San Jose Womans Club

Our House Committee reinvigorated our HVAC project, which has a deadline for the grant to cover a portion of the costs that we received from the County of Santa Clara in the 2019-2020 Fiscal year. This project was placed on hold during the pandemic and was also re-scoped. The County of Santa Clara granted us a two-year deadline extension, however, that deadline is quickly approaching. To move forward with this project, we reviewed the scope and determined that we should reduce the scope back to the original plan, which including placing an HVAC system into the Ballroom, Tea Room, and office space. We have begun the process of obtaining three estimates to present to the Board for us to move forward.In the 2019-2020 Fiscal year, we had plans set to move forward with a new ADA ramp. There were some hiccups, thus the project was placed on hold. We have also resurrected this project and are now in the process of seeking approval for our updated plans from the City of San Jose so that work can beginBesides the projects that had been placed on hold, we have made additional improvements to the Clubhouse. Our gas stove, ovens, and hot water were several years old and the ovens were particularly temperamental. Following a large event at the Clubhouse when several ovens were not operational, we realized we needed to replace them. The Best Furry Friends Group held a fundraising event and donated a portion of the proceeds to replace our ovens, stove, and hot water heater with new, electrical appliances The remaining costs were covered by a matching donation from eBay, which was arranged by our First Vice President, Lisa Buchanan. We now have a six burner range with double ovens, a double-stacking oven, and a tankless hot water heater. In addition to being easier to operate, replacing our appliances from gas to electric reduces our carbon footprint. The original, sprung wood floor in the Ballroom and the linoleum floors in the Tea Room, Fireside Room and Foyer were deep cleaned a polished. We are shining everywhere! When you are at the Clubhouse, take a peek at these improvements. We hope these new additions and the extra care given to our building will make it more enticing for rental events.With all that shine, we did have a bit of gray. In January 2023 one of the windows in the Foyer was vandalized. It was so heartbreaking to see our Grand Dame damaged in that way. Then in May of 2023, the front office window was also vandalized. We are located in a downtown bustling area and this type of vandalizing is not unique to us, but nonetheless, it makes us sad to see our Lady damaged. We have added glass shattering alerts to our alarm system.During the 2022-2023 fiscal year, we also stepped up contributions to the community. Through member donations, partnerships with local companies in the Bay Area, and fundraising events, the San Jose Womans Club donated more than $42,000 to local non-profits. We awarded $2,500 to our vocal scholar competition winner and through our Designated Charitable Giving Grants gifted $12,745 to various local charities including: 13th Street Cat Rescue, Amigos de Guadalupe Center for Justice, Bill Wilson Center, Child Advocates of Silicon Valley, Family Supportive Housing, The Grateful Garment Project, San Jose Parks Foundation, Silicon Valley Pet Project, andYggdrasil Urbank Wildlife Rescue.Through our annual LUNAFEST Womens Film Festival, we donated $6,610 to Breast Cancer Prevention Partners. Our Best Furry Friends Group organized a fundraiser with renowned Chef and author Miyoko Schinner that raised $20,211for the farm animal sanctuary for Rancho Compasin, not including the proceeds from the Silent Auction that occurred during the event.In addition to our cash donations, we donated or subsidized the use of our historic venue to many local non-profit organizations for their banquets, fundraisers, and holiday parties. The organizations include: Catalyze SV, Empowered Women - Empower Everyone!, Naglee Park Campus Community Association, Next Door Solutions, National Charity League - Willow Rose Chapter, San Jose Downtown Residents Association, SJSU Akbayan organization, SJSU School of Business Leadership Event, and the Valley Monte League.Our group members performed many charitable works in the community. Be a Dear and Donate a Brassiere Group (BAD), collected and donated bras, organized bra distribution events, and hosted Communi-TEA, an annual tea for women at risk. BAD also raised funds and purchased $3,882 worth of bras for hard to fit individuals. Our Handicrafts Group created tote bags for Communi-TEA attendees. Our Best Furry Friends Group hosted a very successful fundraiser for Rancho Compasin and supported 13th Street Cat Rescue with Paws & Play, an event that got board gamers to the Club and raised money for cats in need.The Antiques, Art and Culture Group continued to surprise us with very interesting talks each month. Our Besse Book Group, Walking Group and Mahjong Group continue to meet and gather new members for their events.We also welcomed a new Group, our Artist Collective Group. This groups mission is to share various art techniques from creating, tools, designing, and ideas. We look forward to seeing this group prosper.2022 2023 Fiscal Year EventsTo start our Fiscal Year, in October, we had a Day of the Dead Memorial celebration. We took this time to celebrate those who have left us by putting together an altar of memories about them. We then invited the families and the community to join us in memory.In November we hosted our annual Gingerbread House Decorating Party. Its always fun to see the kids, from age five to adult, decorate gingerbread houses. We sponsored more than 25 children who otherwise might not be able to attend. Co-chairs CiCi Green and Lynda Sereno brought in the spirit of the Holidays. December festivities kicked off with a holiday get together hosted by the Bessie Book Group with a cookie exchange. Many members brought their home baked delights, and we all were able to leave with quite a selection of goodies. Later that month, our Antiques, Arts and Culture Group chaired the Annual All Club Holiday Potluck and Boutique. The home cooked dishes were yummy along and attendees enjoyed shopping for those last-minute treasures. Money from the boutique was donated to the Club for the HVAC project. February was a very busy month for us. We held our annual Sweetheart Party, inviting our Charitable Giving Grant recipients to come and let us know how they utilized our donation to their organization. We also thanked our donors and volunteers for the selfless generosity of time and dollars. The very next day was the Celebrity Chef Vegan Dinner featuring Chef Miyoko Schinner and benefitting Rancho Compasin, organized by our Best Furry Friends Group. What a fabulous and successful event. And the Group donated a portion of the proceeds to help fund our new kitchen appliances. At the end of February, the Best Furry Friends Group held our first Paws and Play event, benefitting13th Street Cat Rescue. What a fun day of multiple games, lots of cupcakes, and popcorn for all to enjoy. The next day the Antique Group presented another fascinating talk, this time about Bullfighting. All events were well attended.In March we held our Irish Pub Night. Why should only the Irish enjoy a fun night? It was a great get-together to celebrate just being together. April brought the start of our Artist Collective Group. We also chaired the SJWC Vocal Scholarship competition. It was a fun evening and hearing such talent was a real pleasure. The Clubhouse came alive with the voices that serenaded us. Our Vocal Scholarship winner was Rebekah Burns. We look forward to her concert next year. Also held in April was a Members Open House, chaired by Darlene Tenes. It was our chance to showcase the Club to members and the community. We partnered with many caterers, musicians, photographers and entertainers. This event helped us to get the word out about our venue. We closed out April with Communi-TEA, an annual tea for women at risk, organized by the Be a Dear and Donate a Brassiere Group and chaired by Eileen Hunter. The BAD ladies knocked it out of the park; it was a wonderful celebration and all our invited guests loved attending and left feeling pampered.In May, not to be undone, we ended the year with our LUNAFEST film festival, which raised more than $12K for Breast Cancer Prevention Partners and other local charities. Chaired by Lisa Buchanan, and Co-Chairs John Blair, and Claudia Corino, the evening featured a four course Italian dinner and silent and live auction with highly sought after experiences. In addition to the in-person event, the film festival was presented online for those who could not attend in person.