Spotlight On...

The Peggy Griffith ASIST Scholarship Fund

By Michelle A. Vandepas

We came, we rallied, we gave, we golfed.  What is it all for? The Peggy Griffith Scholarship Fund which is presently helping two women through college.  After the great golfing success this summer we now have over $86,000 in our scholarship fund!  Congratulations to all of us.  This money is  currently held in two accounts;  a money market which holds enough cash for our operating expenses, and the mutual fund account which holds the majority of our cash.  We plan on fund raising each year until we have enough cash to be a self sustaining fund.       

We have collected money in various ways over the years, selling flowers, silent auctions and of course our monthly drawings. The  donated door prizes raises between $50.00 - $100.00 each month which contributes to the scholarship fund.  (to donate a prize just bring it to a meeting - this is a great way to clean out your closet of unwanted gifts received this holidays).

Each year we give $6,000 total to pay for books and tuition for deserving women.  Usually and currently we support two scholarship recipients each receiving $3,000 per year.  We pay the school directly,  in two $1500.00 installments as requested. 

Our scholarship fund is named in honor of Peggy Griffith, charter member and our 1987 EWI President.   Peggy was active in EWI until her move to Arkansas.  She died from cancer several years ago and the fund was named after her. ASIST is an acronym standing for  ñAdult Student in Scholarship Transition."

When Colorado Springs EWI has an opening for a scholarship, the chairperson contacts the local colleges and universities - UCCS, Pikes Peak and so on, letting them know we have funds available.  We send applications for interested students and the schools keep our application on file.  This year I (Michelle Vandepas) am your chairperson, and in the previous several years it has been Susan Wood-Ellis.   Thanks to Susan for computerizing all the necessary forms.

All applicants must meet the following criteria to apply for funds:

• Must be a woman of non-traditional college age (25 years old or older).
• Need basis only - attach a copy of your last W2.  Are you a recipient of any other scholarship money, and if so what is the amount?
• Resident of El Paso County.
• Applying for undergraduate degree - Associates or Bachelors.
• Attending an accredited traditional or non-traditional college or university.
• Applicant must show clear intent to pursue and finish an undergraduate degree at specified college or university.
• Submit two letters of recommendation.
• Applicant must submit a one page, typed essay describing goals and how these goals will be achieved through the academic process.  Include how you got to this point in your life, your challenges and accomplishments, and where you want to be five and ten years from now.  Video essays (5 minutes) will be accepted when applicants can document disability that would prevent a written essay.
• For scholarship renewal the recipient must maintain a 3.0 GPA.
• Recipients will be asked attend two EWI meetings annually, at the membership expense, and give a brief progress report.

I have been in contact with both women. They are excited to be part of EWI and hope to come to a meeting soon to share their success and goals with us.  Although they are invited to the Christmas meeting each year, attending is a challenge because of final exams.  I hope they are able to come in January or February and give us their reports first hand.

Susan did a terrific job of finding our current and well deserving recipients.  She has written about our women, and this is an edited recap of their bios:

Bio:
Rebecca E. Tonn
Daughter, 16
Son, 14

Rebecca attended Biola University eighteen years ago.  Studied journalism, theater, and psychology.  She is a 37 year old single mother of young teenagers and a sophomore Ü pursuing an English degree at UCCS.  She has been working full-time in the restaurant business since her divorce nine years ago.

Most of her goals center on furthering her education.  She intends to graduate in May or December of 2004.  After graduation, she would like to find a position as a Copy Editor or Copy Writer and also enroll in a Master of Fine Arts program to pursue a degree in Creative Fiction Writing. Her long-term goal is to teach Creative Writing at CU-The Springs, to work as a feature columnist, to write short stories and to publish a collection of short stories and a novel.

She has waited many years for her children to be old enough so that her education would not interfere with her parenting time.  It has been an incredible thrill for her to be studying, reading literature, and discussing it, and to be writing.

Her biggest obstacles include being a single mom with no financial support, and a chronic back injury she has been battling for three years Ü which is aggravated by standing, walking and lifting while at work.

Bio:
Lina Bajraktari
Son,10

Lina has completed two years at Pikes Peak Community College.  She has wanted to become a nurse since she was a small child.  In 1991, at the age of 18, she attended Concorde Career Institute and obtained her Certified Nursing Assistant certification.  Her next goals of becoming a Licensed Practical Nurse and finally a Registered Nurse were put aside when she became a wife and mother.  After her 8 year marriage ended, she and her son moved to Colorado Springs in the hopes of finding a good education for her son and an opportunity for her to go back to school.

Three years later, at the age of 39, she is pursuing her Bachelors in nursing at Beth-El while working at a restaurant in Manitou Springs.

Her long-term goal is to become a Pediatric Nurse Practitioner specializing in Oncology, to work with other professionals in various settings.  She wants to be able to listen to the little patient's questions and hope to calm his or her fears.  She says she may not be able to change the world, but she knows that she can make a difference in the lives and families of the sick.  This is her lifelong dream and she will do what it takes to accomplish it.

Each year we give gifts at Christmas.  This year we are taking money from our fund and  giving baskets made by Beth @ Cachet Baskets - who is giving us a great deal on ïgirly' baskets, along with gift certificates to King Soopers and Target. 

Thanks to everyone for helping to grow our fund and give hope and financial support to our women. It is my honor to be chairperson this year of the Scholarship Committee.  If you have questions, please contact me directly at mav@usa.net or see me at the next meeting.

President's Message All About You! By Marti Hartman

November's meeting at Jake and Telly's was a HOOT! 

Thanks again to Kaye Caster and Jeannie Sharon for putting it all together.  And congratulations to Kathy Kelly for answering all the questions correctly in the "name your 2003-2004 EWI officers" game and winning an overnight stay at Kaye Caster's Old Town Guest House Bed and Breakfast.

The program included a presentation by Telly about the Greek fare we enjoyed, but more important, I believe, was the "out-of-the-box-networking".  We have such a wealth of diverse businesses and unique women in our organization it would be a loss if we didn't take the opportunity to get to know more about at least one other woman in EWI with whom we had not yet connected.

IT REALLY IS "ALL ABOUT YOU"

Whether your focus is on new business relationships, personal relationships, or both,

EWI is that opportunity for you - take it! 

Enjoy the EWI Journey - and take every opportunity to add as many supporters to your Journey as possible.

Please send submissions for the Chapter Pulse to:

Contact: Kathy Wallace

Phone: 548-0582

E-mail: kawallace@msn.com

Next Deadline
December 20

Please email as
MSWord attachment.

Thank you.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Greek Wine Tasting and Greek Food With Jake & Telly

If you missed the November meeting, you missed a fabulous evening!  We visited 3 Old Colorado City shops: Old Town Gallery, Celtic Mercantile, and the Music Box Store, to play our "Name the EWI Board" game.  The winner of the game was Kathy Kelly, who will be spending a very romantic night at Old Town Guest House bed and Breakfast.

Dinner was at Jake and Telly's restaurant.  Telly introduced us to 3 Greek wines that accompanied our Greek dinner.  The wines were: 1) Biblia Chora (sauvignon vlanc/assyrtico) 2002, served with the Greek salad; 2) Mercouri Antares 1999 (red), served with the Greek sampler platter; and 3) Kovrtaki Muscat of Samos (dessert wine), served with Baklava.  YUMMY!  These Greek wines will be available at the Powers Liquor Mart, distributed by Synergy Fine Wines.

Door prizes were donated by: Westside Boot & Shoe, Photo Lab, Red Mountain Sports, Barista Coffee, Cachet Baskets, Celtic Mercantile, Music Box Shop, Cheyenne Mountain Zoo, Purple Mountain Coffee, and WallaceVISION.

Did You Know?

by Wanda Reaves

This young woman has accomplished a lot in her young life.

She is new to EWI and knows what it takes to get the most from her EWI membership by getting involved in a committee, big time!

She was born in Colorado Springs and graduated from Palmer High School.  While a student at Palmer she was in a number of organizations, including the National Honor Society.  She was chosen to attend the National Youth Leadership Conference in Washington D. C where she met with members of the United States Congress and gained a better understanding of congressional procedures as well as the judicial process.

Her degree is in Journalism and Advertising which she obtained from the University of Colorado in Boulder. While there the Jon Benet Ramsey murder occurred and she remembers the impact that awful incident had on the campus.

She entered the Disney Internship competition and was one of five people chosen out of 400 entrants!  The internship involved living in Orlando for six months and working at The Magic Kingdom in Disney World. This was an exciting time for her and she learned a lot about working with people.

After graduating from the University she moved to Florida and worked there for an advertising agency called Cramer-Krasselt for two years. She loved Florida but Colorado is her home so she returned to work with an administrative staffing agency. Someday she would like to have a home in both Colorado Springs and Orlando.

She loves to play tennis, watch movies and travel.  Her favorite movie star is Julia Roberts and Morgan Freeman.

Philanthropy is an essential part of her life.  She has been involved in our community since childhood and is an active volunteer for the American Cancer Society.

She has worked for a well known, highly respected and community oriented company for two years where she recruits administrative staffing for their business clients. The company has been in business for nineteen years and has eighteen employees.  She says, "At the end of the day it is important to me that I can make a difference in someone's life.  That is the reason I love my job." She also loves her boss who is someone we all know.

If you haven't guessed yet it may help you to know that she is on the hospitality committee and greets us with a beautiful smile on her face at our meetings. She wants to stay on hospitality for a while longer because she gets to meet a lot of members.  She likes EWI and thinks it is great to be among so many dynamic women.

I hope she will be with us a long time. She obviously has leadership skills. She is one of our youngest and is certainly one of our prettiest members. ... Click Here to find out who!

December
Chapter Meeting

RSVP Guests & Regrets Only
Bea Steahlin

steahlin@aol.com

RSVP by December 5th!
Click Here to RSVP

"SOUNDS OF THE SEASON"

DATE:  Wednesday, December 10, 2003
LOCATION:  Broadmoor Hotel
Penrose Room
1 Lake Circle
Colorado Springs, CO  80901
COST:  $30.00
TIME:  11:30 a.m. - Networking/Sign In
12:00 p.m. - Lunch Served

PROGRAM: Becky Andler, Pianist

Presentation of Giving for Scholarship & Silver Key

(If you chose an ornament from the Giving Tree, please return the ornament securely fastened onto the package).

LUNCHEON MENU

Caesar Salad with Herbed Croutons and Parmesan Cheese
Petite Filet of Beef with Sauce Perigourdine
Potato Roulade Robert and Seasoned Vegetables
Luncheon Rolls and Butter
Seasonal Berries in Almond Tuille with Vanilla Sauce
Coffee or Selection of Tea

Cash Bar

If you have special dietary needs, please advise in the comment area of your RSVP.

Membership Postings

Karen Gonzalez - KILO

Karen Nauer-Marsh - Insurance

Lynn Pelz - Transisitional

Membership Status

Member Firms - 85
Additional reps - 16
Sustaining - 6
Life - 9
Honorary - 0
Transitional - 1
Leave of Absence - 0

Announcements

WallaceVISION Open House

Kathy Wallace invites you to her annual Holiday Open House this weekend, where you will find wonderful "art presents" for others or for yourself!  Kathy's pottery and monotypes are fun and fabulous.  Come by for refreshments, conversation, and shopping Fri. Nov. 21, 5-8pm, or Sat Nov 22 or Sun. Nov. 23, both from 10am-5pm.  1030 Dark Horse Drive West.  548-0582  Hope to see you there!

Minutes

Executive Women International
Colorado Springs Chapter
Record of Board of Directors Meeting
November 5, 2003

Members present: Kathleen O'Leary, Vanessa Moorman, Karen Schwartz, Jerry Jo Shires, Lorrie Todd, Kathryn Flobeck, Bea Steahlin, Jean Roblewsky, Joan Saucerman, Verna Severson, Linda Williamson, Susan Wood-Ellis, Kelly Wood, Sally Seidlitz,  Marti Hartman, Kim Roseland, Kathy Wallace

Meeting called to order at 5:00 PM by president Marti Hartman

Secretary Report: minutes from the last board meeting were approved.

Sergeant-at-Arms: Discussed at length the problem we have with RSVPs for the monthly meetings. We have several no-shows at each meeting and we are charged for their dinners. This will be brought up to the chapter at the next meeting, what our policy is for RSVPs and that we charge for no-shows.

Membership Report: Motion made to increase dues by $15 per year - approved. To be brought before the chapter at November meeting. Lynn Pelz (Colo. Spgs. Chamber) will be going to transitional. Vanessa is working with the Chamber on a replacement rep.

Treasurer Report: Motion made to move $120 from operating fund into scholarship fund - approved. Treasurer asked that only she be making deposits to our accounts to help clear up confusion. As of 10/31/03 here are the balances:

            Operating account balance: $43,068.84

            Scholarship account balance: $36,326.10

            Scholarship Fund: $54,020.00

Ways & Means Report:  No report.

Directory: Not present at meeting

Programs: Publicity asked that the program chairperson send a note about the upcoming meetings to them to put into the newsletter. Monthly meeting charges will now be $30 for each one.

Publications: Motion made that our chapter e-mail provider  (PageCafe Internet Consulting, Inc) not send out any mass e-mails to membership that are not directly EWI chapter operations related. - approved.

Scholarship: Christmas gifts for our scholarship recipients will be purchased out of our scholarship fund.

Next board meeting with be Thursday, December 4^th at 4:30PM at Accent Photo.

E X E C U T I V E
W O M E N
I N T E R N A T I O N A L

Corporate Office Contact Information

515 South 700 East, Suite 2A

Salt Lake City, UT 84102-2801

Phone (801) 355-2800

Fax (801) 355-2852

Website:www.executivewomen.org

Email:ewi@executivewomen.org

P R I N C I P L E S

• To bring together key individuals from member firms of EWI to achieve world-class status as an organization through applied standards of excellence.

• Forge and cultivate mutual business and professional goals through personal association and interchange.

• Afford the opportunities and structure for leadership and professional development.

• Provide a wide scope of community, educational, and philanthropic services and contributions.

• Encourage flexibility and adaptability in a membership as diverse in its demographics as in its interest, needs, and staying power