On being #thankfulwomen

by Linda Post Bushkofsky

Last week in the Twittersphere I came across a great idea from the Chicago Foundation for Women. Here’s the tweet @ChiFdn4Women sent: For Thanksgiving we are naming reasons to be #thankfulwomen – please join us & highlight good news for women & girls in your community!

I’ve enjoyed reading the many reasons folks are #thankfulwomen, including this one: Why we’re #thankfulwomen: Young moms at @BrightEndeavors raise $ for Somalia so “no1 dies of hunger on our watch.”

Bright Endeavors happens to be a Women of the ELCA grant recipient, and we know first hand how successful this program is at helping young moms overcome poverty. And this tweet shows how those young moms are paying it forward by helping those in Somalia.

So, with the Thanksgiving celebration just a few days away, I invite you to think about ways that we are #thankfulwomen. What’s the good news for women and girls in your community?

Since I’m writing from the perspective of the churchwide women’s organization, I’ll offer up two pieces of good news for women and girls in our churchwide organization.

1. In 2011 Women of the ELCA was able to make 32 grants to not-for-profit organizations, both domestic and international, that support healing and wholeness for women of all ages through the affirmation and advancement of women’s emotional, physical, and spiritual health. That’s good news! (Read about the 2015 grants.)
2. In 2011, 17 congregational units of Women of the ELCA used seed grants from our health initiative, Raising Up Healthy Women and Girls, to increase the capacity of the health initiative to affect the lives of women and girls. What good news! (Read about the 2015 RUHWG seed grants awarded.)  (And, if inspired, your CU can apply for a seed grant by December 15 and get a financial boost to move your efforts forward in our health initiative.)

So, I ask again, what’s the good news for women and girls in your community? Post your responses here. If you’re on Twitter, use the hashtag #thankfulwomen and post a response there as well.

Linda Post Bushkofsky is also thankful that she is in her 10th year (now 14th) of serving as executive director of Women of the ELCA.

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Photo by Cindi Albright, used with permission