GFWC Ohio

IMPORTANT DATES

March 22nd- World of Water Day

April: Keep America Beautiful Month

April 22nd- Earth Day

Fourth Friday in April- Arbor Day

June 5th- World Environmental Day

Third week in June- National Pollinator Week

November 15th- America Recycles Day

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COMMUNITY CONNECTION INITIATIVE:

SPARKLING SEEDS, BRILLIANT BUTTERFLIES, GLAMOROUS GARDEN GLOVES!

PROJECT & PROGRAM IDEAS

PRESERVE RESOURCES:
● Join the Arbor Day Foundation and receive ten free trees to plant or donate ten trees to be planted in a threatened rain forest or one of our National Forests.
● Save trees by initiating a “Go Paperless” campaign, encouraging club and community members to opt out of junk mail lists, sign up for e-statements, pay bills online, digitize documents, reconsider printed newspapers, and purge and recycle.
● Support wetland conservation and learn how wetlands are a deterrent to both flooding and drought, and how they filter and purify water that enters streams, rivers, and larger bodies of water.
● Organize a household hazardous waste collection with your local services, to ensure these dangerous materials are disposed of properly.
● Promote water conservation indoors and outdoors by sharing ways to be mindful of personal water- use practices, such as installing low-flow showerheads, using water-efficient dishwashers and washing machines, adopting xeriscape principles, adding mulch on planting beds, and planting drought-resistant grasses, flowers, shrubs, and trees.
PROTECT WILDLIFE AND DOMESTICATED ANIMALS:
● Educate club and community members about the importance of pollinators and how to create healthy habitats where they can thrive.
● Establish a butterfly garden in the community and offer on-site programs that identify butterflies and provide information about the lifecycle of these beautiful and useful insects.
● Offer a workshop on building birdhouses and provide information on bird species, their characteristics and behaviors, and their varying habitat requirements. GFWC/Ohio Federation of Women's Clubs Section 2 Page 2022 – 2024 Administration
● Establish a club relationship with a local shelter for domestic animals. Club members can volunteer at the shelter, help with fundraising events and activities, spread the word about animals that are offered for adoption, and collect needed supplies.
● Make your backyard a safe place for wildlife. Create a haven for local wildlife, instead of viewing it as a nuisance as more and more wildlife habitats are lost to the spread of development. By providing basic needs like water, food, and shelter, each club member can make a difference in her backyard. Sign up to receive a Backyard Sign, gardening gloves, and All Animals magazine from the Humane Society. Invite a speaker to give a program on birds and birding. Learn about backyard birding, identifying birds, creating bird-friendly communities, and conservation policies.
LIVE SUSTAINABLY:
● Commemorate America Recycles Day (November 15), a program of Keep America Beautiful, by organizing a special event.
● Coordinate a children’s poster contest on recycling.
● Collect used materials from club and community members and hold a sewing party that produces cloth shopping bags that can be distributed with club information at a community event.
● Hold a community workshop on sustainable gardening, offering information on how to build and conserve the soil with cover crops and other methods, make a rain barrel and/or a compost bin, and garden organically.
● Start a campaign to say “no” to disposable items and purpose reusable alternatives. Consider the life expectancy of every item purchased and resell or donate what is no longer needed..
● Host an “upcycling” event in your club or community. Use as a fundraiser, presentation from artists who upcycle items, or gallery for members and the community.
BEAUTIFY COMMUNITIES AND ENJOY NATURE:
● Work with preschool classes, or other groups of young children, to teach them to enjoy and understand nature through simple projects such as creating a bird treat, collecting colorful leaves, or going on a nature walk to spot birds, squirrels, turtles, frogs, butterflies, and bugs.
● Plan an outing for club members to visit a botanical garden or important conservation site.
● Establish a hiking or biking trail in the community, encouraging people to learn more about nature and enjoy the outdoors. Or, help maintain or provide maintenance funding for an existing trail.
● Plan a series of 5-minute features on U.S. National Parks, providing one highlight at each club meeting throughout the year. Encourage members to join the National Parks Conservation Association and to stay at National Parks when they travel.
● Plan a club event to take a virtual tour of National Parks. Host a glamping event, bring your canteen, and roast some s’mores together as you learn about various parks across the nation. Test your club members national park knowledge with a trivia game or play park bingo (game and cards found on the National Park Service website).

CONNECT WITH GFWC AFFILIATE ORGANIZATIONS

1. HEIFER INTERNATIONAL: promotes agroecology, working with farmers to integrate climate-smart agricultural practices to increase resilience and crop production
a. At your next meeting or community event, set up a table to promote the goal of donating a bee-hive. Wear bee antennae headbands to draw attention to the project. For any donation, offer a packet of wildflower seeds to promote local bee activity. Have information about Heifer and your own club available. GFWC/Ohio Federation of Women's Clubs Section 2 Page 2022 – 2024 Administration
b. Host a “Pig out for Heifer” event by collaborating with a local BBQ restaurant. Place a piggy bank by the register to collect donations, ask for a night to earn a percentage of sales, serve and donate tips received, or host your own BBQ to sponsor a pig to help a farmer.

 

2. UNICEF: UNICEF USA Child Friendly City Initiative brings a flexible, dynamic, child-rights focused framework, and communities are improved as neighborhoods become safer, schools and health systems function better, and infrastructure is strengthened for all citizens.
a. Host a water walk to promote how children around the world walk several hours each day to find potable water.
b. Support UNICEF’s WASH Project to improve water, sanitation, and hygiene. Ideas to raise awareness and funds include hosting a souper party, clean-a-thon, car wash, dance off, game night, or raffle.
AWARDS:
GFWC recognizes State Federations for outstanding projects with a certificate and one club in the nation for a creative project with a $50 award for creativity.
 

A complete list of project and program resources can be found at GFWC.org.