your sister’s projects in your areas.

I am always open to share in your endeavors and I thank those chap-ters who have invited me to attend their programs. As I represented the organization this year, the net-working opened doors for us.

As I end this second year as Presi-dent, I would like to thank each and everyone for their encourage-ment and for the opportunity to serve. I take pleasure in being of service to you. I am always re-minded of our motto: “Those who apply themselves too closely to little things, often become inca-pable of accomplishing great things.”

I remain Sisterly Yours, Joann W. Williams

17th National President

Hello My Sisters,

I am humbled once again to bring greetings to you, the sisters of Las Amigas, Incorporated. This year brought about changes, and I made a few that I hope that you will benefit from.

The first change is the Website. The website is designed to help us have what we need at our finger

tips. I also hope as we tell others about our organization we will be full of pride to have them view our website.

The next change is to have our Newsletter at our finger tips. Please take the time to read about the accomplishments of the sisters of Las Amigas at your leisure. The website has and will afford us many possi-bilities as we too go green.

Congratulations to all chapters for all that you do in the name of Las Amigas, Incorporated. Our organization is growing gradually and we must continu-ally let others know about what we are doing. Thanks for shar-ing all you do and remember you can implement some of

N A T I O N A L P R E S I D E N T ’ S M E S S S A G E

LAS AM

IGAS, INC

V O L U M E 2 , I S S U E 2 S U MM E R 2 0 0 9

P L A N • E X E C U T E • C O N Q U E R

S I S T E R C I R C L E E N D O F Y E A R J O U R N A L

I N S I D E T H I S I S S U E :

N A T I O N A L

R E P O R T E R ’ S

M E S S A G E

2

N C N W H I G H -

L I G H T S 2

C O M F O R T O F

L O V E W A R M S

T H E H E A R T

3

R E G I O N A L

R E C A P S 4

C H A P T E R

H I G H L I G H T S 6

I N T H E

S P O T L I G H T :

C O N C L A V E 2 0 0 8

P H O T O

G A L L E R Y

1 3

N O T A B L E ’ 0 8 — ’ 0 9

H A P P E N I N G S :

• 17th National President

Joann W. Williams

serves as an Honorary

Committee Co-chair for

the NCNW 2009 Un-

common Height Gala in

Washington, D. C.

• New website launched

• Progress continues to

obtain 501(c)3 charita-

ble tax status

• Conclave 2009 held in

Charlotte, N.C.; Hosted

by Gastonia Chapter

and the Southwest

Region

Visit us on the web at www.lasamigasincorporated.org

N A T I O N A L V I C E - P R E S I D E N T ’ S M E S S S A G E

believer in community based

activities. That is where his

journey to the White House

began. And, our journey contin-

ues as we renew our commit-

ment to our communities.

“One smile begins a friendship,

one handclasp lifts a soul. One

star can guide a ship at sea.

One word can frame the goal…

One voice can speak with wis-

dom. One life can make the

difference. It’s up to you and

me” paraphrase from the poem

Cry of a Songbird.

Dear Sisters,

First, I would like to commend you

for all the great things you do for

Las Amigas! We are a Sisterhood

that cares about our communities.

That is a wonderful selfless charac-

teristic of Las Amigas. As all of you

know, President Obama is a strong

Over the past four years, we

have increased our member-

ship, we have installed two new

chapters (Ahoskie and Lumber-

ton), we have burned our mort-

gage and sold our Headquar-

ters. Now, we must ask our-

selves what is the next step?

Where should Las Amigas go

from here? How can we serve

our communities better? What

can Las Amigas do differently?

There’s one thing we know we

must do; we must help make

someone’s life a little better, a

little brighter. We must remain

dedicated and committed to

Cont’d on Page 2

Sisters,

What a year it has been! You have worked hard to answer the call to “Plan, Execute, and Conquer”. And you answered the call to share your experiences.

Throughout the year, work-ing with you, we’ve been successful in increasing pub-lic awareness about Las Amigas, Inc. Numerous articles have appeared in local, regional, and national publications. Our message about who we are and what we are doing is getting out.

Thank you for all that you have done, are doing, and will do to make Las Amigas, Inc., a household name in

our communities.

This end of year newslet-ter/journal is a reflection of your efforts and hardwork. Orchids to all for making our Sister Circle a success.

There is still work to be done, but let’s take a moment to re-flect on the great work of the past year. Enjoy YOUR year end review.

Continue working for the greater good and keeping Sis-ter Circle in the loop on your efforts! Brenda

Brenda C. McCaskill, National Reporter

great sisterhood. Congratu-

lations to those who accept

the challenges and rewards

of being an integral part of

the leadership team!

In closing, I would like to

share the following poem

from the book “Heart Bless-

ings”, compiled by Dale Crow-

ley:

To Get The Most From Life

If you would get the most from life,

you must put something in it, And Strive to help your fellow

to the ideals of Las Amigas and

the reasons why we joined this

great organization.

Thanks to all of you for your

support to me as National Vice

President. It has been a very

rewarding experience. I en-

courage each one of you to

make a commitment to accept

an officer role locally, regionally

and nationally. It is a journey

of faith, dedication and love for

Las Amigas. A leadership role

helps us as individuals to grow

as well as reconnect with our

man Each day, each hour, each minute. An act of kindness done by you, Will cheer the heart that’s sad, And when you cause someone to

smile, It makes your own heart glad. Be friendly with your brothers And extend a helping hand, And each of them will grasp it In a way you’ll understand.

Then when you travel down life’s road

And round the distant bend, There’ll be a host of people who Will say, “There goes my friend”.

Sisterly, Brenda S. Gilliam Vice-President

N A T I O N A L R E P O R T E R ’ S M E S S A G E Las Anigas , IncorporatedLas Anigas , IncorporatedLas Anigas , IncorporatedLas Anigas , Incorporated

National OfficersNational OfficersNational OfficersNational Officers

Joann W. Williams

President

Brenda S. Gilliam

Vice President

Betty A. Crawford

Recording Secretary

Barbara Howerton

Corresponding Secretary

Zeler Raspberry

Financial Secretary

Jollye Shaw

Treasurer

Brenda C. McCaskill

Reporter

Pearl Owens

Historian

Angela Moore

Sergeant-at-Arms

Agatha Grimes

Chaplain

Jodi Berry

Parliamentarian

Rosemary Hemingway

President’s Advisor

Ethel D. Hart Immediate Past President

Regional DirectorsRegional DirectorsRegional DirectorsRegional Directors

Roberta Epps

Northeast Region

Katie Moore

Southeast Region

Yvonne Cooley

Southwest Region

Frances Robinson Tidewater Central Region

Page 2 S I S T E R C I R C L E

PLAN …. EXECUTE …. CONQUER

N A T I O N A L V I C E - P R E S I D E N T ’ S M E S S A G E ( C O N T ’ D )

Brenda C. McCaskill

N C N W H I G H L I G H T S

Las Amigas, Incorporated was among the 2000 guests at the

2009 Uncommon Height Gala in Washington, D.C., presented

by the National Council of Negro Women (NCNW). The event

celebrated the 97th birthday of Dorothy I. Height and honored

Oprah Winfrey for her outstanding efforts to make a differ-

ence. National President Williams was an event Honorary

Committee Co-Chair. Members of the Baltimore, Forestville,

Greensboro, Philadelphia, and Washington-Metro Chapters

were in attendance. Las Amigas, a strong affiliate of NCNW,

enrolled 48 new members into NCNW over the past year.

Las Amigas Sisters continued the tradition throughout

2008-2009 of spreading warmth and love as part of the

national Comfort of Love project. In the Las Amigas

tradition of providing comfort, love, and warmth, blan-

kets were donated to shelters, pregnancy care centers,

senior centers, families, and to others. Over the organi-

zation’s 52 years of public service, hundreds have

benefited from Las Amigas’ efforts to “cover the

world” with love and warmth.

Many Las Amigas chapters participated in the project

and shared photos. Here are a few photos of chapters

carrying out their Comfort of Love over the past year.

C O M F O R T O F L O V E W A R M S T H E H E A R T

Page 3 P L A N • E X E C U T E • C O N Q U E R

PLAN …. EXECUTE …. CONQUER

Forestville Chapter

Portsmouth Chapter

Washington-Metro Chapter

Mooresville Chapter

Whiteville Chapter

The Las Amigas regions—Northeast, Southeast, Southwest, and Tidewater Central—accepted the charge to “Plan, Execute, and Conquer”. Regions held semiannual meetings to plan , executed various projects focused on the five-point program-matic thrusts of Education, Economic Development, Family, Health, and Political Awareness and Involvement in their com-munities, and furthered Las Amigas’ public service efforts to conquer the challenges that our communities face.

Said Yvonne Cooley, Southwest Regional Director, “This has been the “year of change” in our country and the world. Las Amigas is also working to make change happen in our communities.” The Southwest Region (Charlotte/Mecklenburg, Gastonia , Greenville, Kannapolis, Mooresville, and Morven) used their individual chapter themes:“The Gift of Giving”, Still Uplifted, Still Bonded”, “The Gift of Service”, “Sisters Working Together for Love, Peace and Harmony”, Small in Number,, Full of Love and Compas-sion” and “Emphasis on Education” to enrich and serve their individual communities. Southwest Regional efforts included: the Gastonia Chapter and the Southwest Region to host the 2009 An-

nual Conclave in Charlotte, N. C.; Regional Clothes Closets were held in September & April for the needy; Donated school supplies to elementary schools; Volunteered as hostesses for the Pink Ghost Breast Cancer Banquet; Donated to food minis-tries and homeless shelters; Sponsored teen workshops on drugs and gang violence; Donated clothes to elementary schools; Delivered food boxes to sick & shut in; Cooked and served Christmas Dinner for a boys home; Donated funds to provide gifts for children at Christmas; Worked with and donated to Cancer and Lupus Groups.; Served hot soup and corn bread to the homeless.; Gave scholarships to students.; Gave a $2,500 donation to an elementary school to implement a computer lab; Provided Comfort of Love blankets to nursing homes and pregnancy centers.; Served Thanksgiving Dinners to senior citizens and the homeless; Sponsored Black History programs and dinners giving community service awards; Held fund rais-ing Christmas events for members and friends; Bell fingers for the Salvation Army during the Christmas season; Worshiped together on Founders Day; Donated birthday party items for homeless children to celebrate at school.; Took a mother and children shopping after a fire destroyed their home; and chapter will carry books to Conclave for our National Service pro-ject.

The Northeast Region’s (Baltimore, Cincinnati, Forestville, Philadelphia, Seat Pleasant, and Washington Metro) theme was “Energized to Serve”. Said Regional Director, Roberta L. Epps, “I want to sin-cerely thank the membership of the Northeast Region for their tireless efforts and an extra special orchid tribute bouquet of thanks to the Presidents of the Northeast chapters: Mary Wren (Baltimore), G. Daphene Mosley (Cincinnati), Mary Richardson (Forestville), Annlouise Goodner-Brown (Philadelphia), Leila Welch (Seat Pleasant), and Verna Smith (Washington Metro) for their leadership and for jobs more than well done.”

The six chapters of the Northeast Region of Las Amigas, Inc.-fondly known as “The Mighty, Mighty Northeast” - made a definite impact upon their communities. Under the theme of “Energized To Serve,” some of the Re-gion’s significant contributions included adopting schools, providing scholarships, serving meals to the elderly, supplying blankets and toiletries to the homeless, working in conjunction with the Kidney Foundation, and furnishing Thanksgiving and Christmas baskets. Endeavoring to support our invaluable service projects, the Northeast Region conducted a myriad of fundraisers. Each chapter sponsored annual events which have served them well in the past and which continue to be effec-tive. Our highlighted signature events comprise Washington Metro’s Harvest Ball, Baltimore’s dinner theater project, Forest-ville’s Martin Luther King, Jr. Breakfast, Philadelphia’s raffle, Cincinnati’s Orchid Awards luncheon honoring extraordinary women in service, Seat Pleasant’s Gloria Holloman Luncheon and Fashion Show, and chapter Comfort of Love and Scholar-ship initiatives. The Northeast Region continues to make the pink and orchid well known in their locales. “As we encourage others to join the great sisterhood of Las Amigas, Inc. and in particular, the Northeast Region, we continue to stay in contact with those who are unable to remain active with the organization”, said Regional Director Epps, “and to maintain our buddy project where chapters are paired and provide gifts to the members of their sister chapter. This is a means for chapters and members to become better acquainted, to form stronger sister ties, and for the region to become more united.” (continued on page 5)

R E G I O N A L R E C A P S

Page 4 P L A N • E X E C U T E • C O N Q U E R

PLAN …. EXECUTE …. CONQUER

R E G I O N A L R E C A P S ( C O N T I N U E D F R O M P A G E 4 )

Page 5 S I S T E R C I R C L E

PLAN …. EXECUTE …. CONQUER

“This is the year that brings happiness, a year that we will live to bless. Wonderful, wonderful, fortunate us, for this is the year that our dreams come true!”, said Southeast Regional Director Katie Moore. The six chapters in the Southeast Region (Greensboro, Lumberton, Red Springs, St. Pauls/Bladen County, Whiteville, and Wilmington) have been busy implementing the five programmatic thrust of the organization – Family, Education, Political Awareness, Economic Development and Health. The Southeast Region chapters provided numerous scholarships to high school seniors, sponsored chap-ter retreats; Women of Distinction Program; Orchid Balls; Vals Purez Hovenez Ball; and Las Amigas and Little Miss Las Amigas Pageants. The six chapters sponsored senior citizen banquets; Dr. Martin Luther Kings, Jr. Recognition Programs; nursing home visitations; mentoring programs; Red Cross

blood donations drives; and a Women’s Empowerment Summit. Funds were donated to Literacy Council, United Negro College Fund; local art council, American Cancer Society, Lupus Foundation and Habitat for Humanity.

The Tidewater Central Chapters (Ahoskie, Chesterfield, Henrico, Newport News-Hampton, Ports-mouth, Richmond, and Suffolk) formed partnerships with many communities and organizations and felt that they could improve the quality of life for their peers by investing in them through our volun-teer activities and monetary donations. “Thanks to the sisters, thousands of hours were donated to help support our activities. For there is beauty in serving and rewarding and inspiring moments of remembrance for the service. The true beauty of service is not only in what we do, but how we do, why we do it and for whom we do it. The worth of it all lies not in the means but the manner of it all. It manners not how little we do, how capable we are, but just as long as we do our very best.” , said

Tidewater Central Regional Director Frances Robinson.

Each chapter in the Tidewater Central Region worked and provided services around the theme they developed for the year. In keeping with the themes, the following was provided: rededications were held, meet and greets hosted, new members sworn in, overnight retreats for yearly planning, sisterly bonding and fellowship held; donated washer and dryer to a battered women’s shelter; Comforts of Love and throws donated to nursing and adult homes and to home confined sick and shut in.; scholarships awarded, donated books to schools; adopted a middle school and supported a school with low scholastic test scores; adopted an adult home; fed the homeless, donated shoe boxes filled with goodies for homeless men and shoe boxes were stuffed and donated to soldiers in Iraq; donated to the kidney walk/the kidney foundation; stuffed stockings for the Salvation Army, stuffed food bags for food banks; Thanksgiving dinner cooked and served to adult homes, shelters and an outreach ministry of a local church and presented “Baskets of Blessings” to needy families; participated in a Sickle Cell fundraiser; participated in block walk for breast cancer, distributed pink ribbons during breast cancer month; monetary donations to churches, shelters, rescue squads, habitat for humanity; purchased hats, gloves, socks and underwear for homeless men and an elementary school; hosted teas, banquets, dances, breakfasts, Mardi Gras and Valentine Jazz Brunch to raise money to benefit our partner organizations, Mother Day raffle planned, celebrated black history month, hosted etiquette workshops, hosted BINGO games and provided gift bags and teddy bears for prizes for residents of nursing homes; provided gift cards to parents at PTA meetings and at Christmas to a single mom; hosted Tiny Tots and Shining Star Debutantes; gently used shoes were provided for the “Dress for Success” program; celebrated founders day by worshipping together and fellowshipped together for dinner; conducted “pockets of love” where pocketbooks with personal items were donated to a shelter for battered women; supported the local branches of the NAACP and NCNW; showered secret pals and sister buddies with special gifts; and volunteered during the presidential election by registering voters, knocked onj doors of voters, passed out flyers, transporting senior to the poll, volunteering at the Obama Headquarters and at the Board of Elections Office.

The Las Amigas Regions have worked hard and contine making a difference in their communities. Through their efforts, the traditions of Sisterhood and Service are still going strong!

The Ahoskie North Carolina

Chapter gave 5 blankets to the Comfort of Love Project; volunteered in the Feed a Mil-lion event with East Carolina University; and partnered with the Eastern Stars and Masons to feed people each month. Each member adopted a young girl to mentor and have as a debutante in the chapter’s first Orchid Ball to be held before the year is out. The chapter gave a donation to Relay for Life.

************

The Baltimore Chapter spon-sored fifteen (15) children from the chapter’s adopted school to attend a cultural show at Goucher College; donated funds to “Baltimore City Healthy Start” for their efforts to reduce infant mortal-ity; donated funds to “My Sister’s Place Women’s Cen-ter” which is a comprehensive resource center for homeless and poor women and children; adopted a family of 4 for Thanksgiving and Christmas; provided school supplies, mit-tens, hats, and scarves for the chapter’s adopted school; pro-vided blankets for the ‘Comfort of Love Project’ to the homeless through the “Bountiful Hands” group; volunteered for the National Kidney Foundation on “World Kidney Screening Day”; held annual fundraiser at Toby’s Dinner Theater and a fund-raiser to Atlantic City. The Baltimore Chapter was nomi-nated and received recognition for a Good Neighbor Week Award;

***

The Charlotte-Mecklenburg

Chapter’s “Gift of Giving” theme was seen and felt throughout the year and in-cluded giving educational supplies to core schools with homeless children; collecting glasses for the Metrolina Blind

Association for their visually impaired program; donating money to the Charlotte Rescue Mission to feed thirty-seven (37) homeless people for Thanksgiving; adopting over Christmas, two (2) homeless families living in extended day hotels and a grandmother with 4 grandchildren, and gave them gifts and food; sent hy-giene supplies and home made baked treats to the military men and women in the remote war zones of Iraq for Christ-mas; Sisterhood Christmas social; sponsored an inaugural celebration social; rededicated commitment to Las Amigas, attended church services to-gether and went out for a foun-der’s day luncheon; sent Val-entine cards, sweets and treats to the troops; hosted a regional clothing give away; through “A Child’s Place”, sponsored birthday party items for home-less children to celebrate at school; held annual fund rais-ing event, “An Evening of Jazz” which included the crowning of Mr. Debonaire; hosted a High School Senior Recognition Program and awarded a scholarship; do-nated towels to the Charlotte Emergency Housing; gave gift cards to the homeless; and celebrated June birthdays at the core schools.

***

With the theme "Sharing God's Love In Our Community", the Chesterfield Virginia Chap-

ter donated seventy-six (76) pounds of grocery product to the Central Virginia Foodbank which helped to feed children in low-income, at risk environ-ments, senior citizens on fixed incomes, working poor fami-lies, homebound and disabled individuals, and disaster vic-tims, and others in crisis; do-nated a new washer and dryer to the "Home Again" battered women's shelter, a community-based organization that pro-

vides transitional programs for women and children, single women, men and veterans; assisted the Food Outreach Mission of Cedar Street Bap-tist Church in serving Thanks-giving dinner to 785 persons; observed Founders' Day by worshipping together at Resur-rection Lutheran Church and honoring our organizer, Bar-bara Hobson Simpson with a delightful dinner and gift; sponsored our 10th Annual "My Funny Valentines Jazz Brunch" , attended by National President Williams and Re-gional Director Robinson, on Valentine’s Day and recog-nized all service men and women in attendance. In addi-tion, we recognized Sgt. Mel-ton Woodson, the soldier re-sponsible for presenting the Chapter a United States Flag that was flown in a mission in Iraq. The Chesterfield Domes-tic and Sexual Violence Re-source Center was the recipi-ent of the proceeds from this activity; and the chapter pre-pared forty (40) departure packages for the Caritas spon-sored by Cedar Street Baptist Church..

***

The Cincinnati Chapter do-nated funds to the Hirsch Rec-reation Center to provide three (3) scholarships to the Youth Arts Program; participated in a “Back to School Carnival” by donating school supplies and sponsoring a booth to distribute toothpaste and toothbrushes; donated cloth-ing to Dress for Success; do-nated pink ribbon pins to a local church for Breast Cancer Awareness; presented the chapter’s signature luncheon—The Orchid Award Luncheon, honoring women in commu-nity service; gave a donation to City Gospel Mission to feed the homeless; donated to the bChapter President Mosley represented the chapter as

C H A P T E R H I G H L I G H T S

Page 6 P L A N • E X E C U T E • C O N Q U E R

PLAN …. EXECUTE …. CONQUER

Cincinnati Chapter

Charlotte-Mecklenburg Chapter

Las Amigas National President

Williams and Ernie Bailey at the

Chesterfield Jazz Brunch

Members of Baltimore Chapter

receiving a community recognition

awarded to the chapter

Cont’d on Page 7

Lincoln Crawford Nursing Home to renovate the center’s dining room; gave Christmas gifts to an adopted family; donated Comfort of Love blan-kets to the Drop-In Shelter for the homeless; supported out-reach initiatives of Las Amigas sisters in various chapters.

***

The Forestville Chapter year was rewarding and filled with great experiences including welcoming new members; donating blankets, clothes, and other essentials to the Laurel Regional Pregnancy Center; donating books to First Book of Prince George County; during Thanksgiving, pre-sented a needy family with a gift card from Shoppers Food Warehouse and to another family a basket; during Christ-mas, gave gifts of clothing, hats, gloves, scarves, and toys to a needy family; celebrated Christmas as a chapter at an area restaurant; presented an MLK Heritage Brunch honor-ing nine (9) area men for their contributions to the quality of life for youth in the Washing-ton Metropolitan area; at Easter, donated food gift cards to two (2) needy families from the Family and Child Services of Prince George County; and celebrated Mother’s Day for special mothers in the commu-nity;

***

The Gastonia Chapter will host the 51st Annual Conclave and 52nd Anniversary in Char-lotte, N.C., June 24-28, 2009; In addition to planning and executing the 2009 Annual Conclave, the chapter spon-sored a Halloween party for patients at the Kings Mountain Family Care Center; purchased Thanksgiving gift cards for families in Gastonia, Charlotte and Union County; hosted the Southwest Regional meeting at

the First United Methodist Church; donated to Gaston Hospice and other counties and partnered with them in their mission with snack bas-kets, meals and other family needs; sponsored and shipped a 55 gallon barrel and two mid-size boxes to Sierra Leone, West Africa, stuffed with shoes, books, clothes, toys, food and other items; rang the bells for Salvation Army in West Gastonia; donated to Toys for Tots; provided clothes, food and other items to the Fall Clothes Closet and the homeless; purchased Comfort of Love Blankets and donated them to nursing homes; hosted a Christmas social event with families and friends; honored our mothers with a special mother/daughter banquet and honored some outstanding citizens in the Gastonia community during the banquet; and celebrated Founders’ Day at Vestibule A.M.E Zion Church;

*** The Greensboro Chapter

continues to live by our motto: “Those who apply themselves too closely to little things, often becomes incapable of accomplishing great things.” The chapter hosted the 2009 Spring meeting in Greensboro; members attended the NCNW Affiliate meeting in Washing-ton, DC in December 2008; The chapter awarded several scholarships at the 2008 Vals Purez Hovenez Ball. In mem-ory of our beloved past Na-tional President and former Board Chair of the Sebastian Museum in Greensboro, a monetary contribution was given in Agnes W. H. Rose-boro’s honor; Activities for the chapter included a Comfort of Love donation given to patients at a Kidney Rehabili-tation Center; members volun-teered for Kids Voting, Voter registration, Mobile Meals,

North Carolina A & T State University’s Homecoming, attended Susan Taylor’s Men-toring Program kick-off at Bennett College for Women, attended the Martin Luther King, Jr. Prayer Breakfast, the 49th Sit-in Movement Banquet and a talk with Maya Ange-lou; Founder’s Day obser-vance was held at Union Me-morial Methodist Church fol-lowed by brunch. The Vals Purez Hovenez Ball, “Get Acquainted” session for 2009 was held in March for the contestants and their parents . The members of the Greens-boro chapter proudly volun-teered 5350 hours in the com-munity; and welcomed three (3) new members.

***

Just because the economy was in a slump, the sixteen (16)members of the Greenville

Chapter continued to help those less fortunate. Activities included giving donations, serving or supplying whatever we could to make various neighborhoods better; serve as volunteer hosts for Pink Ghost Breast Cancer Banquet; pre-pared and served Thanksgiv-ing Dinner to Senior Citizens, and Christmas Dinner for eighty (80 +) boys and staff for Generation Group Home; donated clothes to a lady and two (2)children for the loss of her home, due to fire; pre-pared and served dinner for over sixty (60 ) for a Black History Banquet; donated a love offering to John Wesley’s United Methodist Church where we observed Founder’s Day. After services, the chap-ter fellowshipped over dinner and members gave a love donation to a former member who needs health care; gath-ered clothes and shoes and fed a hot dog lunch to help The Southern Side Homeless

C H A P T E R H I G H L I G H T S ( C O N T I N U E D F R O M P A G E 6 )

Page 7 S I S T E R C I R C L E

PLAN …. EXECUTE …. CONQUER

Greenville Chapter members serving

dinner at Black History Banquet

Gastonia Chapter

Henrico County Chapter adopted a

highway to keep clean

Members of Forestville Chapter

involved in project with a local

pregnancy care center

Cont’d on Page 8

Shelter for our Fall and Spring Clothes Closet; provided workshops for teens at the Teen Awareness Workshop along with prizes; volunteered breakfast and lunch set up at the Minority Health Summit where great speakers provided workshops on health care is-sues and health prevention; hosted the Spring Southwest Regional Meeting and Lunch-eon; attended the Generation Group Home Boys Luncheon and fundraiser; and held a Mother Daughter Luncheon.

***

The Henrico County Chapter

started a scholarship at Vir-ginia Union University for students who need a little extra financial help to complete the school year. As a part of the chapter’s community service, the chapter adopted one of the busiest highways in Henrico County to regularly keep the highway clean. The highway project focuses on keeping about a mile clean from the corner of Broad & Wistar to the corner of Staples Mill & Wistar.

***

The Kannapolis Chapter, sisters working together for love, peace, and harmony, donated a case of soup to the Cooperative Christian Minis-try; donated school supplies to an Exceptional Children’s class at Jackson Park Elemen-tary; a monetary donation was given to the Empty Stocking Fund during the Christmas Holiday season; observed Founders’ Day at Covenant Presbyterian Church and pre-sented a monetary gift to the church’s building fund; held a fashion show with the pro-ceeds benefiting the Gwendo-lyn Smith Scholarship Fund; held a Fall and Spring clothing giveaway; held a Boy’s and Girl’s Retreat , a workshop

focusing on discussions about gangs and drugs, taking care of self, decision making, self-esteem, nutrition, and issues facing young men; In 2009, the chapter started to give a monthly, monetary donation to the Cooperative Christian Min-istries Night Shelter as well as canned goods.

***

The Lumberton Chapter

focused the year on their Pro-ject Orchid—Owning, Realiz-ing, and Creating Her Individ-ual Destiny. Project ORCHID is an organization devoted to improving the health and lives of young black women and girls of Robeson County by provid-ing health education, youth de-velopment, literacy, and educa-tional skills. Currently 66 young ladies participate in the project. Members of Project ORCHID participated in the observance of Breast Cancer awareness by distributing fly-ers that contained vital infor-mation about the preventive measures that can be taken for the disease. Forty-five mem-bers of Project ORCHID were given an opportunity of a life-time to travel to Greensboro, N.C., to visit two of the state’s historically black colleges and universities—NC A&T and Bennett College. Other Pro-ject Orchid initiatives included visiting Willow Place Assisted Living Community where ORCHID members sang Christmas carols, read poems, distributed 100 pair of socks in gift bags to the residents, and gave Christmas cards to the residents; several young ladies from Robeson and Hoke coun-ties competed to be crowned Miss ORCHID (grades 8-12) and Jr. Miss ORCHID (grades 5-7) with each participant receiving a trophy and savings bond; as part of Project Or-chid, the members of the Lum-berton Chapter sponsored its

first Putting Kids First/

Women’s Empowerment Sum-

mit. , a community event.

***

The Mooresville Chapter continued the chapter’s focus to make a difference in the local community by serving others. A small but powerful group, activities included re-instating two inactive mem-bers; celebrated its’ 30th year anniversary as the re-instated Mooresville Chapter; awarded a $1000.00 Scholarship to a graduating senior; adopted two local elementary schools as a monthly project; blessed several families with food boxes; sponsored its’ annual Senior Citizens Banquet by preparing for and serving approximately one hundred guests; donated $200.00 to the Lupus Foundation; partici-pated in the Comfort of Love project by donating blankets to the Crisis Pregnancy Cen-ter; celebrated the 52nd Na-tional Founders Day Anniver-sary in worship and fellow-ship. In honor of the occa-sion, a $100 donation was given to Watkins Chapel AME Zion Church; provided home-cooked desserts for the Soup Kitchen; partnered with the NAACP to participate in the Big Read; sponsored a black history program honor-ing several leaders in the com-munity for their contributions in the areas of education, gov-ernment, religion, business, music and youth development programs; have a representa-tive from the chapter in atten-dance at the monthly meetings of the School Board and Town Board; supported the Cancer Relay for Life Walk with a donation of $250.00. The chapter has been a sponsor and supporter for eleven years; attended the Moores-ville Alliance city-wide Dr. M. L. King, Jr., Celebration

C H A P T E R H I G H L I G H T S ( C O N T I N U E D F R O M P A G E 7 )

Page 8 S I S T E R C I R C L E

PLAN …. EXECUTE …. CONQUER

Members of Mooresville Chapter

presenting Comfort of Love

Lumberton Chapter

Members of the Kannapolis Chap-

ter at clothes drive give-away

Cont’d on Page 9

Breakfast; sponsored our sec-ond Pink & Orchid Tea/Fashion Extravaganza; and awarded the Matilida Reid Campbell Scholarship of $1000.00 to a high school student;

***

The Morven Chapter started the 2008-09 year with a $2500 donation to the Morven Ele-mentary School to help imple-ment a computer lab for the students. Continuing the em-phasis on education this year, the chapter also plans to in-crease the two annual scholar-ship amounts for local high school students from $500 to $1000. A $300 gift to the local Anson County Partner-ship for Children gave assis-tance to literacy efforts for children under the age of five years. Other activities in-cluded participateion in the Comfort of Love, providing 25 blankets to the local Domestic Violence program; holding annual events including the Thanksgiving Dinner for sen-ior citizens, the Christmas social for members and their families, and Breast Cancer Awareness; renewal and fel-lowship through a Rededica-tion ceremony and worship together at a local Morven church.; holding the second annual retreat for members and the theme for that event was “Las Amigas Women: Look-ing Great and Living Fabu-lously”; recognizing three local elementary school win-ners in our Black History essay contest; held during Black History month, another retreat which is open to everyone. This retreat is called “Black Women Walking in the Light,” and we invite several women from the local community to come and talk about their ex-periences “walking in God’s light.”; held a Mother and Daughter celebration, the Lit-tle Miss Las Amigas Pageant,

and participated in Relay for Life.

***

Newport News/Hampton

Chapter, home chapter of the 2008 National Queen of Las Amigas, Inc., the lovely Tara Wilson-McGee., works hard to tell the story of Las Amigas to the community with our in-volvement and community service activities. The 2008-2009 club year has been very busy including a two-day, club retreat at Governors Green Resort in Williamsburg; rallied to get people out to the polls to vote on Election Day, donated ten (10) blankets for the Comfort of Love project at Sentara Nursing Home, do-nated 118 children’s books to the William E. Rattley Road Ahead Outreach Center for inclusion in the Christmas Food Baskets; visited the Seton Manor Retirement Home and entertained the residents with a Christmas Party; sponsored ten (10) residents of the Sentara Nurs-ing Home to attend a Black History Month Breakfast and revisited Seton Manor to enter-tain them with music, a praise dancer, bingo, prizes, Easter gifts and refreshment for the residents. Also visited the Sentara Nursing Home to en-tertain the residents for Mother’s Day; continue with the formation of our supporter group, Knights of Las Amigas (our male supporters); actively worked with the third season of the Shining Stars, Honor our Chapter’s Organizer, cele-brate birthdays, and have a Mother’s Day Raffle.

***

The Philadelphia Chapter donated school supplies to a homeless shelter; participated in the annual AIDS, Breast Cancer, Hunger, Lupus and Sickle Cell Walks; donated our Comfort of Love blankets,

personal care items to a home-less shelter; delivered meals to AIDS/HIV patients through the MANNA organization; solicited donations for The Children’s Hospital, through their annual Daisy Day venue; volunteered with the Little Brothers Friends of the Eld-erly organization Thanksgiv-ing, Christmas and Easter; assisted in packing, delivering food and flowers to the iso-lat3ed elderly; adopted a Kin-dergarten class at the M. H Stanton Elementary School.; on-going volunteering with the Kidney, Lupus, and Habi-tat for Humanity Foundations; several members networked with the Philadelphia Alum-nae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority with their SAT, Economic Development, So-cial Action and The Arts and Letters committees programs; participated in the political arena by actively working on the Obama leadership team, provided transportation to the polls on Election Day, and participated in the inaugura-tion activities in Washington.

***

Portsmouth Chapter is proud to have the 2009 National Outstanding Member, Zeler Raspberry, as a part of its membership. Under the direc-tion and leadership of the president, Shirley E. Ferebee, the Portsmouth Chapter had quite a full plate this year. All excitement and eagerness led to members of the chapter assisting in the community in trying to get our first African-American President elected. The members concentrated their efforts on an assisted living facility where the resi-dents were registered to vote (some for the first time in their lives) and then were assisted with casting absentee ballots. During the year, the chapter participated in the Kidney

C H A P T E R H I G H L I G H T S ( C O N T I N U E D F R O M P A G E 8 )

Page 9 S I S T E R C I R C L E

PLAN …. EXECUTE …. CONQUER

Members of Philadelphia Chapter

donating Comfort of Love blankets

Newport News/Hampton Chapter

Portsmouth Chapter members donat-

ing blankets during Comfort of Love

Morven Chapter

Cont’d on Page 10

Walk through donations, deliv-ered blankets for Comfort of Love to PARC Place (a home-less shelter), presented shoe-boxes to a local church filled with toiletries and personal items for homeless females, gave our annual scholarship, hosted and prepared dinner for ninety-three (93) homeless people, donated shoes to “Dress for Success”, stayed active with our National Part-nerships and Affiliations through our liaison, hosted the Regional Holiday Celebration with the support of the New-port News/Hampton Chapter. The signature project for this chapter was adopting Cradock Middle School, one of the local schools in the city of Portsmouth. This was done to provide encouragement to the faculty, staff and students in raising the test scores and im-age of the school.

*** The Red Springs Chapter

began the fiscal year with the installation of five new mem-bers and the reinstatement of one member. These energized ladies in conjunction with the four old members, launched a number of activities and pro-jects. The prospective mem-bers assisted with the chapter’s Voter’s Registration Drive during Red Springs’ National Night Out in August. Several newcomers to the area were registered. Members attended the installation of the Lumber-ton Chapter and President Eula McNeill participated in the ceremony. The Red Springs Chapter continued the year with a number of other events including sponsored their annual Mr. & Miss Har-vest King & Queen Pageant; hosted their annual Senior Citizen Christmas Banquet which was held on the campus of the University of North Carolina at Pembroke; and donated blankets to a battered

women’s shelter through a cooperative effort with Zeta Pi Omega Sorority, Inc.; partici-pated in the town-wide obser-vance of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. which is sponsored annually by the town of Red Springs (Eula McNeill, chap-ter’s president is the town-wide coordinator); continued with orientation for their an-nual Miss Teen Queen Pageant which to be held on June 13th, and provided scholarships applications to eligible high school seniors.

*** The Richmond Chapter re-dedication of members started the year on a positive note. Throughout the year, Rich-mond sisters collected food for the local food bank by select-ing an item per month to bring to chapter meeting and donate on a monthly bases. Members coordinated food drives at their work place and their churches. Pounds of food items have been turned over to the food bank; partnered with the Central Virginia Chapter of Sister Network (members are African American breast can-cer survivors) for their annual block walk where members go door to door encouraging women to have their mammo-gram and if no one answers an informational package is left on the door knob. The Chapter was recognized and rewarded with gift bags for having the largest number in attendance of partner organizations. Dur-ing October, breast cancer month, baskets of pink ribbons were distributed to churches, work sites, beauty and barber shops to remind all of the im-portance of early screening; The Humphrey Adult Home was adopted and was the re-cipients of the chapter’s Com-fort of Love, as were residents of the Brooks Adult Home. Humphrey residents were

cooked and served a home cooked dinner for Thanksgiv-ing; Registration of voters was made at churches and through the local branch of the NAACP, worked the polls, worked at the Obama Headquarters and pro-vided transportation to seniors on Election Day; partnered with the American Cancer Society by working the registration desk at their first annual African American Women Health Fo-rum. The forum was an over-whelming success with over 500 in attendance. Local Presi-dent Chandler and Regional Director Robinson were inter-viewed for television where their views on the impact of the forum were shared with the local audience; The Salvation Army was our partner during Christmas where stockings, food bags, toys and clothing were distributed at their head-quarters; answered the call of a local church during this harsh, cold winter by providing cloth-ing, especially hats and gloves to homeless men; installed a new member and celebrated our Founders Day at the Westwood Baptist Church, where a mone-tary donation was made fol-lowed by dinner at a local res-taurant.; gone the extra mile to provide love and support to Sisters experiencing illness and their families and we have ex-tended courtesies to members throughout our network of sis-ters; hosted fun filled club members, showered secret pals with gifts at every holiday; hosted annual regional meeting where over seventy (70 ) sisters were in attendance and three scholarships were presented to young ladies graduating from a local high school; hosted and cooked dinner for over forty(40) homeless men at the Cedar Street Baptist Church during their week to house the home-less;

***

C H A P T E R H I G H L I G H T S ( C O N T I N U E D F R O M P A G E 9 )

Page 10 P L A N • E X E C U T E • C O N Q U E R

PLAN …. EXECUTE …. CONQUER

Richmond Chapter

Suffolk Chapter members prepar-

ing for holiday gifts for a family

Newest members of the Red Springs

Chapter with Chapter President

Eula McNeil

Cont’d on Page 11

St.Pauls/Bladen County held its first meeting for the new year in August 2008. After rededication ceremony, goals were set for the club year. Throughout the year, the chap-ter distributed school supplies to students in Kindergarten -12th grade; made a contribution to the Sickle Cell Foundation; distributed Halloween Treats to More-at-Four at St. Pauls Elementary and Plain View Elementary Schools; made plans for Senior Citizens Ban-quet held in December; served a delicious dinner to sixty (60) senior citizens and distributed blankets, flowers, and door prizes, and played games; sponsored the annual Commu-nity Martin Luther King Birth-day Celebration with a recep-tion that followed; observed Las Amigas Founders’ Day at Little Marsh Chapel A.M.E. Zion Church and gave a dona-tion in memory of our foun-ders; and donations were made to the Kidney Foundation, Heart Fund, and the United Negro College Fund.

***

The Seat Pleasant Chapter

continues to be committed to the purpose, creed and motto of Las Amigas, Inc. as they carry out various community and county services to help others. The chapter attended the Northeast Regional Meet-ings receiving the First Place Attendance Award in Septem-ber and March; celebrated Founders’ Day Observance with a Mass at the Basicala of the Shrine in Washington, D.C. and ate lunch together; attended the joint Founders’ Day with our sister chapters in the Northeast Region hosted by the Baltimore Chapter; The sensational annual Gloria Hol-loman Community Outreach and Educational Benefit Fash-ion Show and Luncheon was a raving success held at the Washington Navy Yard. This

fundraiser allows us to support the Lupus Foundation, Ameri-can Cancer Society, the Kid-ney Foundation, March of Dimes, scholarship fund, Women's Action Coalition of Prince George's County and much, much more; Our goal this year was to reach out to sister organizations in Prince George's County. Our Presi-dent, Leila Welch, introduced us to the organization "All Shades of Pink, Inc." This organization provides asis-tance and comfort to women and their families who have been diagnosed with breast cancer. We will help this or-ganization monetarily and by helping to knit blankets as gifts to bring comfort to the pa-tients; provided much assis-tance to our adopted school, Glassmanor Elementary School. Books have been donated to the Kindergarten through third grade classes. Awards will be given to the students who read the most books. Also, we had the oppor-tunity to judge science projects and help the principal wher-ever and whenever she calls on us; Our scholarship recipient remains on the Dean's list at Morgan State University. It is our goal to continue to extend a helping hand to our sister chapters, families, communi-ties, county and the world.

***

The Suffolk Chapter began the year with excitement re-committing to the mission and principles of the organization; partnership with the Salvation Army was renewed as each member stuffed two stockings for the organization for a total of thirty (30) stockings. The Suffolk Head Start Program again received story time books donated by the mem-bers; purchased socks, under garments (T-shirts, panties, boxers), hats and gloves for elementary school students;

volunteered at the local Obama headquarters, knocking on doors, making telephone calls, serving as poll watchers and providing rides to the polls on election day; served Thanks-giving dinner to residents at the Suffolk Homeless Shelter; made annual donation to the Suffolk Cheer Fund and a donation of twenty (20) Comfort of Love blankets to the Salvation Army. A gift card was given to a strug-gling mother so that she could provide for her children at Christmas. Another Suffolk family received books, toys, educational games and under garments for Christmas; held the Annual Scholarship Dance; participated in the Martin Lu-ther King – “I Have A Dream” celebration and watched with awe and pride as our newly elected President was installed; served as hostesses at the “Yes We Did” city wide celebration planned by one of our members at the local community center; celebrated Founders Day attend-ing New Mt. Joy Food for Liv-ing Church and gave a donation to honor the memory of Dora R. Mason and Mary Q. Moore; participated in the 50th Anni-versary Celebration of the Suf-folk NAACP Freedom Fund Banquet; conducted a “Pocket of Love” project for the Ge-nieve Shelter for Battered Women and Children donating gently used and new pocket books filled with personal items; participated in the Sickle Cell Anemia Banquet and sup-ported sister chapter’s commu-nity efforts; annual donations were given to Suffolk Rescue Squad, Habitat for Humanity, Lupus Foundation of America and the National Kidney Foun-dation; held 2009 fundraiser Las Amigas Tiny Tots; and distributed Lupus information;

***

The Washington-Metro Chap-

ter held fundraisers including manned a Papa John’s Pizza

C H A P T E R H I G H L I G H T S ( C O N T I N U E D F R O M P A G E 1 0 )

Page 11 P L A N • E X E C U T E • C O N Q U E R

PLAN …. EXECUTE …. CONQUER

Members of Whiteville Chapter

donating 120 fans

Washington-Metro Chapter

Cont’d on Page 12

stand at FEDEX Field for the Football 08 season; held a Fall Dance, had a bus trip to Atlan-tic City, and held he annual Little Miss/Miss Teen Las Amigas Pageant; volunteered for registration at the National Council of Negro Women’s Black Family Reunion, their Affiliates Assembly and served as a hostess at Gala; served as hostess for the Black Caucus Foundation, Inc.; vol-unteered with Voter Registra-tion, Telephone Canvassed for “Obama Campaign”, provided transportation for registered voters to the polls; worked with the National Center for Children & Families at Christ-mas, Thanksgiving and Spring Fling; continuously conduct Street Clothing Outreach Homeless in (D.C.); distrib-uted Thanksgiving Baskets to Adopted Family; participated in Christmas Tree Contest to benefit Hospice, Charles County, Maryland; provided transportation and served as a caretaker for a cancer patient; provided cosmetology services and food for a cancer patient; donated $100 to St. Matthews Baptist Church Benevolent Fund; provide Easter Baskets to our Adopted Family and presented $1500 Scholarship to a Georgetown University student; participate in the various walkathons including the Regina Williams 5K Walk, Help the Homeless, National Multiple Sclerosis Society, “Relay for Life (American Cancer Society) and Komen Race for the Cure (Breast Can-cer).; special projects concen-trate several times throughout the club year on feeding indi-viduals and families sleeping on the streets of Washington, D.C.; we conduct clothing and luncheon drives, participate in school activities and holiday events; regularly donate clothes to the Lupus Founda-tion of Greater Washington; we’re registered donors with

the Bone Marrow and Red Cross National Capital Area and also Certified CPR & AED registered with the American Safety & Health Institute, and are members of the National Council of Negro Women.

***

The Whiteville Chapter sis-terhood began the year with a Retreat at Myrtle Beach, SC. Under the leadership of Presi-dent, Connie Freeman, the Whiteville Chapter has planned, executed, and con-quered. The chapter continues to passionately serve the local communities. Activities for the year included: awarded scholarships in the amount of $1, 000 to five High School Seniors who registered for College; made plans for our annual “Las Amigas” Pageant; began Special Project:-Making a Difference”; began making plans to host Conclave 2010; participated in the Red Cross “Blood Drive”; participated in the Literacy Council’s pro-grams; assisted with voter registration; made donation to United Negro College Fund; made donation to local Arts Council; made donation to Literacy Council; made dona-tion to Southeastern Commu-nity College Foundation; made donation to Community Libraries for “AR” books; made donation to American Cancer Society; made dona-tion to Sickle Cell; made do-nation to American Red Cross; gave Halloween treats to EMD/TMD classes in local schools; sponsored “Las Ami-gas” Pageant; provided trans-portation for Senior Citizens; volunteered in classrooms at local schools; donated Com-fort of Love blankets to local Nursing Home; worked elec-tion Polls; sponsored Queens in Christmas Parades; visited Nursing Home for Christmas caroling; made donations to

area Rescue Squads; elected Barack Obama President of the United States of America; wor-shiped at a Sister’s church once a quarter; celebrated Founders’ Day at a local Church; partici-pated in “Relay For Life”; vis-ited St. Pauls AME Church in Fairmont in honor of Black History Month; sponsored Bingo Party for Nursing Home Residents; sponsored Queens in Azalea Festival Parade; spon-sored Queens in Strawberry Festival Parade; participated in Vacation Bible School; made plans for 45th Anniversary of the Whiteville Chapter of Las Ami-gas, Inc.; sponsored outing for Members and Guests; and do-nated 120 fans to the Columbus County Department of Aging.

***

Members of the Wilmington

Chapter began the year with annual chapter retreat and estab-lishing the motto “Working Together Works”. The chapter focused its’ efforts on three (3) major projects throughout the year which included conducting The Little Miss Orchid Pageant to enchant the lives of young ladies; established a mentoring program with Bellamy Middle School. Held a mentoring kick-off dinner to meet with the par-ents and the young girls partici-pating in the program. Cover-age of efforts we in both the newspaper and local tv. Monthly mentoring sessions share meaningful information with the participants from guests speakers and hands on activities.; for the seventh year, held the annual Women of Distinction Luncheon. The event honors women over the age of seventy (70) who in their own way give to their family, church, and community

***

C H A P T E R H I G H L I G H T S ( C O N T I N U E D F R O M P A G E 1 1 )

Page 12 P L A N • E X E C U T E • C O N Q U E R

PLAN …. EXECUTE …. CONQUER

Las Amigas sisters, National Presi-

dent Williams, and Dr. Height at

the NCNW Affiliates meeting

Las Amigas national officers

Las Amigas sisters from various chap-

ters and National President Williams

at the 2009 Uncommon Height Gala

I N T H E S P O T L I G H T : C O N C L A V E 2 0 0 8 P H O T O G A L L E R Y

Page 13 S I S T E R C I R C L E

Las Amigas, Incorporated Las Amigas, Incorporated Las Amigas, Incorporated Las Amigas, Incorporated

Northeast RegionNortheast RegionNortheast RegionNortheast Region

Baltimore

Cincinnati

Forestville

Philadelphia

Seat Pleasant

Washington-Metro

Southeast RegionSoutheast RegionSoutheast RegionSoutheast Region

Greensboro

Lumberton

Red Springs

St. Pauls/Bladen County

Wilmington

Whiteville

Southwest RegionSouthwest RegionSouthwest RegionSouthwest Region

Charlotte-Mecklenburg

Gastonia

Greenville

Kannapolis

Mooresville

Morven

Tidewater Central RegionTidewater Central RegionTidewater Central RegionTidewater Central Region

Ahoskie

Chesterfield

Henrico County

Newport News/Hampton

Portsmouth

Richmond

Suffolk

“Those who apply themselves

too closely to little things,

often become incapable of

accomplishing great things.”

PLAN …. EXECUTE …. CONQUER

Theme: Uniting Pride, Respect, and Dignity