Dear Branch Members.

Happy New Year to you all from Farie [Momayez] and me!

              Lesley Danziger

Do you have a new year’s tradition? I grew up in the north of England with the tradition of “first footing” on New Year’s Eve. People went from house to house with food and drink and in the days of the coal mines, a piece of coal, to symbolically keep the host’s house warm.  Clearly no-one will be first footing outside their “bubble” this New Year’s Eve, but we all look forward to welcoming friends to our homes again in the coming year.

Despite COVID, AAUW Laguna Beach had a very successful fall.  Our major achievement was our virtual College Scholarship Appeal.  We raised over $26,000, or 13 college scholarships.  Of course you can donate anytime for scholarships or our other programs on the website.

Our scholarships will be particularly needed to enable women to continue their education over the next few years.  Many thanks to our fundraising committee, to the students and donors who submitted videos and to the members who sent out emails, postcards and letters, and persuaded friends and family members to support our effort.

The spring will not yet be entirely normal for us.  We have delayed our Literary Luncheon until Fall, in the hopes that we can once again meet in person.  We will not be ready yet to offer some of our mission-based initiatives such as tutoring at El Morro Elementary School (TLC) and the National College Conference for Women Student Leaders (NCCWSL).

However, we will still be busy in the new year. We will be selecting and awarding high school as well as college scholarships and sponsoring junior high girls to attend a virtual summer Tech Trek camp.  Our Interest Groups are thriving and growing.  Everyone has adapted to zoom meetings and our new interest group Let’s Connect has spawned the return of a Movie Group.  We will be offering our annual Art Salon in February, highlighting members who are also artists.

Tech Trek information will be forthcoming, and all our Interest Groups and Programs are listed on our website.

Happy New Year everyone!  This will be a good one!

Lesley Danziger
Co-President, AAUW Laguna Beach