THE REPUBLICAN WOMAN - Iowa Federation of Republican Women
Transcription
THE REPUBLICAN WOMAN - Iowa Federation of Republican Women
T H E R E PUBLI C AN WOMAN President’s Message, p. 4 Destination: White House, p. 7 Valuing Your Volunteers, p. 8 Fall Conference Details, p. 9 Summer 2016 Pictured right: IowaFRW President Melissa Gesing wrapping up a day on the campaign trail with Percy the Puggle. Inset: President Gesing signing Rosie. Get In Gear: IowaFRW Gear! THE REPUBLICAN WOMAN | 3 Show off your IowaFRW pride with shirts, visors, hats, and bags! Ships directly to you. Place your order at www.iowafrwgear.com. Roast & Ride Volunteers Needed Volunteers are needed for Senator Joni Ernst’s 2nd Annual Roast & Ride at the Iowa State Fairgrounds on Saturday, August 27, 2016. Please consider helping Senator Ernst and her team. They cannot do it without amazing volunteers and supporters! As a volunteer, you will receive free admission to the event, catered lunch from Lynch BBQ, and a Volunteer 2016 Roast & Ride t-shirt! Contact Ashley Hunt (who is also our IowaFRW Social Media Chair) if you are interested in volunteering: [email protected] or 515.505.0459. 4 | THE REPUBLICAN WOMAN President’s Message By Melissa Gesing In less than four months, we will know who our next president is. In less than four months, we will know if we succeeded in re-electing Senator Grassley and our Republican Congressmen. In less than four months, we will know if we knocked off a few (or several!) Democrat incumbents to make a clean sweep in the U.S. House delegation, retake the Iowa Senate, and keep our majority in the Iowa House. In less than four months, we won’t be able to do anything more for Election Day 2016. What we do in the next four months is critical. Every day counts. We know we have the capability to do a lot. Now is the time to do it. In the last IowaFRW newsletter, we shared our 2016 Goals: Strength in Message. Strength in Numbers. Strength in Unity. These three themes are keys to our success in November. IowaFRW’s mission is to elect Republicans at all levels of government. It’s our reason for being. Our goals are simply how we do that. All club presidents have been emailed a list of Republican-leaning unregistered voters in their counties. We need to get these people registered as Republicans and out to vote on Election Day. We must also ask them to be involved in our organization. The worst thing that may happen when we ask: They tell us no. And that is fine. At least we asked and gave them the opportunity. (Side note: If you do not have a local club and would like your county’s list, please email me at [email protected].) We need to help with grassroots efforts. We provided candidate lists and contact information to everyone at our IowaFRW Spring Conference in Hiawatha in April. We talked about how to engage our members with campaigns. Let’s fill up local field offices and help in any way we are able. In January, I challenged each of you to do one thing you have not done before to help elect Republicans this year. It can be big or small. Invite a friend to a political event. Show a young girl the amazing role models we have in OUR party. Pictured next to this article is my niece Lucy who accompanied me to Senator Joni Ernst’s First Annual Roast and Ride last year. She now knows who Carly Fiorina is and could say Carly’s last name perfectly at the age of four. She is our future. It’s never too early to inspire young girls – and boys. We can also inspire others by doing. Knock on a few doors. Make some phone calls. Help at a local field office. Make these activities fun and invite others to join you. The one thing I have not done before to help elect Republicans: leading IowaFRW. While I love working behind the scenes, being the front person for a statewide organization is not what I ever had in mind. Like many of you, I have a full time job and a life that keeps me on my toes. I am stepping outside of my comfort zone nearly every day in this role because this is the small thing I can do to help elect Republicans this year. In addition, all of you inspire me. The least I can do is work alongside you, talk with people across the state, give a few speeches, and give interviews to local media. So, even if you have been involved in politics for 17 or more years, there’s always something new to do. In conclusion, I will leave you with some thoughts regarding our message. Republican women have a unique voice in this election, as the Democrat nominee for president claims to represent all women. Let’s tell the other side of the story – the Republican women’s side. Carly Fiorina recently said, “I’m proud to be a woman. But I also know gender is not an accomplishment. Hillary Clinton can’t run on her record: a quarter-century of failure, incompetence and corruption. The only way she can win is by playing the gender card.” Then Fiorina wrapped up her comments with, “Hillary Clinton cannot be trusted, and she cannot do the job of President of the United States. And it’s up to us to make sure she never gets the chance.” We have less than four months to go. Let’s do this! THE REPUBLICAN WOMAN | 5 “I am proud to be a woman. But I also know gender is not an accomplishment. Hillary Clinton can’t run on her record...the only way she can win is by playing the gender card.” Carly Fiorina pictured left with Lucy Pictured: Dave Price from WHO-13 in Des Moines interviews IowaFRW President Melissa Gesing at the Iowa GOP State Convention held May 21, 2016 at the Iowa State Fairgrounds. 6 | THE REPUBLICAN WOMAN Left: Armed Services Committee Chair Sarah Bowman pictured with her husband David (l), and son Liam (c). Right: Sarah tries on David’s gear. Meet our Armed Services Chair Sarah Bowman is a lifelong Iowan, born and raised in Glidden, Iowa, near her family’s Century Farm. She is a graduate of DMACC and Iowa State, where her interest in politics began. She has worked as the Communications director for Senator Grassley’s campaign, at the Iowa Capitol in both the House and Senate, and now works from home as a political consultant. She served as Secretary of the Polk County Republicans and was elected Co-Chair for the 2008 election cycle. It was at this time, her husband David, was deployed to Iraq with the U.S. Army Reserves, as a medic. While his boots were on the ground near Tikrit, her heels were taking care of their oldest son and fighting the good fight to elect Republicans. David returned safely, and their family continued to grow. The Bowmans live in Waukee and are the proud parents of five, four boys and their daughter, who attended her first caucus at 19 days old. Sarah is excited to be a part of the IowaFRW and serve as the Chair of the Armed Services Committee. She’d like to start and coordinate a support group for spouses of those who serve, as there was no formal support group for her when David was serving his country. If you are interested in joining Sarah on this committee, you can contact her at 515.250.9689 or [email protected]. THE REPUBLICAN WOMAN | 7 8 | THE REPUBLICAN WOMAN Valuing Your Volunteers By Judy Davidson Show them your appreciation. • Give them praise in person. • Send personal, handwritten thank you notes. • Mention names and thank yous in electronic correspondence and social media outlets. • Give public recognition and thanks at meetings and events…..mention their names. • Include a mention of thanks to them in an event program or flyer. Take an interest in them personally. • Get to know them and ask them about personal and individual aspects of their lives Make it fun! • Use bells; red, white and blue pom poms to cheer them on (may seem corny but makes if fun.) • Use a dry erase board and create a competition of some sort on it and list the winners. • Have a volunteer of the week, take pic and post it. • Designate a special theme night for volunteers i.e. ladies night with nice appetizers, decorations. Never ask them to do anything you wouldn’t do, then do it and let them see you do it. you understand. Make sure they know the value of what it is they are doing for the cause, explain it in full detail. Show them that THEY are valued by your words AND actions. When they have a personal crisis or issue, take an active interest. Assign tasks based on their strengths and interests, don’t ask what they want to do, ask them what they LIKE to do. Conduct a volunteer orientation session. Give them a volunteer packet with organization information and contact information for leadership. Introduce new volunteers to existing ones and help them feel at ease on a project with returning volunteers. Have food/snacks available for project sessions. Always be ready with the project on the date and time volunteers show up; set up early. Include volunteers in communication network of organization. Treat each volunteer as a treasured resource. • Take time to talk individually and personally with them each time you see them, know their names and call them by their name. Give them a volunteer buddy, assign them a partner or put them on a “special team” especially if the volunteer is brand new and doesn’t know anyone. Visit with the group for a few minutes before the start of the project. Ask for their opinion on the process. • What do they think is best way, do they have a better way to proceed? • People support what they help create. Increase responsibilities as they show they want it and can handle it. Give special perks that others don’t or won’t get. • Greet candidates, drive candidates, attend special receptions for dignitaries. Realize they have more to their lives than just volunteering: family, church, jobs, etc. Help them to be comfortable enough to say no to you about doing something and show them that When they are ready, let them run projects or be trainers and coordinators for other volunteers. Keep project expectations reasonable based on time and number of volunteers. Set an example for a positive, professional atmosphere, no gossip. MOST OF ALL, THINK HOW YOU WOULD WANT TO BE TREATED AS A NEW VOLUNTEER, AND TREAT YOUR VOLUNTEERS AS SUCH. Judy Davidson Leadership Development Chair, IowaFRW Chair, Scott County Republicans State Central Committee, Republican Party of Iowa H 563.355.8887 C 563.579.5083 [email protected] THE REPUBLICAN WOMAN | 9 IowaFRW BOD Meeting & Fall Conference Save the date! Saturday, September 24, 2016 | We invite all members and prospective members to attend this meeting and event. Come hear Omaha Mayor Jean Stothert. Additional speakers to be announced. 9:00 AM - 10:00 AM 10:30 AM - 11:30 AM 12:00 PM - 12:30 PM 12:30 PM - 3:00 PM Executive Committee Meeting (Closed) Board of Directors Meeting Registration & Lunch Speakers Cost: $25 (Lunch Included) Location: Barley’s 114 West Broadway | Council Bluffs, IA Reservations requested by Thursday, September 22, 2016. RSVP: Cheryl Weisheit, IowaFRW Treasurer 802 NW School St | Ankeny, IA 50023 515.249.8584 | [email protected] Pay online at www.iowafrw.org/donations and mention “Fall Conference” in the notes at check-out. Or, make checks payable to IowaFRW. Name ____________________________________________________________ Mailing Address_______________________________________________ City/Zip _______________________________________________________ Phone _________________________________________________________ Email __________________________________________________________ $25 Check for Fall Conference Registration Enclosed Pictured Above: Omaha Mayor Jean Stothert. iowafrw.org Iowa Federation of Republican Women @IowaFRW Kim Reem | Editor Paid for by the Iowa Federation of Republican Women