Montana Women For is back after a long election year semi-hiatus and we have a packed calendar for the next few months and need you to be seriously involved.
Obviously, as our collective economy tanks underneath us, much of our energy will focus on local efforts to ameliorate our own and our neighbours suffering, focusing on the fact that, as usual, the poor and the working class will be taking by far the heaviest blows in this “recession” which is really a depression. But there will be, as usual, events that take us out of the U.S. and far away to countries who are affected by our past and present foreign policies, and other events that are as wildly fun as they are political statements. Take a look at a few of the things we have done and are doing this year:
Montana Women For joined with Park County Cares to raise money for The Livingston Food Pantry during February.
a) We helped raise almost fourteen hundred dollars from customers at both Albertson’s and Town and Country in just one weekend.
b) Food Pantry donation jars were made and put out in over forty locations
c) Discussions are underway about nutrition classes for some of the clients at the food pantry to help them cook more efficiently with less money.
d) We are asking anyone and everyone with an extra crock pot in their garage or basement to take it to the food pantry asap or call Bonnie Murphy at 222-2302.
e) We have already received a lot of checks (Livingston Food Pantry) but obviously more are needed, so you can either mail them to the Livingston Food Pantry, 112 North M street, Livingston 59047 or drop them off at 315 West Lewis and Margie will take them to the Food Pantry. Please write Park County Cares on the line on the bottom left hand side.
And:
On February 19th, Thursday evening, Montana Women For presents a spectacular evening at the Danforth Gallery at 7 pm called “Reading the Range.” Each local author will read their favourite 5 minutes of their work. It’s the wildest cross section of personalities you’ve ever seen under one roof. Refreshments will be served and all proceeds from the suggested 12 dollar ticket price will benefit the food pantry. Call Margie to reserve a space: 222 7040.
Here is a list of our esteemed writers:
- Tim Cahill, humourist and adventure writer
- Maryanne Vollers, author of Icebound, Lone Wolf, and thousands of articles for Rolling Stone and Time magazine, and collaborated with Hillary Clinton on her autobiography Living History
- Scott McMillion, Bozeman Chronicle reporter and author of “Grizzly” and journalist supreme
- Kira Salak, novelist, war correspondent, and the first woman to walk across Papua New Guinea – an extraordinary woman by any measure
- Rich Hall, stand up comic, filmmaker and playwright
- Joan Kresich, poet and essayist
- William “Gatz” Hjortsberg, novelist, biographer and screenwriter
- Thomas Goltz , (read by Margie Kidder) war correspondent and professor and memoirist
- Alston Chase, biographer, essayist, author of five books on a range of topics including the recent We Give Our Hearts to Dogs to Tear, naturalist, historian, dog expert, you name it.
This is a party you don’t want to miss.
On February 27th Montana Women For will be cooking and serving dinner at Loaves and Fishes and we desperately need volunteers to help. Please call Jeanne Marie Souvigney at 222 0558 and sign up.
There will be a general Montana Women For Meeting on the second Thursday of March at 6:30 pm at either Livingston Arts and Culture or the Livingston Public Library. You will be notified of the location in a separate email closer to the date. We will be electing new board members and will have a general discussion about the upcoming year and take suggestions for the other events from our membership. Your input is valuable and necessary. And it is important that all our members renew their membership as we desperately need the twenty five dollars, (or the ten dollars from those who are “living lightly”,) to continue our work and publicize our events. We also need to find out from you what you feel we should be focusing on. Our community needs us now more than ever as there will be job losses, forclosures, business collapses and bankruptcies among many unlucky citizens of our town. We need to join together and create our own safety net for ALL of us, as there will be little or no help from Helena or Washington. So it is imperative that you come and learn how you can be part of the solution.
March 5, International Woman’s Day, Montana Women For will be co-sponsoring with the MSU Women’s Centre, a screening of “A Powerful Noise.” The movie will be screened all over the United States at the same time and here it will be screen at the Gallatin Valley Mall Cinema at the mall in Bozeman and will begin at 5:30 pm.
On the evening of March 5, 2009, more than 120,000 people across the United States will make a powerful noise in honor of International Women’s Day by gathering in more than 440 select theatres nationwide to celebrate their role in the fight against global poverty. This unprecedented one-night event will feature “A Powerful Noise,” an acclaimed documentary that follows three extraordinary women:
• Hanh is an HIV-positive widow fighting AIDS in Vietnam.
• Nada is a survivor of the Bosnian war who is rebuilding her community through a woman’s cooperative.
• Jacqueline is an activist working to educate girls in the slums of Mali.
“A Powerful Noise” takes you inside the lives of these three women to witness their daily challenges and significant victories over poverty and oppression.
Immediately following the film, theatres across America will transform into community forums, as viewers participate in a town hall discussion broadcast live from New York about the role of women in the fight against global poverty. Renowned journalists, activists and experts, including Nicholas Kristof and Christy Turlington Burns, will discuss action steps that we all can take to help empower women around the world.
By engaging in the town hall discussion and follow-up actions, the women who participate in A POWERFUL NOISE Live will be uniting their voices to make a significant impact on global poverty and oppression.
Dr. Sue Wicklund’s Women’s Health Clinic in Livingston has attracted an undue amount of attention in the last couple of weeks. Anti-choice protesters have assembled on the sidewalk on Main Street, angering many business owners. Dr. Wicklund’s supporters have set up a “Pledge a Picketer” Campaign in which supporters pledge anywhere from twenty-five cents to twenty five dollars a picketer, which is a humourous, profitable, and effective way to discourage further demonstrations against her work which serve to discourage women who are burdened by unwanted pregnancies. To join this campaign call 222 7555. Montana Women For has voted to set up a Women’s Health Fund to help any women who need women;s medical services but cannot afford either insurance or to pay the doctor.
The Loss of Our Local Radio Station has negatively impacted almost every local non-profit as it is much harder now to publicize events. We need a citizen’s committee to organize a group to either effectively protest the hideous garbage that has replaced it, or, even better, figure out how to raise the money to buy it and run it as a community effort with Gary Weiss as a major player.
Other events for April, May, June and July will include a presentation from a woman who has worked in Afghanistan for several years helping women set up schools and businesses; a huge swap meet fundraiser in May or June, with half the money going to MWF and half to the Livingston Food Pantry (so set aside cool “stuff” you no longer need and ask for friends and neighbours to set aside some as well); a poverty forum with several local women who are seriously struggling; hosting a table at the Farmer’s Market this summer to sell Chico Bags, our peace necklaces, donated dishes from Tom Murphy, Lady Liberty Costumes, and any other things we get hold of that are either locally made or grown, or imported under Free Trade policies. And yessiree, we will be back in the Fourth of July parade this year, so get out your costumes!
So keep an eye on your Inbox, come to meetings, give us your input, and sign up as many new members as you can. Here we go again! See you all on February 19th.