Club 21 helps children with HIV/AIDS

Past President Becky Wolford spoke to our club this week about Altrusa International Foundation's program, Club 21. Club 21 was established in 1997 to support children infected with HIV and AIDS. With an annual donation of $21, Club 21 members enable children to attend Camp Safe Haven.

Camp Safe Haven gives these children, who are often stigmatized and cast out from schools and sport teams, a place where they can have a sense of belonging and acceptance. Camp Safe Haven volunteers -- doctors, nurses, social workers, counselors, and others -- offer support, not only during the camp sessions, but throughout the year.

Club 21 also sponsors the Ghana Health Education Initiative providing vital health information to that high-risk population.

At Tuesday's meeting, an additional 9 Altrusa members plus one guest joined Club 21 and received their Club 21 pins on the spot. Anyone can join Club 21; you do not need to be a member of Altrusa. To join, contact Becky with your $21 donation, or download the Club 21 membership form from this web page.

Altrusa Mission statement

The Altrusa Mission statement adopted in July 1986:

"The purpose of Altrusa International is to promote community service by an international network of executives and professionals in diversified career classifications."

"If you read just ONE book..." at Main in Motion

Janis Marcha and Carolee Hawkins watch the Pennies for Peace video as a young Main in Motion participant strolls by.

Altrusa's International Relations Committee hosted a special table at Main in Motion during three evenings this summer. With donations from Altrusa Club members, the committee purchased 7 copies of Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin; additional copies were donated by members and by others.

Christy Biela designed a logo for our unique "lending library" with only a single book title. Diane Winger, Michelle Gottlieb, Natalie Frush, Janis Marcha, Sheryl Solow, Bonnie Eakin, Sally Senger, Carolee Hawkins, and Ginny Spaven all pitched in to talk to people who stopped by our Main in Motion booth, pass out information, show the "Pennies for Peace" video, and of course, loan out copies of Three Cups of Tea.

Ten copies of the book were borrowed. Most of the people who borrowed the book let us know that they were passing it along to several other friends before returning it to Altrusa. In addition, passers-by donated over $80 on the spot to go to Mortenson's non-profit organization, Central Asia Institute.

International Relations is currently working with the Montrose Library District to co-sponsor a 4-part series of programs all related to Three Cups of Tea. The programs will begin on Tuesday, September 30, 2008 at 7:00 PM at the Library, and will continue for the following three Tuesday evenings as well.

Altrusans Donate School Supplies

Backpacks, rulers, crayons, pencils, pens, spiral notebooks, 3-ring binders, highlighters, mechanical pencils, glue, flash cards, scissors, erasers, markers, index cards, paper, calculators, pencil boxes...

Children starting school this week need lots of school supplies, but unfortunately, some families struggle to afford what is needed. Members of our Altrusa Club pitched in to help by personally donating over $300; another $250 was added by our Member Issues Committee to help us purchase supplies plus enable students to receive a total of $175 in "scholarships" to cover fees for extra-curricular activities at their schools.

Elaine Moore, Rita Maser, and Donna Herman were our designated shoppers for the table-loads of school supplies purchased for donation to Montrose Schools. Office Depot generously offered to let Altrusa obtain 45 student backpacks at cost, which helped us stretch our donations even further.

The Montrose Daily Press wrote about back-to-school expenses on the front page of the Sunday, August 18, 2008 edition.

Jeanne Kuchynka, Donna Herman, Rita Maser, and Elaine Moore enjoy the sight of all the school supplies being donated to area children.