Skip to main content

Spring Luncheon, Sunday, March 24: Splendid!

Our spring luncheon featured as keynote speaker Sun Sentinel Managing Editor Gretchen Day-Bryant. She was inspiring as she talked about voting, democracy and the civic role journalism plays.
Our turnout was a record -- 97 seats reserved at the Jacaranda Country Club. So was our raffle, which brought in $1900 for our 501(c)3 Education Fund, thanks to 20 raffle items collected by our raffle committee led by Iris Convissar. 
Enjoy these photos from the event.

Slideshow
2024 Spring Luncheon

March is Women's History Month 


When you join the League, you can make an additional donation. Each level of giving is named for a shero of women's voting rights. Join us


Susan B. Anthony was one of the most visible leaders of the women’s suffrage movement. Along with Elizabeth Cady Stanton, she traveled around the country delivering speeches in favor of women's suffrage. She was an advocate for temperance, abolition, the rights of labor, and equal pay for equal work. General membership is $60; those joining at the Susan B. Anthony level make a donation so that it totals $100.

Born a slave, Sojourner Truth became an outspoken advocate for abolition and civil and women’s rights in the nineteenth century. She gave herself the name Sojourner Truth. Her Civil War work earned her an invitation to meet President Abraham Lincoln in 1864. General membership is $60; those joining at the Sojourner Truth Level make a donation so that it totals $150.

The suffrage movement was born in 1848 at the first Woman’s Rights convention at Seneca Falls, New York, where Elizabeth Cady Stanton advocated for a document she wrote called “The Declaration of Sentiments.” It expanded on the Declaration of Independence by adding a radical statement -- that "all men and women are created equal." General membership is $60; Elizabeth Cady Stanton membership is $200.




Broward County 10 Year Affordable Housing Plan

Approved by Broward County Commission on March 7, 2024

Broward's affordable housing crisis


Broward has a dire shortage of affordable housing, and it's an issue getting attention from the League of Women Voters of Broward.

The Broward County Commission recently adopted its first master plan on what to do about affordable housing. The 10-year-plan lays out a series of steps the county and its individual 31 cities should take. You can see it here: 

Broward County 10 Year Affordable Housing Plan

Approved by Broward County Commission on March 7, 2024


The League's committee working on this issue is led by Agustina Sklar. You can contact her at agustina.sklar@gmail.com


Members of this committee stay informed of local initiatives, attend meetings with community partners, advocate for League positions and educate residents about the problem. 



Upcoming Events
UPCOMING EVENTS
Recent Articles
NEWS FROM THE LEAGUE


April 12: "The Good Lord Bird" by James McBride

From the bestselling author of "The Color of Water" and "Song Yet Sung" comes the story of a young boy born a slave who joins John Brown’s antislavery crusade—and who must pass as a girl to survive. "The Good Lord Bird" by James McBride is a winner of the National Book Award for fiction and has been made into a Showtime series.

Henry Shackleford is a young slave living in the Kansas Territory in 1857, when the region is a battleground between anti- and pro-slavery forces. An absorbing mixture of history and imagination and told with McBride’s meticulous eye for detail and character, the book is both an adventure and an exploration of identity and survival.

Join the conversation on Friday, April 12 at 11 a.m. via Zoom. Members and non-members alike are welcome.


 




A lesson from Spring: Plant a lot of seeds 

Gardeners know it's about planting seeds. Not all of them will grow, so it's better to plant a lot. 

That's the philosophy of the gun violence prevention committee: spread information everywhere and hope it grows. For example, in June 2022, we emailed Broward civic associations and HOAs offering them a presentation on safe storage and guns. While many responded, some did not. Last week (!), one of those HOAs reached out to ask if we were still available. He learned about us while going through some old emails...very old! 

Another example comes from Broward College Campus Safety Days where we tabled last October, distributing many  business cards. The head librarian at Central Campus just invited us to make a presentation at a resource event and, of course, we said yes. 

As we keep planting seeds, we hope for a bountiful harvest: freedom from gun violence for all. -- By Barbara Markley, chair, Gun Violence Prevention Committee


Let's talk trash -- and what to do about it in Broward County


Here in Broward our county officials and 28 of our 31 cities have come to an agreement to develop a comprehensive solid waste plan to deal with our almost 4 million tons of waste created every year. We don't have many places to put that trash. The waste is polluting our air, water and bodies and is a significant contributor to climate change.

League members are following all the deliberations, and giving input to prioritize waste reduction and effective recycling over landfilling and incineration.  We are working to educate the public about the issue.

Here's a video where Stephanie Pearson, chair of Environmental Issues Committee of the League of Women Voters of Broward County, gives a  presentation as part of a virtual panel sponsored by the Chi Psi Omega Chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc.







New Leadership class meets for first time

The Margaret McGrath League Leadership Program kicked off its first year with a gathering Jan. 27 at the West Regional Library. 

Participants are picture from left to right: Maria Paul, Graciella Hopkins, Agustina Sklar, Zain Remy, Suzette Hyde and Beth Nativ. Not pictured are  participants Cathy Neubauer and Margot Mason.

The primary mission of the program is to build a strong bench of local League leaders. Participants will lead a project, a committee or take a director or officer position in the League following the program. 

Thanks to donations in honor of Margaret McGrath, a beloved League member who died in 2023, there is no cost to the participants with all meals and operating costs covered by the Margaret McGrath Leadership Fund.


Request your Vote By Mail now and tell everyone else to do it too

Vote-By-Mail request is going to be an on-going topic for the next year. Even if you have heard or read this already, please do so again! Please spread the word!

First, all vote-by-mail (VBM) requests made for the 2022 election are NO longer valid. Voters don’t seem to realize this yet, so it will be a shock when it is time for the presidential preference primary (March 19, 2024) when VBM ballot packets don’t show up in voters' mailboxes.

You and your friends, family, colleagues, exercise buddies, etc. should request your VBM ballots NOW! You can do this online at browardvotes.gov, our SOE's website.  


 
Helpful hints when you complete the VBM request online:
  • You will need your current Florida driver license or Florida identification number or the last four digits of your social security number.
  • You will need to provide an email address.
  • On the screen that asks for your address, note it is asking for the house or building number for your residence and NOT the street number. For example, if your address is 17034 SW 209th Court, input “17034” and not “209.”
  • If you will be living outside of Broward County temporarily for a specific election, you can request to have the ballot for just that election be sent to your temporary address. 
  • Don’t want to do it online? Just call the Broward SOE office at (954) 357-7055.