SAN JOSE WOMANS CLUB
75 S 11TH STREET, SAN JOSE, CA 951122018 sjwomansclub.org

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Organizations Filed Purposes: TO ENGAGE IN CULTURAL, EDUCATIONAL, COMMUNITY, AND CHARITABLE PURSUITS INCLUDING THE AWARDING OF SCHOLARSHIPS TO STUDENTS AT SAN JOSE STATE UNIVERSITY; AND TO PRESERVE OUR LANDMARK CLUBHOUSE.

This year the San Jose Womans Club has reached a milestone, this was our 125th year! Not only have we reached this milestone as an organization, we also celebrated the anniversary of our historic Spanish Revival Clubhouse, 90 years! We had plenty of celebrating to do this year. In addition, this was such a momentous year for women as it was also the 100th Anniversary of Womens Suffrage, which gave women the right to vote.Although we had plenty of highlights, we also had a very low one, a COVID-19 Pandemic. Never in my lifetime would I ever imagine that I would actually live through one. Even as I write this, we are still within this crisis. This pandemic affected all of us and indeed, affected us at the San Jose Womens Club. We had to close down our doors to rentals and events which I do believe we have never had to do before.In our 125th year we continued our focus on the preservation of the building. We have continued moving forward with a new ADA ramp for the building, so we stay in compliance with ADA regulations. We reached out to an architect and welding contractor to begin looking at costs, permits, and scheduling. We received the approval of the City to move forward with our proposed plan. Our hiccup along the way was the COVID-19 pandemic which slowed and halted building construction. Once we have a permit in hand, we hope to start looking for a contractor to move forward with our ramp.This year we also gave-it-our-all to focus on grant opportunities. We are in desperate need for a new HVAC system. Any monies we can secure will go to that project. We applied for the County of Santa Clara Historic Grant. This was an enormous effort as the grant submissions and regulations were stringent and required being followed to the letter. First, we needed to find our Deed to the building. We made multiple tries to the City to obtain it, but they did not have the record of it. Finally, with the help of Jeanne McCann, we went to the bank safety deposit box and were elated to discover it there! That was only the beginning though, we still required a multitude of community support letters and various pieces of documentation all within a very short window. Im very proud to say that with the help of Lynne Brown, our Grant Director, and a team of dedicated Board members and community members, we were awarded the grant which will make our dreams of installing an HVAC system finally possible.In this fiscal year, our membership started at 160 members and ended at 202 members (198 members with four free members), for a growth of 26.25%. As we work to increase Club groups, activities, and events we hope to see this number continue to increase.To assist with marketing our Club, we enlisted the services of a videographer to highlight our Club and what we give back to the community. We completed this in time for our 125th celebration gala.Through member donations, partnerships with local companies in the Bay Area, and general outreach to the community, the San Jose Womans Club contributed $8,500 granted in scholarships to SJSU students and $4,925 in cash donations to local charities. This is up slightly about $275 from last years total. We also had only one vocal scholar this year as opposed to two last year.We gave $6,000 to the Tower Foundation for academic scholarships, which were awarded to three SJSU students. We awarded $2,500 to our vocal scholar competition winner. We gifted $4,925 to various local charities through our Designated Charitable Giving Grants including American Association of University Women (AAUW) SCCO Gifts for Teens, Front Door Communities, Next Door Solutions to Domestic Violence, Pet Awareness Welfare Society for San Jose Animal Care and Services (PAWS for SJACS), St. Francis Animal Protection Society, Village House, 13th Street Cat Rescue, Opera San Jose, San Jose Day Nursery, and Hope Services, Through our annual LUNAFEST Womens Film Festival, we donated $5,000, to the Breast Cancer Fund and $2,500 to Sempervirens Fund in memory of Randy Sereno. We also donated $2,000 to onRoute22 through our annual OktoBRAfest.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: SJSU Kappa Delta Sorority, SJSU Family Welcome Event, Alexandra Huff, on behalf of Love and Bananas Fundraiser, Campus Community Association, Bud Ayers Dance Fundraiser, Ida Price Middle School, Polling place, City of San Jose, American Anthropological Association, Horace Mann Neighborhood Association, SJSU Akbayan organization, Boy Scouts, Playford Ball, American Red Cross, Alliance for PE Pipe, AGC of California, The Waldorf School of The Peninsula, Summit Public Schools, and Interact Club. And our group members performed many charitable works in the community, such as the Ladies Who Do Lunch, who prepare lunch for at risk women once a month, the Be a Dear and Donate a Brassiere group, who collect and donate bras, organize bra distribution events, and host, Communi-TEA, an annual tea for women at risk, and our Handicrafts group, who made toiletries bags for women in need. 2019 2020 Fiscal YearAt the start of our fiscal year, we kicked it off by walking in the Fourth of July parade. We had members dressed in period clothing, thanks to Laurie Tavin, along with some pet dogs and a decorated car. We engaged the parade attendees by taking pictures with them, utilizing a decorated picture frame, and to share a little bit about the Club.In September we had the 12th Annual Ice Cream Social to thank the community and welcome them to the historic venue for a great day of cupcakes, sprinkles, and ice cream. It included book authors, Rosie the Riveter, a Peace Dancer, and a Border Art Project. Our thanks to Darlene Tenes organizational event skills who coordinated the additions. Also, to April Halberstadt who coordinated our keynote speaker, Barbara Babcock. In addition, we had the assistance of the Scouts and NCL Willow Rose Chapter to help us with a successful event. To help acknowledge the 100th anniversary of the Womens Suffrage, we celebrated with some of San Joses history by revisiting our time as the #FeministCapital of the country, in co-chairing with Matt Quevedo. We were fortunate to have powerful women speak at our panel discussion such as Santa Clara County Supervisor, Susan Ellenberg, San Jose Councilmember, Maya Esparza, VTA General Counsel, Evelynn Tran, San Jose Chief Librarian, Jill Bourne, and Kaiser Senior Vice President, Irene Chavez.Teresa Alvarado interviewed her mother Blanca Alvarado for an amazing conversation about the County and women in politics. Former San Jose Councilmember, Charlotte Powers who recently passed away, was also there in the audience. October brought our annual OktoBRAfest which was a fun afternoon with the Twisted Pretzels performing and a fun scrumptious menu of German food. A shout out to Gordon Biersch Brewing Company and WILDCIDE Hard Cider for their generous donations. All proceeds benefited onRoute22, an inclusive space and empowerment group that provides a safe community for homeless and at-risk women in Santa Clara and Santa Cruz Counties and our Be a Dear and Donate a Brassiere group, which collects and distributes bras and undergarments for women in need. In November, we had our Vocal Scholar event paired with our winners Senior Vocal Recital. Last years winner, Krishty Mukherjee, of the 2018-2019 SJWC Vocal Scholar competition serenaded us with her spectacular voice. Its always a gift to the ear to hear classics performed at the Club.In November, co-chairs CiCi Green and Lynda Sereno brought out the spirit with the 9th Annual Gingerbread House Party, always a fun event for the kids and those young at heart as the icing and candy was out and awards were provided for the houses. This event also supports kids who may not otherwise have been able to attend.December brought our main attraction this year, our celebration for our 125th Anniversary Tea. It was a glorious event which filled the Club with energy. My thanks to our ACE Team who planned it for us, Darlene Tenes, Mary Lou Mason, Patricia Puentes, and Christine Kraft. We had a lovely tea with the Club being decorated in our new branding colors. Suffragettes walked the floor showcasing the outfits from the past. We had a choir serenade us after lunch. The silent auction was a huge success along with a very successful event. We participated this year in Christmas in the Park, by decorating a Christmas tree in our new branding colors, white and teal. The tree was draped with a white ribbon stating our 125th Anniversary Year. The tree ornaments mirrored the colors and it was topped with a white star.February brought us LUNAFEST, which raised $12,520, with $2,833 in expenses. Our chosen charities, the beneficiaries of the event, included Breast Cancer Prevention Partners and Sempervirens Randy Sereno Tribute, al

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