August 2021 Newsletter

A Note from Lilie & Ashley

Dear friends,

We hope you’ve been savoring every last drop of these final summer days, and have been able to spend time reconnecting with family, friends, and each other. We have enjoyed a wonderful summer getting our Grove sea legs beneath us, connecting with many of you, and are looking ahead with optimism.

Thank you for all the time you have spent helping us understand the Grove even better. Early in August, we took to the Zoom airwaves to give you a sense of what we’ve heard from you, and our plans for moving ahead in a virtual town hall. If you weren’t able to join us and haven’t had a chance to listen, here is the link to tune in. Passcode is Du.355$L.

We have also been busy planning a fun and meaningful year ahead. Coming up fast are our Belizean Grove Dinners spread across the US this Fall, with our first coming up soon in Chicago on September 10th at Leslie Hindman’s home.

Or you can join us on September 24th in Boston for a special downtown cocktail reception. Thanks to co-hosts Lara Metcalf, Catherine Beldotti Donlan, Polly Pearson, Camille Preston, and Kate Sama, we have secured a fantastic covered outdoor space where we can gather and catch up.

A special thanks to the New York Grovers, Kimberly Till and Sharon Emek for hosting an extremely special and fun evening this month. We look forward to connecting with more of you over the coming months.

Thanks to our other volunteers who have graciously taken the reins, we have four other get-togethers planned for October, November and December. Separate invitations will be sent for each, and you can read below for more details. Please join us for as many as you can!

The planning committee is also working hard on making our annual retreat in New Orleans January 27th-30th safe and fabulous. Stay tuned for details, and mark your calendars for a memorable weekend coming together in the wonderful and resilient Big Easy.

We are all saddened with the worsening humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan, especially for the women and girls that will suffer the most. We know many of you are helping with various organizations and others of us who want to help but aren’t sure the best way. If you have trusted organizations or resources you’d like to share with your Grove sisters about how we can help, please share them with us. We will assemble and pass them along to you.

As we continue getting to know the Grove better and navigate the months ahead, we hope you will stay in touch, and continue to help us build an even stronger Grove together. To learn more about various committees and how you can help, check out the getting involved section below, and sign up to join us.

Finally, we want to say thank you. You are who make the Grove, the Grove, and we are so grateful for each and every one of you. Thank you for all you do to create the sisterhood we all love.

Warmly,
Lilie & Ashley

If you have any updates you would like to share for future newsletters, please email Amanda Wells (amanda@belizeangrove.org)

Fall Dinners

Dinner in Chicago
Friday, September 10, 2021 at 6PM EST

Reception in Boston
Friday, September 24, 2021 at 6PM EST

Dinner in Atlanta
Monday, October 4, 2021 at 7PM EST

Dinner in Washington D.C.
Friday, October 8, 2021 at 6PM EST

Dinner in San Francisco
Friday, November 12, 2021 at 6PM EST

Dinner in Miami
Wednesday, December 1, 2021 at 5PM EST

Save the Date

2022 Annual Retreat in New Orleans- January 27-30, 2022

Our New Orleans Annual Retreat Committee is already hard at work planning the in-person retreat in New Orleans in 2022!
We will explore the local culture and music, eat at restaurants owned and run by female chefs, and experience all the Big Easy has to offer. Our program will be filled with fascinating panels and in the afternoons you will have free time to enjoy art galleries, restaurants, music, tour the World War II Museum, and so much more. Our Saturday night party will be held at Mardi Gras World, with all the floats, marching bands, and the excitement of an authentic NOLA Mardi Gras! The cocktail was invented in New Orleans, so we will be sure to also do our historical research while there.
More information on this retreat will be sent out in the coming weeks.

Get Involved

Sign Up to Become a Grove Guide/Ombudswoman!

We hope you will consider having some fun with the Onboarding Committee and our new Grove members by becoming a Grove Guide….you will love meeting new members of the Grove and help them meet others! This new class is amazing! We would also like to match Grove Guides with members who have been brought in over the past few years who did not get an onboarding experience.

We’re also looking for 6 Ombudswomen to serve as member advocates. Two individuals from each sub-group (Grove, Tara, and Nyomi) will be named for two-year term as ombudswomen for their respective group. These individuals will stay in touch with members from their cohort and create safe spaces for any sister with questions or concerns to reach out.

Click here for more information on what to expect as a Grove Guide.

If you are interested in becoming a Grove Guide, please join us and answer the following questionnaire below:
Click here to fill out the form and become a Grove Guide*
*Filling out this form does not guarantee you will be called for service.

Sign Up to Become a Committee Member!

Committee sign up is still open!! We have 6 formal committees: an Executive Committee, plus 4 other standing committees covering: Finance, Membership, Onboarding, Virtual Programming, and Adventures of the Mind, Philanthropy Subcommittee, and Special Projects/Adhoc Committee.

We hope you will consider signing up for a committee or special project consideration. The deadline to sign up is September 15th.

To sign up, please go to the committee volunteer page on the website: https://belizeangrove.org/members/volunteer-for-a-committee/

Helping in Afghanistan

Like you, we are deeply distressed about the worsening humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan, especially with women and girls. We know many Grovers are helping with various organizations from religious to Red Cross to refugee organizations to girls education and more.

We also know there are many of us who want to help but aren’t sure the best way, and the situation is unfolding quickly. If you have trusted organizations or resources you’d like to share with our sisters or suggestions for how we can help, please pass these on to us.

We are collecting suggestions for how we can help, and will send out a roundup as soon as possible.