October 2024 Day Meeting

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month and our meeting will revolve around that theme. Our speaker is Vembra Holnagel of Shades of Pink Foundation. RSVPs are due by October 1, 2024. RSVP by selecting one of the three buttons in the right column.

Meeting details: Registration and informal networking is from 9:30 AM to 10:00 AM; the meeting starts promptly at 10 AM. Lunch choices can be selected after paying or RSVPing online. Choice #1:  ½ Buffalo Chicken Wrap:  Fried Chicken + shredded lettuce + tomato + cheese + buffalo sauce + ranch; Choice #2:  Cobb Salad:  Grilled Chicken, cherry tomatoes, hardboiled eff, apple smoked bacon, avocado, blue cheese crumbles, ranch dressing; Choice #3: Club Sandwich:  turkey, lettuce, tomato, bacon, mayonnaise, white bread

About Shades of Pink and the Speaker: The mission of the Shades of Pink Foundation California (SOPFC) is to provide temporary monetary assistance to women who are experiencing financial distress as a result of a breast cancer diagnosis and treatment. Many applicants report monthly incomes of less than $2000, far below what is necessary to live in San Diego. SOPFC launched a gift card program to help cancer patients with food, gas, and purchases at big box stores like Target and Walmart to meet immediate needs.  The gift card program has been a resounding success, providing 455 grants totaling $186,125, with an average grant of $400.

Vembra Holnagel is a founding board member of Shades of Pink Foundation California and a past president of the board. She was invited into the nonprofit by her daughter. Joining the organization gave Vembra a chance to help women in her community and spend time with her daughter. She also had a personal reason for working with SOPFCA. In 2012, she lost a dear friend to breast cancer after a long and difficult battle.

Activity: Our activity will be to hand-write letters to women newly diagnosed with breast cancer. A hand-written letter has the special power to heal. Girls Love Mail collects your hand-written letters of encouragement, bundles them, and sends them, via the caring staff at cancer centers, to women newly diagnosed with breast cancer. Every letter is a gift from you to a woman going through a difficult time. 

Anyone can write a letter! All it takes is a little of your time and the cost of a postage stamp to help a woman newly diagnosed with breast cancer. Visit https://mobile.girlslovemail.com/ to find out more about this worthy cause.  

Questions? Email WCVIstaDonations@gmail.com.