AWC BERLIN NEWSLETTER


THE BEAR FACTS

December 2024

Dear {Contact_First_Name},

Like many of you, December is a whirlwind of activity for me – preparing for the holidays, celebrating festive events, planning our club’s annual general meeting and closing out the club year. This year, my 94-year-old mom is also visiting for 6 weeks!!

Yesterday, forty of our members and their family had fun celebrating Thanksgiving together at the Hard Rock Cafe. Despite the loud rock & roll music, I received good feedback about the food, the service and the cosiness of the group. If you missed that, I'd like to invite you to our last hurrah of the year - the Annual General Meeting and Holiday Party. Your spouse/partner and friends are invited. So please join us if you are in town on December 11 evening.

I hope you will be surrounded by your loved ones for the holidays and wish you a beautiful time together. Our club’s membership is so diverse– I’d love to hear how you celebrate and about your own traditions for the holidays (see blog prompt below). 

I’d also like to thank you for a fantastic Club year. This year, we celebrated 130 years of our club’s history. Our legacy is, however, not only in our past but in the actions we take today and tomorrow. Thank you for being a part of that legacy. Here’s to the next 130 years and beyond!

With love and appreciation, 

My-Linh
My-Linh Kunst, AWC Berlin President

My-Linh Kunst
President, The American Women's Club of Berlin

The AWC Berlin is 100% member-run - we always welcome and appreciate your contribution, feedback and suggestions. Please email president@awcberlin.org.

**Please note that, depending on your email program, you may need to click “View entire message” to see the Newsletter in its entirety.**

Calling for AWC Blog Entries! Please send your submission to Nicole by December 10 per email nicole@sorger.us.  Your blog entry may be any length or format (up to 1600 words).

December blog prompt: What are your multi-cultural holiday traditions? How does your family celebrate when there are multiple cultures/religions/ geographies to consider? 


WELCOME TO OUR NEW MEMBERS!

Alex Angel

Maureen Coyle 

Gabi Fagen

Arielle Mae von der Heyde 

Kathrin Koedderitz

Margret Kolbe 

Kristi Mai

Jie Li 

Stacy Wiedenmann 

We look forward to seeing you soon!

2024 ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING and HOLIDAY PARTY 

You are invited to our 2024 Annual General Meeting & Holiday Dinner. Join us at Villa Kreuzberg (Tomasa), pictured above, as we close out our 130th anniversary year, celebrate our work together over the past year, elect the Club's 2025 Board of Directors, and select a new local charity for AWC support in 2025-2026.

If you cannot attend the meeting and would like to vote on the slate of nominees for the 2025 Board of Directors by absentee ballot, please email Nominations Chair Claudia Tessier at parliamentarian.awcberlin@gmail.com to request a ballot.

AGM AGENDA

Dinner (open to spouses/partners and friends):

Stay for a festive buffet meal (which includes ample vegetarian and vegan options) to celebrate the holidays – Cost is €45 per person and includes Glühwein and water. Last day to cancel without payment is December 5.

Note: This is subsidized by the Club, the real cost is €65 pp. 

Guests: Potential members may attend the Annual General Meeting as well as the dinner. Your partner/spouse is invited to dinner. If you and your spouse/partner are arriving at 6pm together, they could meet others for a drink at Doldenmädel (https://maps.app.goo.gl/VHKVGtnzsUYVbQNPA) - an 8 minute walk nearby and come back for dinner at 7:45pm.

If you are bringing a guest, please be sure to register them. 

What to Bring:
1) We'll create a "Mittens Tree" of donated hats, scarves, gloves and mittens to donate to the Berliner Stadtmission. You're invited to bring warm items to donate.
2) For fun and fundraising, we'll hold a raffle of donated items to benefit the FAWCO Target Project. If you have an item to donate to the raffle, please bring it on the night.

NOMINATIONS FOR THE

2025 BOARD OF DIRECTORS

The Nominating Committee nominates the following members for positions on the 2025 AWC Board of Directors:

My-Linh Kunst: President
Alex Kinney: First Vice President (Programs)
Nelly Heidbrink: Second Vice President (Membership)
Barbara Irigoyen: Treasurer
Karen Huber-Guida: Secretary 

Click here for their bios.


Nominating Committee Members
Claudia Tessier, Chair
Hollis Vaughen
Robina Lillecrapp 


If you cannot attend the AGM and would like to vote on the slate of nominees for the 2025 Board of Directors by absentee ballot, please email Nominations Chair Claudia Tessier at parliamentarian.awcberlin@gmail.com to request a ballot.

LOCAL CHARITY SELECTION 2025-2026

Thank you to our members who nominated 7 worthy charities this year. After careful consideration, the Board proposes the following three for final selection from our membership. At the AGM, you will have the opportunity to select ONE of the following charities to receive financial, in-kind and volunteering support from the AWC in 2025-2026. 


If you will not be at the AGM and would like to vote, email philanthropy.awcberlin@gmail.com to vote by absentee. 


LINK TO SHORT LIST OF CHARITIES

FAWCO UPDATE

Congratulations to Annamaria Thal who is re-appointed as AWC Berlin's FAWCO Representative. She is reachable at annamariathal25@gmail.com. 

Great news from the FAWCO Foundation: The value of the Education Awards (for club members and their children/grandchildren) and Development Grants will be $5,000 for 2025! The Dual Cultural Award will be $4,000.

This means more funding for your educational endeavors and more funding for your charities that you support! Get working on those applications. The Foundation also added another Skills Enhancement for $2,500! Not all courses cost as much as $5,000, and we hope this opens up our awards to more FAWCO members.

More details on the Foundation website: https://www.fawcofoundation.org/ 

FAWCO Region 5 Meeting Report back

With the theme of "Women & Democracy," AWC Berlin hosted the FAWCO Region 5 Meeting on November 15-17, 2024 at the DoubleTree by Hilton KuDamm. We welcomed 52 participants from 15 FAWCO clubs. This included 8 clubs from Region 5: Berlin, Cologne, Düsseldorf, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Heidelberg, Leipzig, and Vienna, plus representatives from sister clubs in Amsterdam, Antwerp, Bern, Central Scotland, Denmark, Kenya, London, and Paris. The AWC Berlin delegation included 19 members! 

Our club raised 2072 Euro for the FAWCO Target Project Awesome Blossoms at the event through a Silent & Live Auction, Fran Durocher’s Tour of Nefertiti and various other fundraising activities.

Jennifer Post Draeger served as Meeting Chair and Moderator. Thank you to Gwen Calisch, who served as Registration Manager; to our local organizing team of Gwen Calisch, Renee Johnsson, Alex Kinney, My-Linh Kunst, and Hollis Vaughen; and to FAWCO Region 5 Coordinator Angelika McLarren.

Click here to read the full report including agenda, meeting notes, all the presentations and links to resources.

Upcoming virtual events (open to AWC Berlin members):

*Monday, December 2, 7:30pm CET - Post-Election Panel Discussion with Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson Part II. Details and RSVP.

*Thursday, December 5, 7 pm CET – Global Issues Book Discussion hosted by the Health Team on Looking for Jane by Heather Marshall, about three women who fight to make their own choices about motherhood and their bodies.

*Tuesday, December 10, 7:30 pm CET – Human Rights Team Film Night. Join the Human Rights Team for a virtual screening of the film She Rises Up! This film chronicles the amazing journeys of three women who are helping to lift their communities out of poverty through the local businesses they fight the odds to maintain.

Watch a trailer here and register here.

INSPIRING WOMEN
 As women who live or have lived in a foreign country or society, we have experienced the challenges of being far from family, friends and community. FAWCO and FAUSA members have found ways to stay connected to families at home while developing new sources of belonging.

Read their stories in our latest issue, The Family Connection!

Message from the magazine: Inspiring Women congratulates AWC Berlin on your 130th anniversary - thanks for being a part of our celebration of FAWCO Club milestone anniversaries. Don't miss your write up on page 62 and the pictures on page 68.

Follow Inspiring Women on Facebook to stay connected to what we're doing.

Great articles from FAWCO:


The Great Christmas Tree Debate – Real vs. Plastic Many of us in the Northern Hemisphere face crisp mornings and catch whiffs of chestnuts roasting on an open fire. Logically, our thoughts turn towards planning holiday festivities, including decorations and the evergreen tree. But how much time do we take to consider the impact of our decisions? This month, the Environment Team does just that while reminiscing on holidays past.

My Personal Story: GLP 1 – Breaking the Stigma and Finding Health Meredith Mani (AWC Amsterdam) shares her personal journey with GLP-1 medications like Ozempic® and Wegovy®, highlighting the life-changing benefits of these medications. emphasizing that they are a legitimate medical treatment for obesity, not a shortcut, and urges others to embrace health solutions without fear of judgment.

What Do You Need to Know About Ozempic®? In this article, Dawn Pleasant Parker(AWAquitane) explores the broader impact and complexities of GLP-1 medications like Ozempic® for Type 2 diabetes and weight management, complementing Meredith’s story by discussing accessibility challenges, costs and the nuanced effects of these treatments. It highlights how these medications work to control blood sugar, reduce hunger and support weight loss, yet notes the high costs, need for long-term use and variable effectiveness across individuals.

“Fentanyl Babies” – What is Fetal/Infant Fentanyl Syndrome? Tharien van Eck (AWC Antwerp) provides information about a new study that has identified a potential syndrome linked to prenatal fentanyl exposure.

AWC Berlin is a founding member of FAWCO, a network of American and international women's clubs around the world.  As a member of AWC Berlin, you are automatically also a member of FAWCO, connecting you to philanthropy and advocacy on a global scale. Learn more at FAWCO.org. 

AWC BERLIN DECEMBER AND EARLY JANUARY EVENTS

Week of December 1
Fall/Winter Tennis - Intermediate/Advanced Group 1 (In Person)
Monday, Dec. 2, 10am
Women on the Move (daytime)

Monday, Dec 2 7:30pm

Post-Election Panel Discussion with Soraya (Zoom evening)

Wednesday, Dec. 4, 1-2:30pm
Women & Finance - Season 4 Financial Feminist by Tori Dunlap (Zoom evening)
Thursday, Dec. 5, 7-8:30pm
Kaffee Klatsch (daytime)
Friday, Dec. 6, 10:30am-12pm
Southwest Stammtisch - December location (daytime)
Saturday, Dec. 7, 10am-12pm
Guided Tour: Berlin Underworld - Fichtebunker (daytime)
Saturday, Dec. 7, 12:30-2pm

 
 
 
 

HOW TO AWC BERLIN

AWC BERLIN ONLINE

AWC members can manage their account, access the membership directory and sign up for events by logging into their AWC member account. You can access your account from your smartphone via the Wild Apricot Mobile app, or simply by going on any computer with internet and visiting the "Members Login" area of the AWC Berlin website.

Calendar and Event Registration

As a reminder, AWC Berlin members must log in with a user name and password to access events on our calendar and register for them.  So that we know to expect you, please remember to register for events you wish to attend.

IN THE MEMBERS ONLY AREA, you can:

  • Register for and cancel events
  • See your event registration
  • Add events to personal calendar
  • See who else is going
  • Much more...

Step 1: Go to the AWC website and click "Members Login" (request new password from the website if needed). Manage your events from the calendar.

Step 2: You could also download the Wild Apricot Member app to your smartphone or tablet and use your website login on the app.

Step 3: Poke around and get familiar with the tools. See the Instruction Guide for detailed steps and pictures of set up and navigation. Currently, the event registration feature of the app is not available to Android users, but otherwise the app is fine for Android users. Questions? WA-Admin@awcberlin.org.

AWC BERLIN & SOCIAL MEDIA

Besides the Private AWC Members Only group, did you know we have 4 private sub-groups on Facebook?  Click the links below and ask to JOIN. 

**AWC Berlin Second-Hand Postings (to buy, sell or swap):  https://www.facebook.com/groups/653200785262766 

**Bookmarked in Berlin (for book lovers to share and discuss their favorite reads): https://www.facebook.com/groups/302249127866608 

**Women and Finance (to share resources):  
https://www.facebook.com/groups/472000217478608 

**AWC Berlin Valiant Vegans (to share resources):
https://www.facebook.com/groups/825562655186088/

Also, come “like” our public Facebook page and follow us on Instagram @awcberlin!


AWC BERLIN FACEBOOK POLICY

The AWC Berlin Private Members Only Facebook group is open to current members only and is a casual, respectful and friendly forum for member announcements (for example, babies! weddings!, etc.), discussion, information and questions regarding AWC-related topics and/or life in Berlin. 

  • Only authorized AWC Berlin events that are already listed on the AWC Calendar can be created as an event in our Facebook group.

  • Please do not post charity donation requests or political items not related to the AWC Berlin.

  • You are invited to let us know about your business, but please limit commercial, self-promotional posts to Mondays and be sure to preface your post with MARKETING MONDAY. No more than one post per member per Monday, and please, no comments are allowed on these posts.

  • When in doubt, please send your question to facebookpolicy@awcberlin.org.

Thank you for your cooperation!

AWC Berlin Facebook Page | AWCB Website


AWC BERLIN WHATSAPP COMMUNITY

AWC Berlin now has a WhatsApp Community where all of our WhatsApp groups reside. If you are the administrator on a WhatsApp group that is not already in our "AWC Berlin" Community, please email president@awcberlin.org. The benefits of a Community include:

  • Visibility into all AWC Berlin-related WhatsApp groups. 
  • Group chats are restricted to group members, but as a Community member, you can see the title and description of all the groups. If you are eligible to join based on the group's description, you are welcome to "ask to join" any of the groups. 
  • Administrators can make announcements to the whole community (e.g., for last-minute event info)

Our WHATSAPP policies are similar to our FACEBOOK policies

  • Please do not post charity donation requests or political items not related to the AWC Berlin.

  • No self-promotion. You are invited to let us know about your business on MARKETING MONDAY - in our private FACEBOOK group. Be sure to preface your post with MARKETING MONDAY. No more than one post per member each Monday.

  • When in doubt, please send your questions to president@awcberlin.org.

Thank you for your cooperation!

AWC Berlin Facebook Page | AWCB Website

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