February 2026 - President's Message

I hope everyone is staying warm despite our freezing temperatures. When they tell us that North Port had snow flurries on Sunday night, we all might have to move further south.

We have been trying to figure out what direction BPWEV is going in the last few months. We postponed the Winetasting event until March 7th, but now the decision was made to cancel it all together. In years past, we had a slow start with sponsorships and ticket sales, but the lackadaisical attitude made our leadership members feel that we could not pull it together to be able to make a profit. In this situation, our members lose out and the potential scholarship recipients do not benefit as well.

I sent out a survey with (2) questions on it:

Your vote #1- I want to continue the LO and conform with the other LO’s and pay to have the paperwork from 501 (3)c to a 501(6)c completed. I will consider serving for an office or a committee.

Your vote #2- I want bpwev to go forward with the Winetasting event. I will help in any way I can.

Please answer the (2) questions and return the results to me.

The results are: Three members answered yes to both questions. Six members said Yes to the Winetasting only. One member said no to both questions. The only problem is that without officers and committee chairs, # 2 cannot move forward. I did not receive an answer from 15 members at all.

On our Zoom call on Monday night, the verbal response was that as a member they wanted more networking and less structure at the meetings. Members wanted more education about BPWEV and BP/FL.

Fundraising is not the reason they joined out group initially even though they support the cause of providing scholarships to women.

Members that have held offices for 2 or more years want to step down and have some of the new members think about running for an office. The same people are doing all the work. This is not acceptable anymore.

We are having the February 17th meeting at the Towers. I am going to request a Nominating Committee be formed to explore members who are willing to run for an office. The offices are President, Vice-President, VP Membership, Secretary and Treasurer. We will not have a speaker this month.

I hope you can join us on Tuesday, February 17th at 5:15 PM for this important meeting.

Best Regards,
Sue Hogrefe, President BPWEV

Wine Tasting Event - 15th Annual Passport to Your Future

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2025 BPW Adult Learner Scholarships

Christine Davis Memorial Scholarship

For those of us who never knew her, I’d like to take a moment to introduce the lady our scholarship awards are named after.

Christine Davis was a BPW member for over 50 years, first in New York State and later in Florida.  Her energy to promote BPW was astounding. She served in every office the organization had to offer, short of State or National President. She served on many committees and especially enjoyed being chair of the scholarship committee until ill health required her to resign from too many obligations. Her beautiful smile, her eagerness to be always willing to help and her efficient handling of any task she elected to do or help with, will not be forgotten by the BPWEV members, but will be missed.

The Christine Davis Memorial Scholarships will preserve the love and devotion she championed to achieve equality for all women.

Public Policy Platform 2023-2024

At the BPW Florida State Conference in June, 2023, the Proposed Public Policy was presented and approved. The new Public Policy for 2023 – 2024 is below:

Introduction:

Since the inception of BPW/FL in 1919, BPW/FL has always supported women’s rights. BPW/FL continues to support the ERA as a basic foundation of our Public Policy Platform, even as we understand that passing the ERA grows more difficult with the passage of time. BPW/FL firmly believes that equality of rights under the law should not be abridged or denied by the United States or by any state on account of sex, and the rights of women require constant vigilance.

Item 1: Economic Equity, Opportunity and Self-Sufficiency

BPW/FL supports public policies that:

• ensure pay equity and equal employment opportunities for all women
• promote opportunities for women-owned businesses
• promote affordable, quality dependent care
• promote Social Security and retirement reform options benefiting women
• guarantee a workplace free from harassment and discrimination

Item 2: Health Care

BPW/Fl supports public policies that:

• support the expansion of affordable care, including Medicaid, in Florida
• support funding and initiatives the cover women’s health care needs
• ensure women’s access to all health care and family planning needs, including full access to all forms of reproductive health services, education, and prescriptions

Item 3: Voting Right and Access

BPW/FL supports public policies that:

• promote free and fair elections
• are aimed at expanding voters’ access to the polls
• are designed to protect the right of all American citizens to vote in fairly drawn legislative districts