News/Events: WFNH in the News
Turn the Key. Be Idle Free.
September 16, 2008: A group of Seacoast area moms, all members of the Seacoast Women’s Giving Circle, a local philanthropic volunteer organization, are launching “Turn the Key. Be Idle Free,” a campaign to end unnecessary vehicle idling at Seacoast area schools. “When we learned that vehicle idling at our local schools was a health hazard for our children and a contributor to air pollution, we had to act,” said Elisa Bolton and Christina Breen, leaders of the group’s No Idling team. “Most people don’t know that it is better to turn off your car and re-start it if your wait will be longer than 10 seconds.” The campaign encourages all seacoast drivers to be ‘idle free,” but focuses on area schools since parents regularly idle their cars when waiting to drop off or pick up their children. Unnecessary idling is a leading source of toxic air pollution in New Hampshire and a contributor to increased health risk, according to the New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services. One vehicle dropping off and picking up a child at school puts about three pounds of pollution into the air per month. Since New Hampshire has among the highest asthma rates in the country, air pollution from idling deserves even more urgent attention. Experts explain that air pollution can exacerbate asthma symptoms, already the most common chronic illness in children and the cause of most school absences.With today’s high fuel prices, we all have an incentive to turn off our cars. Idling consumes from ½ gallon to one gallon of fuel per hour, and uses more fuel than turning your engine on and off.“An idling vehicle gets 0 miles to the gallon,” added Bolton “so you can save money at the pumpjust by turning off your car instead of idling.” According to the US Environmental Protection Agency, approximately 15 states and dozens of local counties have laws that restrict the amount of time that a vehicle can idle its main engineand some, including Massachusetts, fine vehicle owners up to $100 for excessive idling.
To Learn More
- Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection Idling Reduction Toolkit
- New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services
- Southwest Ohio Anti-Idling Campaign
- AirWatch Northwest
The Seacoast Women’s Giving Circle (www.seacoastwomengive.org) was founded in April 2006 by a group of local women eager to use their skills and resources to address critical issues facing the Seacoast community. Members contribute annually to a pooled fund and participate in volunteer service projects in the community. Over the course of the year, members educate themselves about community issues, identify a specific social cause on which to focus, and select one non-profit organization to receive the Giving Circle’s annual gift.
Author Reading with Lisa Witter
The Women’s Fund of New Hampshire and the Women’s Policy Institute were delighted to welcome Lisa Witter, co-author of The She Spot: Why Women are the Market for Changing the World – And How to Reach Them, in a reading here in Concord on July 28, 2008. Sponsored by Stonyfield Farm, with book sales by Gibson's bookstore, the evening was a great success!
Women’s Leadership Summit
On June 13, 2008 the Women's Leadership Summit was hosted by Southern New Hampshire University’s Ethics Chair, Annabel Beerel, and sponsored by the Women's Fund of New Hampshire and Citizen's Bank. This day-long summit was held at the Southern New Hampshire University campus in Manchester and explored critical issues from both the individual and corporate perspective. Three remarkable national women leaders were keynote speakers, including Robin Roberts, co-anchor of ABC News’ Good Morning America and author of From the Heart: 7 Rules to Live By, Tina Packer, Founder and Artistic Director of Shakespeare & Company anad Geri Denterlein, former editorial director of WBZ TV radio and President of Denterlein Worldwide Public Affairs. For women of all ages, this conference featured four educational tracks, “Leadership,” “Professional Development,” “Corporate Perspectives,” and “New Realities.” Additionally, attendees had an opportunity to network with other women through a uniquely structured networking session. It was a wonderful day! For those who missed out, don’t worry, this is to be an annual event!
Newly elected Women’s Fund Board member Kristen Laine is a recipient of the 2007 LL. Winship/PEN New England Award
The L.L. Winship/PEN New England Award is given annually to a New England author or a book with a New England setting. Ms. Laine won in the non-fiction category for her book, American Band: Music, Dreams, and Coming of Age in the Heartland, an intriguing portrait of life in the nation’s heartland as seen through the lens of a unique American ritual. Published by Gotham Books. Congratulations Kristen!
Women’s Fund of NH coordinates innovative partnership to distribute 170 pairs of shoes and boots to women and girls in need.
It started with an idea and a phone call, and ended with new footwear for women and girls in need. A local shoe store, Feetniks Footwear of West Lebanon, teamed up with a national distributor of Naot footwear, Yaleet Inc., to donate top-of-the-line footwear to domestic and sexual violence victims in the Upper Valley. Working in collaboration with WISE (Women's Information Service) of the Upper Valley, the Concord-based Coaltion Against Domestic and Sexual Violence, and the Women’s Fund of New Hampshire, 170 pairs of Naot shoes and boots were distributed to women and young girls associated with domestic and sexual violence programs in New Hampshire and other providers in Sullivan and Grafton counties.
Click here to read more about this timely project.
Women Building Community Luncheon
On November 16, 2007 over 320 women and men gathered from all over New England at the Radisson, Center of NH for the Women Building Community Luncheon cooperatively held by the Women’s Fund of NH, the United Ways of NH and the NH Charitable Fund. It was a wonderful time of networking, community, delicious eats, and inspiration with Robyn Waters as our keynote speaker. Robyn, also known as the “TrendMaster” of Target Corporation, shared the story of her life journey from outer success to inner success and the fulfillment that giving back to the community has brought her.
In evaluations, participants were asked what they thought was the most beneficial part of the event. We’d like to share a few of their answers here with you.
- “Real live, ‘naked’ story: inspirational and pragmatic!”
- “Recognizing that I have gone through these same changes, and I’m indeed pursuing my own happiness, and that I am not the only one.”
- “A fascinating life story and so true.”
- “Learning to speak on what you believe although many people would not like it.”
- “Very interesting speaker – attention getting, interesting, brought the listener with her.”
- “New way of thinking about work and my real purpose in life.”
Recipe For Change OnLine Auction 2007
During the week of October 24th to November 7th, 2007 folks from all over visited our first OnLine Auction, and what a success it was! They generously donated items for the auction, supported the auction at the sponsorship level, and/or bid on Red Sox tickets, beautiful hand-made jewelry, 10 days in a French Chalet, an African Safari and more! What a fun way to make a difference in NH! We’ll be back to our Live Silent Auction in 2008, so stay tuned for more on that in the months to come.
Four Bitchin’ Babes
In October 2007 Women’s Fund members enjoyed conversation and community at an evening reception held at Nahcotta Gallery; then laughed, sang and empathized with the Four Bitchin’ Babes in their musical revue, “Hormonal Imbalance”, at the Music Hall, Portsmouth, NH.