Do you know what feels good? Knowing that when momentous events occur, AAUW members are there for you like a safety net. They catch you when you fall or bounce with you in jubilation. Please, remember that when you need support during difficult times, reach out to an AAUW friend and we will all be there for you. And, let us know when you want to celebrate—we love reasons to dine out!

Update for AAUW National dues. Starting April 1, 2025, individual member dues will be $74. On April 1, 2026, dues will change to $76. State ($13) and WHC ($11) dues remain the same.
Why it matters: Member dues are an important funding source for AAUW. While costs for member support increase annually, member dues have not kept pace. The Board’s decision to increase dues by $2 allows AAUW dues to keep up with inflation and continue supporting the important work of AAUW.
Your member dues help fund our work such as:
• Education & Advocacy: Member dues help support AAUW’s public policy and member advocacy programs, which are now vitally important to defending higher education and rights for women on campus
• Member Trainings: Our regular virtual member gatherings and training programs provide education and engagement on several relevant topics
• Member Engagement: We organize member-led groups and committees like Archives Corps, Lobby Corps, and national committees, and coordinate AAUW’s member advocacy through 2-Minute Activist
• Real-Time Support: Connect Team provides daily assistance to members

Kris Bybee-Finley, Membership Vice President

*information for getting an AAUW Name Tag is found at the bottom of this page.

AAUW Membership Flyer  You can share with prospective members

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National has updated your account information!
(really need to read this!)

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Outreach Program

“Happy Birthday to all members!” As Corresponding Secretary I send a digital birthday card from Jacquie Lawson to all members on the actual dates of their birthdays. During the two years I’ve done this, I have observed that about 1/3 of you never open the cards. If you are worried about getting spam, let me assure you that anything from jacquielawson.com is clean and safe. You can safely go back to your birthdate—even two years ago—and see what you’ve missed. Some of the cards are cute, some beautiful, all with lovely classical music or appropriate original music composed to match the card. Be assured; you will not import anything damaging to your computer. Enjoy!!

Becky French
Corresponding Secretary

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To Ensure Members Receive All WHC Communications

Every month I receive a call or two notifying me that a member is not receiving the newsletter and blasts from the branch. Most of the time this is because their email server is either sending it to their spam/junk folder or blocking it altogether because they are group emails. Though I have reduced the size of the groups, many providers have tightened their screening trying to keep spam emails out of inboxes.

I urge all members to add drlgriffin@outlook.com to their contacts. To further ensure that all blasts are allowed by your email server, add this email address to your trusted senders list. To do this, open your email program and click on Settings. Programs will vary a little. In Outlook, the list is under Junk Email. Yours may be titled differently. If you have any problems, feel free to contact Linda Griffin (as of January 2025) – at the email above.

Some members may not be aware they are missing communications from the branch. Please ask your member friends if they have been receiving the branch newsletter and blasts. If anyone has not, give them the information in this article.

Directory Update…

Have you moved? Are you going to move soon?

Have you changed your cell phone number or your email?

Dropped your land line?                                 

Linda Griffin ( drlgriffin@outlook.com ) our Database Manager handles that too!

Membership Directory Updates  ARE PASSWORD PROTECTED.  Click link to go to the secure Updates page where you will find a link to a PDF file containing changes to members addresses, phone numbers, and email addresses occurring after publishing of the AAUW WHC Directory for 2024-2025.  (Contact smboone@gmail.com to get password information.  Please include your full name.)
Note:  This information is also in the Monthly Newsletter.

Membership

AAUW-WHC is an organization of many hard working members.  Mary Andersen, Diana Tiberia, and Pam Doan have done a mammoth job of getting renewed and new members into the 2023-2024 Directory.  Many phone calls and emails to remind members to renew membership paid off.  Not only does West Harris County Branch want to maintain members, but we also want to grow and we have at the Membership Coffee. Thank you to those members that sponsored new members. We welcome new members anytime.

West Harris County AAUW Presentation for the 2022 Membership Coffee Slideshow

 

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Legacy Circle

Ever since working on 5 Star Recognition for our branch last year, I have been very curious as to what was involved regarding becoming a Legacy Circle contributor. Legacy Circle has come up again in the next generation of 5 Star. My quest was to find the easiest way to set up a Legacy Circle bequest and then encourage other branch members to look into doing the same thing.  Legacy Circle funds promote equity and benefit women and girls in the future.

My first step was to check out AAUW National’s website and then contact a representative of Legacy Circle. I did not want to set up a trust, change my will, or affect any other retirement programs I already had in place. I found out all I had to do was set up a savings account at my bank naming AAUW as the Paid-on Death (POD) beneficiary.  You don’t need to open the account with thousands of dollars, a few hundred will do! Most banks want a minimum of $200.00 to open an account. Then, over time, you can add funds as you wish. Even after setting up the account, if you need to withdraw any money in the future, you can do that!  Not my intention, but good to know I have that flexibility. Once you have opened the account, you fill out a simple form called Legacy Circle Enrollment Form and forward it to AAUW National.  That form can be found on the national website.  AAUW Leave a Legacy

If anyone would like to know more, feel free to contact me.  I want to encourage other WHC members to participate in Legacy Circle now and in the years to come.

Sincerely,
Rose Ennis
Past President, WHC

 

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The information below is important for all NEW West Harris County Branch members.

If you are an existing member and still need to order, please follow the instructions below. We’re hearing more reports everyday about how nice it is to have portable name tags to wear to all the AAUW functions.

Go To – AAUW.source4.com

Select – Accessorize  Ordering your name tag is easy and wearing it helps us get to know you.

Select – Photo of the Name Tag or Customized Name Badge, With AAUW Logo

Select – Pin or Magnet backer – ($10.00 for pin clasp and $13.00 for magnetic clasp)

Select – Quantity

Select – Customize and fill in the information requested (name, university, and name of branch) Refer to the “Sheila Jaynes” example above.

Select – Customize again and then View Proof, check that spelling is correct

Select – Add To Cart

 

This webpage was last modified: March 31, 2025