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Strategic Serendipity
Luck? Or something better?
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By Barb Collins
Co-founder and board chair
In our rapidly changing world when so many things seem out of our control, the old way of doing business is slow in keeping up with trends and great ideas. The dynamic nature of Dining for Women has a rich history of the right people walking in at just the right time. Sometimes we call it fate. Sometimes we call it luck.
Serendipity, as defined by Miriam Webster, is luck that takes the form of finding valuable or pleasant things that are not looked for. Or as the Urban Dictionary describes it, a very good coincidence, often leading to something really awesome. ...
Read the rest of Barb's blog post on Strategic Serendipity and what it means for DFW
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Featured Program for October
Bumi Sehat
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Respect for nature, respect for culture, wisdom in medicine. Those are the three guiding principles of Bumi Sehat. Based in Bali, Indonesia, Bumi Sehat provides safe, healthy and natural birth for poor women living in rural, underserved areas. The maternal mortality rate there is high — at 84 per 100,000 births in 2011.
DFW's $45,000 grant will provide salaries for 11 midwives and purchase medicine and supplies to support the 480 women who give birth at the clinic each year.
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3 things you need to know
(about Bumi Sehat)
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Bumi Sehat was founded by Robin Lim, a writer, teacher and midwife who was pregnant in Bali in 1992. Her inability to find the kind of maternal healthcare that she as a woman valued led her to start the organization. The organization has received many awards for its work and, in 2011, Lim was named a CNN Hero. Read More about Bumi Sehat.
Around the world, maternal mortality rates are falling. But even with significant improvement over the past 5-10 years, a woman still dies every two minutes of some pregnancy- or birth-related complication. Common causes of death are: bleeding after childbirth, infections, pre-eclampsia, botched abortions, and obstructed labors. Learn more about childbirth challenges in the developing world.
Sharpen your knives and turn up the beat on your headphones, you are in for a workout with this month's Proven Platter. Chicken and Green Bean Salad (Lawar) is one of Bali's most famous dishes. It sounds pretty simple, right? Wrong! Recipe Curator Linda McElroy says it's "exhausting .. but worth it!" Get Cooking
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Turning inspiration into reality
As members, donors, friends and constituents of Dining for Women, you have a clear vision of a better world for women and girls. And you want to be part of making that happen. We work with you to transform your inspiration into a reality. But we can't do it with just an idea. We need strong, professional operations.
During the year, 15 percent of your donation dollar does go to this purpose, but that covers less than one-third of our operational expenses. We count on you, once each year, to support the organization with the same commitment you show every month for the featured programs and provide the funding operations needs to keep moving DFW forward.
The 13th Month Campaign will run through the end of the year. We have developed several things to help you understand our finances and to show you how DFW spends its operational dollar.
Friend, you'll be hearing a lot more about the campaign from your chapter leaders over the course of the campaign. We hope that - just as you are all in for our mission - you will be all in for our sustainability.
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New grant cycle opens
October 1 will mark the opening of our new grant cycle for programs for the second half of 2015. Programs that meet our criteria can submit a Letter of Intent (LOI) online via our application page. Information on the grant criteria is available on the website as well. Many of our best grantees have come from connections with members and chapter leaders, so please pass this information on to organizations you are involved with that may be interested.
Questions about grants should be emailed to grants@diningforwomen.org.
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Join DFW on its inaugural trip to the Dominican Republic! This journey will take us to the coastal town of Carabete, to meet the girls at Mariposa (supported by DFW in April 2014). A service/learning trip, we’ll be working with the girls for four of the days we are there, helping out with everything from painting to assisting in English classes. We’ll also take two day-trips to learn more about the history and culture of this island. Not as physically demanding as some of our journeys, this is a good intro trip for those looking to taste the joys of international travel and be of service at the same time.
Max group size: 16 | Cost: $2300-2500, not including airfare
Trip Leader: Marilyn Murphy | Application deadline: Oct. 15
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Travel Tales
Sustained programs a frequent stop
DFW's Travel Director Patricia Andersson writes about the connections between our Travel Program and our Sustained Programs. It's a coincidence but grounded in the fact that the programs we commit to long-term are also those we most want to connect with. Read the blog post.
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Miss a meeting, miss a lot
There are lots of reasons to attend your DFW meeting virtually: You're out of town, you're late at the office and miss your local meeting, you don't have a local chapter but still want to be active. The Virtual Chapter is all about giving everyone the ability to see what DFW is about. You do not have to be a member to attend. You can attend “live” on the published meeting dates, or watch the recorded meeting on-demand online when it is convenient for you. Meeting dates will be published in The Dish and on the Virtual Chapter’s Facebook page.
Learn about how our Virtual Chapter works.
Next Virtual Chapter meeting: October 9 at 7:30. Link to join: http://fuze.me/26085394
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Northwest's new co-regional leader
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Theresa Beaver of Moscow, ID, has been named regional leader in the Northwest, partnering with current RL Alissa Johnson. Theresa has been a DFW member and chapter leader since June 2013. "What a gift I receive from being involved with DFW," she says. Read more about Theresa and the other regional leaders.
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