MARCH 2023 WINE & WISDOM
"Plastics 101"
March 21 @ 4:30-5:00
We are literally drowning in Plastics! It is overwhelming our planet. What can we do about it? Come hear the League's "Plastics 101" presentation. You will learn the scope of the problem and some practical ideas for being part of the solution.
REGISTER NOW
(Log in to the website before registering)
| SPECIAL GUEST AT DEI MEETING
March 28 @ 11:30-1:00
Collier Community Foundation
Cori Craciun, Executive Director of Naples Pride will be our guest at LWVCC DEI Committee Meeting on March 28, 2023. Cori is the Founder and Executive Director of Naples Pride, a volunteer based grassroots 501 (c )(3) nonprofit organization started in 2017 to sponsor the first Naples Pride Festival. The mission of Naples Pride is to unite and empower the LGBTQ community of Southwest Florida, to educate the public about issues facing members of the LGBTQ community and to foster social change and equality for all. The Naples Pride Center operates several programs including a health and wellness clinic, counseling and suicide prevention services and youth-senior services. The Pride Center worked with other community organizations to help deliver Hurricane Ian recovery resources to our local community. This year’s Pride Festival will be held on Saturday, June 10, 2023, at Cambier Park. After a 6-hour meeting at which 70 members of the public registered to speak, the City Council voted 5-2 to renew the organization’s permit to hold the festival in Cambier Park. LWVCC submitted a letter to the Mayor and City Council supporting the application of Naples Pride. Some of our members wrote letters and testified in support of the permit.
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WANT TO KNOW MORE ABOUT OUR ELECTION PROCESS?
ONE MORE TRANSPARENCY TOUR THIS SEASON
The Voter Services Committee's next tour of the Supervisor of Elections office is on March 20. The tours take about 2 hours
The goal for these tours is to build confidence about our elections and we encourage those who participate to be ambassadors for our office while in the community. The tours are a great way to meet the staff and get an understanding of how elections take place in our county.
Limited to 15 people per tour, and if we have too many people, we can book another.
| IMMOKALEE FIELD TRIP
March 30 @ 8:30-3:0
Join the LWVCC DEI Committee on a field trip to Immokalee. Learn about the hard-won progress of the Immokalee Fair Housing Alliance, the Gardens of Abundance, the Coalition of Immokalee Farmworkers, the Fair Food Alliance and RCMA. Wrap-up the day with a trip to the Pinhookers Market (a regional farmers’ market that is out of this world!).
Meet the people who are creating the change we want to see in safe and affordable housing, nutrition, ending modern day slavery, educating children, and empowering Florida's most vulnerable families! Join us at the table with special luncheon guests. Our guides are Pam Brown, well known Leaguer and 5th generation Immokalee rancher and Gloria Padilla, Immokalee resident and RCMA staff. Don’t miss this opportunity!! Transportation by carpool. Make new friends. Contact Tina Palmese, or Alison Wescott for more information. Log into our website to register.
|  SOCIAL POLICY COMMITTEE SPECIAL MEETING
March 30 @ 10:30-12:00
Moorings Park Building O Social Room
Over 1,000 people received some assistance in Collier County last year! Fifty to sixty people call each day. What resources are available in Collier for those who are homeless or at risk of homelessness? Come learn from Mitch Watson, Coordinator Services Director, about the services that the Hunger & Homeless Coalition of Collier provides for people with housing and other needs.
| | Following the Social Policy Committee's meeting, we will be participating in the On The Table SWFL 2023 Community Needs Assessment. The Collier Community Foundation and partners will be conducting a community-wide survey in order to gather information about the issues that are considered the most important to the quality of life in our community as well as demographic information. On March 30 groups will be gathering in various locations to share a meal along with ideas, suggestions and concerns. Each participant will complete a survey thereby having input to the study which has the same components as the last study done 5 years ago: research and data, focus groups, and survey. The new report is projected to be completed in August 2023. The research partners at Florida Gulf Coast University will compile the results and help the foundation partners, local civic leaders, and community changemakers better understand how Southwest Floridians experience their community. We’ll be participating as individual, well-informed citizens. We’ll each bring a brown bag lunch and beverages will be supplied. What we contribute in the way of ideas and solutions can make a difference. If you want to have your voice heard by participating in our lunch discussion, please email Betty Schwartz. |  KYCG STUDENTS WELCOMED BY COUNTY AGENCIES
On March 8, 45 students from Golden Gate and Lely high schools attended the second day of Know Your County Government (KYCG), a program that exposes high school students to Collier County Government departments and agencies. The program objectives are two-fold: to develop a cadre of informed young voters who will become active civic participants; and to show students that there are a variety of career pathways within county government for high school graduates. On Day 2, students visited the landfill, the Emergency Operations Center, the wastewater treatment facility, Domestic Animal Services, a fire station, Mosquito Control, and the Collier County Public Schools Administrative Offices. The final day of the program is March 28, when students will attend a County Commissioners meeting.
The KYCG program was featured on a March 13 news story on ABC-7. WATCH IT
| "Know Your County Government" 2023
YOU CAN STILL VOLUNTEER & LEARN!
There is still one session left in this wonderful opportunity to accompany high school students as a "chaperone", and visit multiple County offices, learning how the County operates. Meet with County administrators and Commissioners, while interacting with civic-minded high school students. This program, in its 40th year, is sponsored by the Education Committee, in conjunction with Collier County Public Schools and 4H. Date and approximate times for the remaining field trip day is: Tuesday, March 28, 8am to 2pm. Log in to the LWVCC website, then volunteer; or email Jan Eustis.
| LWVCC WINS A GRANT
The Voter Services Team submitted a grant application to the Florida Philanthropic Network and are happy to report that we have been selected for a $10,000 grant. Our grant application is titled: Every Voice Counts with the goal of improving 2030 census count participation in Collier County in minority communities. Because we were very active with the Collier County Complete Census Count Committee in 2020 as well as with election participation, we proved we have the expertise and energy to do this important work. Focus of our work for this grant will be in the following areas:
- Census
- Civic Education
- Communications
- Get Out the Vote
- Voter Education Engagement
- and Minority/Youth Outreach.
We were able to prove our success in partnering with foundations, and are required to work with other organizations to share our knowledge and learn from them. What will success look like for this grant? If we can close the gap between non-minority and minority areas of the county for participation, we will consider our efforts to be successful. Why is this work important? Because our county receives funding from the federal government for many critical programs and infrastructure based upon our census count. In Collier County in 2010, the population was counted at 71%. Because of this undercount of the population, the county may have received up to $155 million per year in lower federal funding ($1440 per person). This is another reason why making sure the count is as accurate as possible is incredibly important. Want to know more or participate in this important work? Please join the Voter Services team via our website. | LWVCC SPEAKS OUT DURING LOBBY DAYS
The State of Florida convened its annual 60-day legislative session on March 7, 2023 and five enthusiastic Collier County Leaguers headed to Tallahassee to attend LWVFL Lobby Days to meet our legislators. We expressed our appreciation to Senate President Passidomo for her Live Locally affordable housing bill (SB 102), support for Wildlife Corridors (SB 106) and the David Lawrence Center expansion. We advocated for the Supervisor of Election offices to have sufficient budget to educate voters about the many recent changes in voting laws and advocated against Reproductive Health bill (SB300/HB7) that prohibits abortion beyond six weeks. In our meeting with Representative Rommel we advocated against expanding School Choice via universal school vouchers (SB 202) and making school board and county judge elections partisan (HB 31).
Lobby Day meetings are part of an ongoing dialogue with our state legislators. The League speaks out on certain issues, but you have a role to play as individual Florida citizens. We encourage you to contact Senate President Passodomo (239-417-6205) and Representative Bob Rommel (239-417-6200) to let them know which bills you support and which you don’t Your vote is your voice but between elections, you needn’t be silent. Respectfully, Speak Out! | IN CELEBRATION & APPRECIATION...
On March 6 the Tech Team gathered to thank Patricia Rodilosso for her leadership in implementing Club Express, the LWVCC's website and membership management system. Her contribution has been invaluable! We wish her the best as she "moves on". She promises to stay in touch with the League! Thank you, Patricia! | 
The League has formed a partnership with Florida Weekly, a free local newspaper published once a week, to further the education of voters as part of the Get-Out-the-Vote campaign. The paper will print regular non-partisan articles, using the LWV logo, about upcoming elections, registration, voting options, and forums, culminating in a four-page Voter Guide in August for the Primary Election and again in late October for the General Election. Links to recent articles will be provided here in the LWVCC Update.
Now it can pay to go solar |
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UPCOMING EVENTS |
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March 20 @ 10:00-12:00
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SOE Transparency Tour
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March 21 @ 4:30-6:00
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Wine & Wisdom
Plastics 101
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March 29 @ 1:00
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League 101
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March 30
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Immokalee Field Trip
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| ONLINE REIMBURSEMENT FORM IS NOW AVAILABLE
Board members, committee chairs, and others who need to submit reimbursement requests can now do so via our Submit Online Forms page. | UPCOMING COMMITTEE MEETINGS
Because LWVCC committee meetings are for members and their invited guests unless stated otherwise,
members should log in to the website to register
to get the Zoom links for committee meetings and other events. | DEI Committee
March 28 @ 11:30-1:00
Guest Speaker: Cori Craciun, Founder and Executive Director of Naples Pride | Social Policy Committee
March 30 @ 10:30-12:00
Moorings Park Building O Social Room
Special Meeting: Hunger & Homeless Coalition of Collier County
| Board Meeting
April 3 @ 9:30-12:00
Collier Community Foundation
| Environmental Affairs Committee
April 13 @ 9:30-12:00
| Education Committee
Collier Community Foundation
April 19 @ 12:00-1:30 | MISSED AN ISSUE OF THE VOTER?
NEED TO CATCH UP ON THE NEWS?
Check out our updated News & Newsletters page, which has all our latest news and links to current and back issues of The Voter and The LWVCC Update.
| Empowering Voters. Defending Democracy.
The League of Women Voters is a nonpartisan political organization that encourages informed and active participation in Government. We influence public policy through education and advocacy. Our goal is to empower citizens to take an active role in shaping better communities worldwide. The League of Women Voters of Collier County does not support or endorse any candidate or political party.
| League of Women Voters of Collier County
P.O. Box 9883Naples, FL 34101
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