 Dear Feminist Friend of VFA, Before we tell you about VFA's 2011 achievements, we unfortunately need to precede the good news with very bad news: VFA has only a few thousand dollars in the bank to pay for our basic expenses.VFA does important and necessary work, but it can't survive without an immediate lifeline of cash from our tried-and-true supporters - YOU! VFA has had another meaningful year, topped off with the Salute to Betty Friedan that took place at the National Arts Club in June. We had a crowd of over 100, including Betty's daughter, grand daughters, and friends. The program featured many personal testimonies, the auctioning off of Linda Stein's exquisite portrait of Betty (reproduced on the printed program and on souvenir cups), the showing of a new short film about the 1970 Women's March, and conversation among old friends. If you weren't there, we're sorry to have missed you. If you were there, you know how important the role of VFA remains. In addition to honoring, remembering, and archiving the work of the Second Wave, we recently installed a "Bridge Project' to connect younger women feminists with pioneers. Our next event in fact will attract many young people. It takes place at Rollins College in Orlando, Florida on
October 29, 2011. Our true assets are our members, our memories, and our friends. Our "profitability" is of the kind we cannot bank. But we need cash to function. So, we are posting this Emergency $$ Appeal before the end of summer, requesting additional financial support. You may have already made one or more generous contributions this year, as in past years, and we are grateful. Your contribution will help assure us of the reserve we desperately need now -- especially at a time when many people are on vacation. As you know from the frequent news items we mail out, VFA is constantly at it - not only honoring every feminist soldier and celebrating all we've done in the past , and are doing today, but continually starting new projects, like our "Feminist of the Month" web page, and the Bridge Project mentioned above. Be sure to check www.vfa.us often. Please, please send what you can, this month and monthly if you would contribute that way. Your check should be made out to VFA and mailed to our treasurer Amy Hackett, 473 Westminster Rd, Brooklyn, NY 11218. (You can also use Paypal). All who send $200 or more will receive a DVD, Equality I Am Woman, an exciting film made of the 1970 Women's Strike for Equality on August 26, 1970 in New York with Helen Reddy singing I Am Woman in the background, narration by Gloria Steinem and Jacqui Ceballos, excerpts from Betty Friedan's speech in Bryant Park, and images by photojournalist Bettye Lane and others. Thanks again for all you've done and are doing for feminism! In Sisterhood, Jacqui Ceballos, Sheila Tobias , Muriel Fox and VFA's officers and board |
