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What's ahead in 2015?
Deeper connections, stronger collaborations
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By Beth Ellen Holimon
DFW Executive Director
Great companies are measured by the ability to constantly manage for both the level of returns, and the duration over which those returns will be realized. Nonprofits are typically measured by the reach and impact of
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their mission and how they use the donor dollar. These measurable tests are the first we must pass to find our way into the hearts of our members.
I have been impressed with the dozens of people I meet for whom DFW has passed the impact and donor dollar tests, by the transparency that is a bedrock value of the organization and, perhaps most importantly, that the DFW mission is securely nestled in the hearts of every one of these members, volunteers, and staff. I have been overwhelmed with the commitment, excitement, and ideas from members.
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Read Beth Ellen's full post on the major efforts Dining for Women will be making to establish collaborations and connections in 2015.
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Featured Program for January
Collateral Repair Project (Jordan)
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Collateral Repair Project supports refugees from conflict zones in the Middle Eastern region. DFW's grant of $37,058 over two years will fund a women's empowerment program designed to develop confidence and leadership skills among this displaced population.
This program is a departure for DFW, which normally is trying to help women lift themselves up with education and economic empowerment. But refugees in Jordan are forbidden to work, so the CRP program focusses on ways to help them cope more effectively with stress, increase their involvement in their new communities, and maintain their own health and that of their family.
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3 things you need to know
(about Collateral Repair Project)
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The refugee community in Jordan is huge and growing. As of May 2014, the reported number of Iraqi refugees alone was 12,270. Refugees arrive with nothing but what they can carry. They don't mourn the loss of their belongings, but of their history, their community and the family they may have been separated from. CRP attempts to help rebuild a sense of community among this population. And although men are more often looked to as leaders, it is women who hold these communities together. Learn More.
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is a collection of conditions that stem from surviving incredible, perhaps chronic stress. Ordinary people are thrown into circumstances beyond their control, the price for their survival is abandoning the life they knew, the homes they built. They are the collateral damage of decades of war. Learn More.
Jordanian food shares its roots with Arabic and Mediterranean cuisine. Although tea is the national drink, the center of every town is a coffee house. Food is often eaten with your hands and dining - whether at home or meeting for a snack at the coffee house - is a social affair that brings together friends and family around food. Learn More.
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Phoenix-1 (AZ)
With champagne, chocolate cake and sparklers, the Phoenix, AZ, chapter celebrated its 100th meeting in November. Ninety-six of these meetings have been at the home of its leader, Rita Dickinson. Marsha Wallace remembers Rita nicknaming her chapter "Wining for Women" and sending in the labels from the wine bottles each month. Rita's also the founding CL for a chapter in Agoura, CA, which she visits - making a 400+ mile drive - at least once a year. Happy 100th, Phoenix-1 and Rita!
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Santa Barbara-4 (CA)
Eight area chapters went to hear Nicholas Kristof at a book signing and talk at the University of California, Santa Barbara in November. Co-leader Nancy Marriott was first on the stage for the signing. "When he asked me what I would like him to write for his signing, I said: 'Dining for Women Rocks!' at which point a loud cheer went out from the audience, coming from the many women in the eight chapters here who were in attendance." Thanks for the shout out, Nancy.
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