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Steve’s Centerpiece Challenge
So how do we turn your $15 donation into $50,000 at Women of Excellence? Platinum Plus sponsor Steve Craig has created this video to explain how it works:
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Women of Excellence
While everyone attending the 2013 Women of Excellence Awards will receive a keepsake program book to take home, we are also excited to be able to provide a copy online this year! Just click the link below (it’s a large pdf, so it may take a moment), and enjoy reading about all of this year’s nominees.
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Women of Excellence 2013
The 2012 Women of Excellence
Women of Excellence Tickets
This Friday is the deadline to purchase tickets for the 2013 Women of Excellence Awards. Tickets are now available for the 2013 Women of Excellence Awards, to be held on Thursday June 20th at Civic Arena. We will be honoring a record-breaking 57 women in categories such as workplace, volunteerism, and future leader. This event is the YWCA’s biggest fundraiser of the year, and this year it will also be St. Joseph’s biggest birthday party as we celebrate the 125th anniversary of the St. Joseph YWCA.
You can reserve a seat for yourself, for a few friends, or for an entire table of 10. Tickets are $35 each and can be purchased by calling 816.232.4481 or here on our website – http://www.ywcasj.org/?page_id=456 . On the donate page, just click the donate button and it will lead you through the ticket purchase process.
If you are unable to attend, you can still make a donation toward the event on our website and purchase a seat in honor of a woman who has received services at the YWCA. Each $35 raised represents the approximate cost of sheltering one woman or child for one night at the YWCA. (Pictured are our 2012 Women of Excellence winners.)
Keynote Speaker Dr. Dara Richardson-Heron
We are honored to announce that our keynote speaker for the 2013 Women of Excellence Awards will be Dr. Dara Richardson-Heron, M.D. and CEO of the YWCA of the USA. Dr. Richardson-Heron has more than 20 years of health care leadership, management and operations experience in the corporate and nonprofit sectors.
Dr. Richardson-Heron was previously CEO of the #1 Susan G. Koman affiliate in fundraising and grants awarded, and is a 15-year breast cancer survivor (her mother is a survivor of over 25 years). She has appeared on CBS News, WCBS News, ABC News, NBC News, The Doctor Oz Show, The Martha Stewart Show, The CBS Morning Show, Fox News, The Today Show, CNBC and Bloomberg Business Week. She has also been featured in O Magazine, New York Daily News and New York Newsday.
Steve’s Challenge
At the Women of Excellence Awards, we have a friendly competition called Steve’s Challenge to see which table can raise the most money for the YWCA. One person at each table walks away with the centerpiece (this year they will be cupcake stands and any cupcakes left on them!), and the top two tables will win really great prizes for everyone at the table. (Think spa packages.)
For the past several years, Steve Craig has matched all money raised in this centerpiece drawing. This year, additional businesses are joining Steve in also matching your donations. That means if our guests join together to raise $15,000 (just $15 per guest), it will mean $45,000 in donations to the YWCA!
You can get a head start by donating to Steve’s Challenge on our website – http://www.ywcasj.org/?page_id=456 or by calling 816.232.4481 and telling us the table you want your donation added to. (Just give us the table captain or business name and we’ll take care of the rest.) Even if you can’t attend, you are still welcome to help boost a table’s contributions!
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Gardener’s Festival Order Forms
Our annual Gardeners’ Festival on April 27th benefits the YWCA Mom’s Time program where moms of young children receive parenting education and stress relief. Plus, the growers are hand selected by our committee to insure you are getting top quality and unique varieties.
At the festival, you’ll find a huge variety of annuals, perennials, and hanging baskets inside our building. We will also host a Gardeners’ Luncheon on April 2nd where you can learn about creating Monet Gardens, ask questions about the plants that will be available at our festival and enjoy a delicious lunch.
Click the link below and you’ll find a list of the plants offered for sale along with an order form. We’ve also included two links with pictures of many of the annuals and perennials for sale. While preordering is not required,there are benefits. Besides getting first dibs on the plants you want, you can pick up your preorder on Friday, April 26th starting at 4 PM and shop the Festival for additional plants before it opens to the public on Saturday. Even if you only know of a few flowers you’ll want for sure, preorder them and you’ll have early admission to hand pick the rest of your plants!
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Women of Excellence Nominations Due March 15
The deadline is quickly approaching for 2013 Women of Excellence nominations. Click below for a nomination form. Stuck on what to say? An abbreviated biography of last year’s nominees can be found in the the link to our 2012 program book below. As always, call us at 816.232.4481 or email ywcasj@gmail. com if you have questions.
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Dr. Dara Richardson-Heron, M.D., CEO named keynote speaker of Women of Excellence Awards
We are honored to announce that our keynote speaker for the 2013 Women of Excellence Awards will be Dr. Dara Richardson-Heron, M.D. and CEO of the YWCA of the USA. Dr. Richardson-Heron has more than 20 years of health care leadership, management and operations experience in the corporate and nonprofit sectors.Dr. Richardson-Heron was previously CEO of the #1 Susan G. Koman affiliate in fundraising and grants awarded, and is a 15-year breast cancer survivor (her mother is a survivor of over 25 years). She has appeared on CBS News, WCBS News, ABC News, NBC News, The Doctor Oz Show, The Martha Stewart Show, The CBS Morning Show, Fox News, The Today Show, CNBC and Bloomberg Business Week. She has also been featured in O Magazine, New York Daily News and New York Newsday.
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Taking Nominations for Kelsey Beshears Racial Justice Award
The YWCA and NAACP are now taking nominations for the 2013 Kelsey Beshears Racial Justice Award. This award will be presented at the Day of Commitment to Eliminate Racism breakfast on May 3rd at the YWCA. Click below for a letter giving more information and the nomination form .
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Ladies’ Day @ The YWCA March 9th
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Now Taking Nominations for the 2013 Women of Excellence Awards! Due March 15.
The YWCA is now taking nominations for the 2013 Women of Excellence Awards. Click the following link for the nomination form.
The twelfth annual YWCA Women of Excellence Awards Luncheon will be held on Thursday, June 20, 2013 at the Civic Arena. This year’s event will also celebrate the 125th anniversary of the YWCA in St. Joseph and the 100th anniversary of our current building.
Dara Richardson-Heron, M.D., CEO of the YWCA USA, has agreed to serve as keynote speaker for this year’s outstanding event. At last year’s luncheon, over 1,000 guests were in attendance as we honored outstanding women and employers. As co-chairs of the Steering Committee, it is our pleasure to invite you to participate in this year’s awards in the following ways:
- Nominate – Nomination forms for the 2013 awards follow this letter, and can also be accessed online at www.ywcasj.org or requested by emailing efattig@ywcasj.org. Nomination forms are due Friday, March 15. All nominees will be honored at a reception held on May 9 at the YWCA from 5-7 p.m. and at the awards luncheon on June 20.
- Attend – Mark your calendar and join us in saluting women and employers at this event. We are offering a limited number of tables to groups who would like to be recognized at the event. Tables are $350 and include ten place settings. Individual tickets are also available at a cost of $35.
There are several categories in which you may nominate a woman including Workplace, Volunteerism, Support Services, and Emerging Leader. In addition, you may nominate your organization as an Employer of Excellence. (A young woman in her senior year of high school will also be chosen as a Future Leader and receive a college scholarship. These nominations are made by the high school counselors.)
All nominees will be recognized at the nominee reception and at the awards luncheon. From these nominees, one in each category will be chosen as the 2013 award recipient. The award recipients will be chosen by a group of community members with diverse backgrounds. All nominee names will be concealed from these judges to help ensure impartiality in the selection process.
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Annual Giving
YWCA Friends,Most of us feel very blessed. A home to go to, warm and safe. Friends and family who value us. Enough money for our basic needs (and maybe a little more for small luxuries). We take our blessings for granted, but we shouldn’t. A job loss, a few mistakes, maybe a relationship that didn’t end up the way we dreamed… it could easily be any of us seeking the services of the YWCA. Though Stacy had more strikes against her than most, she still found hope and healing at the YWCA.
Stacy didn’t ask to be born into an abusive family, and by age 15 she gathered the courage to leave. The years of abuse and stress of being on her own so young led to addiction and then homelessness. After two years of living under the Missouri River bridge – many of us probably driving near her “home” each day – she came to the YWCA for shelter.
Once her basic needs for food and shelter were met, she had the strength to overcome addiction and begin working toward a life she hadn’t thought was possible. Today, she is self-sufficient and works for the YWCA as a cook. She says she never could have made it out of the darkness without the stability the YWCA shelter provided and the support and resources we offered.
The stories of each woman we serve all have one thing in common – they all are actively seeking change in their lives and they believe the YWCA, with your support, can help them achieve it.
It took about $30 a day to provide shelter, food and counseling to Stacy. You may remember that we only send one fundraising letter each year, so I ask that you take this one opportunity to make a difference. Please take a moment and decide if you can provide a woman or child with a warm bed, food and safety for one night, one week, one month or one year. Call us at 816.232.4481 to make a donation by phone, or mail your donation to 304 N. 8th Street, St. Joseph, MO 64501.
Sincerely,
Jean G. Brown
Executive Director
