SWCJAX April April Meeting Guest Speaker: Officer Gerald Pangelinan – Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office!

A special “Thank You” to Carla Furr and her Civic Engagement & Outreach Team for arranging our April Speaker and for Carla’s excellent skills in capturing his message so that we can share it. 
   Officer Pangelinan works under the community engagement unit, which is a partner organization to the patrol and support unit. They partner with the community to give the community what they need. He has been with the Sheriff’s office about 20 years, and will fully retire in about 5 years. He was originally from Guam. 
Safety when traveling abroad:
•    Research your destination on the internet and/or by talking with friends who have been there. Identify local customs, day-to-day life, and safety considerations. Enlist your kids and grandkids to help you do the research, if necessary.
•    Develop an emergency contact list both at the destination and for your family at home.
•    Consider travelling with a travelling group of some type, whether a formal tour, or a group of people travelling together.
•    Contact the local police department at the destination and find out about safe hotels and safety practices.
•    Learn a little bit about self-defense moves, including equipment available to help, such as pepper spray, if it can be transported to, and used at the destination. At a minimum, carry a whistle. Florida allows concealed weapons to be carried. If you choose to use a weapon, get very familiar with it in advance. You must be sure weapons are allowed at any destination. Never try to transport a weapon through TSA at an airport.
For any travel:
•    Always maintain situational awareness. Do not walk in areas that are not well lighted. Do not go into areas where there are not many people around.
•    Be discreet with valuables, especially money. Consider one of those pouches that you wear around your waste, and wear them around your waist, not around your arm.
•    Use reliable transportation, not an unknown driver.
•    Trust your instincts – if it doesn’t feel right, don’t do it.
•    Women often don’t want to feel rude, but don’t fail to speak up – let a stranger know you see them and are aware. Say it loud enough for others around you to hear it.
•    Never leave your drinks alone – if you must go to bathroom, ask the bartender to mind it for you.
•    If travelling in the car alone, you can order a “blow up” travelling buddy to put in the passenger seat so it looks like you are not alone.
•    Preparedness plays a big role in the case of a potential car break-down. For example, don’t plan to travel so that you risk your car breaking down in a remote area at night. If your car does break down, stay in the car with doors locked and flashers on.

•    If you have a flat tire and a business is very close, like 300 feet, you can drive to the business on the flat. There is some risk of damaging a tire rim if you drive on a flat, and you must make the choice as to the risk of tire damage versus not moving to a safer location. (One of the members commented that we should make sure our name is on any AAA type account, not just your husband’s name, so that we can use it anywhere we are. You should have your own card as well. 

The biggest threat for older women is fraud and scams:
•    There are two groups that can scam you – total strangers, and relatives or caregivers.
•    There is a group in the JSO called the economic crimes detectives and they could come and speak to us about fraud and scams. 
In the case of an active attack:
•    If you are at the mall or a public place and hear shots, “avoid, deny, and defend.” If you can, leave the area. If you can’t leave the area, deny access to the shooter – shut and lock the door, use a door stop, push furniture against the door, etc. To defend, if the person enters the room/area be aggressive – identify things in the room you can use to defend yourself. Don’t crouch behind or under the furniture.
•    In familiar places, prepare in advance by identifying all the exits. Develop a mindset of alternate exits.

Congratulations, May Mann Jennings, for making it into the Florida Women’s Hall of Fame in Tallahassee this January 2025. GFWC FL & our Club have tirelessly campaigned to bestow this well-deserved honor to May!

Welcome NEW SWCJAX Members!!!

Our President, Jac Littlefield, led the ceremony to induct our new members, 4 of the 5 being present at the meeting: Kathy Scott, Germaine Haga, Karen Gray, and Mary Dixon. Jac asked each member to confirm their obligations as a member of the Club. She gave each a succulent plant, as they are an ideal representation of love. Terry Laws, our GFWC FL D4 Director, presented each new member a sticker for our membership wall of fame. Both the Recruiter/Sponsor and New Member got a sticker from GFWC FL. She reminded everyone of the importance of helping mentor these new members. 

SWCJAX April 2024 Speaker, Lisa Rowell, Educates Members about Wildlife Rescue!!!

Kim Owens introduced our Club to the importance of organizations that help protect and reacclimate animals back into the wild. Our special guest speaker, Lisa Rowell, the Director of WRC, has first hand knowledge of what is happening in NE Florida that requires such immediate attention. Over-development is a big reason that wildlife is being pushed out of their homes. Lisa has been the Director of WRC for about 2½ years. She and her family moved the WRC headquarters onto their personal property where they set aside 4 acres. (The previous location had become dilapidated with time.) WRC has received donations to buy two buildings, for medical and intake use. They are continually updating the enclosures and maintaining the buildings, with the help of volunteers. Lisa hopes to do more fundraising events on the property. She noted that most kids today have very little access to natural settings, such as woods and animals. She would like to do more camps/educational programs for kids in the summer. A key part of their mission is to ensure respect for all wildlife. Last year they took in 300 animals. This year it appears it will be more. They have a support system where other people also house animals and give them one-on-one care until the time they are being prepped to be re-released into the wild. They have 2 vets that work with them when a vet is needed. They keep detailed records on each animal, and cannot keep one for more than 6 months. Most wildlife does not want to attack humans. Lisa has never been attacked by an animal in their care. Many animals are hit by cars and require rehab. They currently have foxes and fox pups, and baby otters. Foster “parents” are trained carefully. They are currently not licensed to do birds. They are always looking for more volunteers – fosters and center volunteers to work at the center, and “uber” drivers to transport animals. All staff are volunteers, and they receive no state or federal funding. Jac Littlefield presented Lisa with a check from SWCJAX. It is always a pleasure to partner with such great organizations in our area!!! D4 Director Elizabeth van Rensburg wants D4 to get more involved as well...Win-Win for the animals!

SWCJAX Plays BUNCO and Raises $200 for GFWC State of Florida Disaster Relief!!!

Special Thanks to Sandy Marshall for leanding us her lovely home!!! 

A HUGE “Thank You” to ALL who purchased the single sheet sets for Camp Boggy Creek as a SPECIAL D4 Project! Special delivery by Cheryl Avery!!!

SWCJAX 2023 Garden Party Open House was a Huge Success

Our Club opened our year with a Garden Party filled with fun, food & FLOWERS! We played Garden Bingo, worked on our group quilt, packed 5 bins for First Responders with snacks, enjoyed great food and fellowship with friends. "Thank You" to Theresa C. who brought us information how to stay informed on state legislations that interest or affect GFWC FL. Special thanks to Elizabeth, our D4 Director for calling our Bingo game...AND congratulations, Elizabeth, on your new quilt, raffled off to benefit Camp Boggy Creek (won by our own Terry & generously given to Elizabeth...sisterly LOVE!)

Awards at the State Level are Such an Honor!!!
    Our SWC Website took 1st Place and Healthy & Wellness and Yearbook and President’s Project each took 3rd place across the state!
     (Left to right) Christa Nuckols, GFWC FL Director of Junior Clubs; our own Kim Owens, SWCJAX Publicity Chairman; Debra Strahanoski, GFWC International President; & Linda O’Toole, GFWC FL President.

SWCJAX Learning to Protect Ourselves in a Digital World

We were grateful to have the opportunity to learn to be MORE AWARE when on our computers, cell phones and home phones. We learned what NOT to say, what to look for in questionable emails and how to not be distracted during phone conversations. Thank You Julie B for arranging to have Paul Sollee come and make us more Digital World Savvy.

Watch Us Grow!!!

New Member, Carla Furr, Jac Littlefield

(SWCJAX President), Janice Schwarz

(Membership Chair) and New Member,

Kim Armga. Welcome Ladies!!!

A Tearful Introduction to Boggy Creek, the 2022-24 GFWCFL President's Project.

Special thanks to our guest speaker, Jacqueline Boykin, from Camp Boggy Creek who shared the mission of this wonderful camp.

Our special guest last month was GFWC FL District 4 Lake Butler Woman’s Club’s, Cate Reagan, who came to tell us about the S.A.F.E. program. Cate is the District Director for the State programs in Florida and Georgia. Their program is called “Florida/Georgia S.A.F.E.” It is this area’s S.A.F.E. chapter for the national organization, called “Stuffed Animals for Emergencies.” She has been working with them off and on since 2004. It was started in Jacksonville by Cammie Sanders, to benefit emergency responders, firefighters, and police, etc. to be able to give a stuffed animal to a child or adult who is in a traumatic situation to give them something to hold on to and to help calm them and give them some peace of mind and presence and feel like they are being cared for. These stuffed animals are sanitized and shrink wrapped as a result of COVID and given to the First Responders to carry around with them to give them to anyone in need. She encouraged us to take this project on for our Club. Our very own Christine Flora rose to the challenge and delivered over 60 stuffed animals to Fire Stations in the Beaches area and is ready for more!!!

SWCJAX Follows Their Heart!!!

February Heart Month and our Ladies from SWCJAX was fortunate to have Dr. Connie Buttlar and Yvonne Caldwell, a Cardiac nurse, talk to us about our heart health.  We also used the BP cuffs to read our BP.  

HOW FUN!!!

A Great Success Combining Fund Raising and Fellowship

A group of our SWCJAX ladies came together as a FUN-draiser while painting wine glasses at The Winey Wench this summer. Just look at these amazing works of art. This was a great event to just have some fun while raising $$ for charity our Club supports. Ladies...we raise our glass to you!

GFWC FL D4 Meeting @ ORC! 

Kudos to ALL the ladies who made this event such a festive and organized event. Cathy Stringer and her team and Club volunteers worked tirelessly to make this event such a huge success. SWCJAX came away with 6 First Place and 10 Second Place — a 1st or 2nd place in EVERY category!