NCJW will again be supporting our community by gift-wrapping at Barnes & Noble this December.

This is a fun way to raise money for our Community Service Projects and to spread the word to all about our various activities.

No experience necessary, just lots of enthusiasm. Barnes & Noble supplies the wrapping paper and we supply the smiles!

Please consider joining us. Specific dates to follow. To volunteer please contact:

Janet Alloy
(941) 355-3234
janetalloy@yahoo.com

Andrea Kutcher
(941)242-2443
mwaskutcher@gmail.com

Carol Papish
(941)925-0333
cfpap22@gmail.com

Over the past several years, the Sarasota/Manatee Section presented Teen Dating Education to school age children between the ages of 12-18. It includes a video called “Dealing with Teen Dating Abuse: Matters of Choice” that was purchased from the Essex County Section in New Jersey.

The messages in this educational program are simple:
1. Abuse is never acceptable,
2. Abuse is much more than giving a person a push or black eye,
3. Abuse is also demonstrated through manipulation and verbal attacks,
4. The appropriate and inappropriate ways to handle abuse and the choices that one has when he or she gets hurt.

Due to external challenges with promoting this project, it is time to think about tweaking the program to include, or piggy back on, different models such as the “Me Too” movement; “anti-bullying”; or “just say no.” There are a number of ways this can be integrated and we are looking for volunteers who would like to incorporate new ideas into this excellent program. One idea is to create a brochure that contains strong messages and pictures for young people etc. Another idea is to partner with organizations that are already promoting this platform with settings outside of the public schools. We want to hear your ideas and suggestions!

Please contact Marcia Schweitzer at marcia7032@yahoo.com if you have experience, knowledge on these topics, and/or are motivated to try something new.

As we began our tenure, we attended Leadership Institute in St. Louis. While we did not have the opportunity to visit the Gateway Arch, built as a monument to the westward expansion of the United States, we were inspired to expand our horizons for our own section of NCJW.

This year, in addition to the many advocacy, community service, and special events programs in which our members have participated, we are introducing many new programs. Children First is a new program that we will support; we have earned a grant to fund an exciting program dealing with the federal court system; and we will have many other innovative programs, such as one on the controversial topic of medical marijuana. These are just a few examples of opportunities to expand our tzedaka, our knowledge, and our dedication to improving the quality of life for women, children, and families of the Sarasota-Manatee counties for the next year.

We are always willing and eager to listen to new ideas, to include activities that will increase our membership, and to create good fellowship among our members.
We are excited about our new roles and look forward to meeting and conversing with you as we expand our personal horizons.

All the best for a Happy, Healthy New Year!
Cindy and Joyce